NC State welcomed back one player Saturday, but has another currently in limbo.
Sophomore combo guard Braxton Beverly made his NC State debut much earlier than expected after fracturing his hand Oct. 19 in practice and subsequently having surgery. NCSU head coach Kevin Keatts had hoped to have Beverly back later this month, but he responded well to his surgery and rehab on his non-shooting left hand.
Beverly checked in at the 14:58 mark and hit his first shot of the young season from three-point land with 11:48 left in the game. His three-pointer gave NC State a 21-4 lead which only mushroomed larger against Maryland Eastern Shore at PNC Arena. Beverly finished shooting 4 of 10 from three-point range — all of his field-goal attempts — en route to 12 points in 21 minutes played.
“All the credit goes to the trainers,” Beverly said. “We were in the trainers room non-stop. The first few minutes, my legs weren’t under me yet. I was really excited to get back.”
NC State ended up crushing Maryland Eastern Shore 95-49 to improve to 2-0, and host UNC Asheville on Tuesday. Keatts originally pondered having Beverly sit out Saturday and not risk his health in a game against an overmatched opponent.
Keatts joked that Beverly made sure to get his uniform from equipment manager Kirk Brown, and was ready to go in warm-ups.
“I told Braxton yesterday after practice that I’d make a decision on whether I would play him [Saturday],” Keatts said. “I was supposed to call him last night. On purpose, I didn’t call him because I didn’t want to play him.
“I wanted to save him for another game, to give him a few more days on his hand.”
Beverly said he felt great playing out there and half-joked how his teammates were giving him a hard time about not being ready for the season opener. He was cleared by the NCAA on his third attempt last year in getting a waiver after transferring from Ohio State.
Beverly got hurt trying to go for a steal and running into teammate Torin Dorn’s elbow in practice.
“It was just a freak accident, kind of weird,” Beverly said. “When I did it, I could tell I had hurt it, but I was hoping I had jammed it up.”
Beverly could still work on his shooting form while rehabbing his left hand, and he doesn’t think his conditioning has been too affected.
“It is not where I want it to be but it isn’t near as bad as I thought it would be,” Beverly said.
Ian Steere considering his options
While sophomore guard Braxton Beverly returned, freshman center Ian Steere was not in attendance Saturday. The 6-9, 261-pounder from Fayetteville (N.C.) Northwood Temple met with Keatts on Friday to determine his future. Steere’s name was entered into the NCAA’s new notification of transfer system.
Rivals.com ranked Steere at No. 138 overall in the country in the class of 2018. He originally verbally committed to Creighton, but then backed out on the Bluejays and zeroed in on NC State.
“I told him to sit back and take a couple of days and decide if this is the best fit for him, or if there is another place he can obviously go,” Keatts said. “I plan to have a conversation with him on Monday.”
Steere was the last player to check in against Chowan in the exhibition game and against Mount St. Mary’s in the season opener last Tuesday. He had four points and four rebounds in five minutes of action against Mount St. Mary’s.
“I wanted him to take a couple of days where he was still excited about being at NC State,” Keatts said. “I hope it works out for Ian because he can be a very good basketball player.”
Without Steere, the Wolfpack don’t have a third post player this season. Freshman Jericole Hellems would be the third guy, but at 6-7 and 198 pounds, he’d have trouble against ACC centers on defense. NC State will need redshirt junior Wyatt Walker and redshirt sophomore Funderburk to remain healthy and avoid foul trouble. Funderburk played well Saturday, making all five shots for 13 points and five boards.
“He [Funderburk] has been good for us,” Keatts said. “He is a young man, and I’ve said this before, he can guard the one through five. He can make shots, he’s long and he can rebound the basketball.”
NC State subs five at a time
Keatts said it might not last long, but he went five for five in his substitution pattern against the Hawks. The five bench players — Beverly, Funderburk, Hellems, fifth-year senior wing Eric Lockett and sophomore point guard Blake Harris — actually ended up with better plus/minus scores than the starters.
The group practices together, so there is built-in chemistry. Beverly had a team-best plus-38 and both Hellems and Lockett were a plus-29. Every Wolfpack player played between 18 minutes and 23.
“Don’t ask me if I am going five-in, five-out, that is not my plan for the rest of the year,” Keatts said. “I looked over on the bench and saw that I had a one, two, three, four and a five, and I decided to sub.”
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