NC State Wolfpack men's basketball is set to begin its 2020-21 season this week with the Mako Medical Wolfpack Invitational in Reynolds Coliseum.
The Pack will face Charleston Southern in the season opener Wednesday, Nov. 25 at 8:00 p.m. ET on ACC Network.
NC State has 27 games on its schedule — seven non-conference matchups and 20 meetings with ACC programs.
Here are the season win total predictions from The Wolfpacker staff:
Justin H. Williams
I'll start with a disclaimer on my season win total prediction. All of this is assuming that NC State will play each of its 27 scheduled games this year.
One not-so-bold prediction I have is that the odds of that happening are quite slim. Considering the small roster size and the frequency of games compared to football, Wolfpack fans should be prepared for the inevitable — games will not just be postponed, they will be canceled.
I still expect the season will go on as planned, but it is safe to assume the road to March will have some bumps along the way.
There are many reasons NC State fans should be excited about head coach Kevin Keatts' fourth season in Raleigh.
Yes, the Wolfpack lost its two leading scorers from 2019-20 in senior guards Markell Johnson and C.J. Bryce. But compared to the roster turnover around the league in the one-and-done and transfer era of college basketball, NC State returns a solid core of talent compared to its ACC counterparts.
Fifth-year senior forward DJ Funderburk and fifth-year senior guard Devon Daniels both returned after testing the NBA waters this offseason. Funderburk and Daniels are essential pieces for the Wolfpack's hopes to return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in what will be three years by March 2021.
The Pack also returns multiple players that played significant minutes last year in senior guard Braxton Beverly, junior forward Jericole Hellems and redshirt sophomore center Manny Bates.
Those five guys will provide a stable base of returning talent that is familiar with Keatts' system and will be reliable options from the jump.
Then there is a wave of newcomers with a five-man recruiting class and two players that took a redshirt season last year. The two true freshmen that are expected to make the biggest impact in year one are former four-star guards Cam Hayes and Shakeel Moore.
Hayes is my pick to earn the starting point guard responsibilities. He comes from Greensboro Day High School with a strong basketball pedigree and should play a facilitating role while running the Wolfpack offense.
Moore is a freaky-athletic combo guard that will be an elite defender according to scouting reports. He may not be a starter to begin the season, but he should find plenty of time on the court as a part of the backcourt rotation.
Redshirt junior Thomas Allen, a transfer from Nebraska that sat out last year, will be another guard in Keatts' arsenal that is expected to be a strong perimeter shooting threat. In his sophomore season with the Cornhuskers, Allen averaged 8.7 points per game and shot 36 percent from beyond the arc.
Redshirt freshman guard Dereon Seabron will be a lengthy option in the backcourt at 6-7. With his size, he's an incredibly versatile player that can guard the one through four positions on the court and will give Keatts plenty of depth in the backcourt.
One other freshman to watch is center Ebenezer Dowuona, who is described by Keatts as "a young Manny Bates." He is an athletic rim protector that will give the Pack a reliable reserve big if Bates and Funderburk get in foul trouble, which may be the most significant improvement for the Wolfpack from last season.
The biggest question will be how quickly the young backcourt can mesh. If Hayes is indeed the starting point guard, NC State will need him to grow up fast before it jumps into conference play in mid-December.
There will be some growing pains, but I like the talent, depth and versatility of this roster. Assuming key players such as Funderburk and Daniels can stay healthy, I expect NC State to be a bubble team that ultimately earns an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The Wolfpack just needs to carry its weight through December and survive an incredibly difficult January. If it can win one of its two challenging non-conference games and stay around .500 in ACC competiton into February, the end of the schedule should bode well for a strong finish.
I see the Pack going 6-1 in the non-conference slate and finishing the year 12-8 in ACC play.
Season win total prediction: 18 victories, not including the postseason
Matt Carter
First off, this projections makes a wild and probably incorrect assumption that all 27 games will be played as scheduled. If that happens, it’ll be a miracle in itself.
But, I also like to believe in the power of miracles.
It would not take such a divine intervention, though, for this to be a nice season for Wolfpack basketball. The pieces are there, but the million-dollar question will be the backcourt, where youth and inexperience factors into play.
Head coach Kevin Keatts is counting on a pair of rookies in Cam Hayes and Shakeel Moore, and also a transfer in redshirt junior Thomas Allen, eligible following a redshirt last season after leaving Nebraska for NC State. It should also be noted that Allen spent much of last year rehabbing from ankle surgery.
This is likely to be a wide open year in ACC basketball. In that magical world where every game gets played, I could see the winner of the conference being a team with a 14-6 league record, or multiple teams finishing tied at the top. They may need to break out the tiebreaker rules to decide who gets the double-bye and the single-bye in the ACC Tournament.
But before ACC play is the non-conference slate, in which I will predict that the Wolfpack will go 6-1 with a loss at Michigan in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge being the lone blemish. I also think NC State will start league play strong, going 4-1 in its first conference contests.
Then will come a tough stretch where I can see NC State losing five of seven for its first extended adversity of the year and evening its conference record at 6-6 at that point.
Keatts then will get his team playing its best basketball at the end of the season, winning six of its final eight. That has NC State entering the ACC Tournament with an 18-9 overall record and 12-8 mark in the ACC.
And, no, I did not just copy Justin's predictions.
Season win total prediction: 18 victories, not including the postseason
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