North Carolina State had their worst season under head coach Mark Gottfried last season due to a key injury to Terry Henderson and a lack of depth. This season should be a much more pleasing one for N.C. State fans as the Wolfpack return a lot of talent from last year’s squad and add one of the top recruiting classes in the nation. Mark Gottfried and company are looking to return to the NCAA Tournament after a brief one-year hiatus.

ACC Roundup

Boston College

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Duke

Florida State

Georgia Tech

Louisville

Miami

North Carolina

Last Season

The Wolfpack entered last season looking to make the NCAA Tournament for the fifth straight season. Mark Gottfried had a lot of talent in the backcourt to work with, but was lacking major depth up front. After Trevor Lacey declared for the NBA Draft, Anthony “Cat” Barber took over as the top option for N.C. State and led the conference in scoring at 23.5 PPG. The Wolfpack stumbled out of the gate with a 17-point home loss to William & Mary. North Carolina State bounced back with a pair of home wins in the Legends Classic before traveling to Brooklyn to face Arizona State in the semifinals. The Wolfpack made a late run, but fell by three points to the Sun Devils. In the consolation game against #22 LSU, five different members of the Wolfpack scored in double digits to earn a hard-fought victory in double overtime.

A week after returning home from Brooklyn, N.C. State hosted the Michigan Wolverines as a part of the ACC/B1G challenge. The Wolfpack struggled to shoot the ball all game and lost for the third time in as many weeks. North Carolina State bounced back to win their final six out of conference games and entered ACC play at 10-3. Once conference play began it quickly became apparent that the Wolfpack would not be returning to the NCAA tournament as they lost their first five games in league play. N.C. State captured their first ACC victory on January 19th when they went on the road to play Pittsburgh, 78-61.

After dropping the first two games of a three-game homestand to #20 Duke and Georgia Tech, the Wolfpack hosted #15 Miami. N.C. State took a five-point lead into halftime and never looked back as the Wolfpack topped the Hurricanes 85-69. After beating Miami things didn’t get much better for N.C. State, as the Wolfpack would lose six of their final nine games and finished the regular season with a record of 15-16 (5-13). This was good for only 12th in the conference and a first-round matchup with Wake Forest in the ACC Tournament. Freshman Maverick Rowan had one of his best games scoring 24 points and leading the Wolfpack to a 75-72 victory. North Carolina State’s season ended in the next round when they lost a high-scoring affair to the Duke Blue Devils, 92-89.

The Wolfpack relied on a lot of youth last season with all seven members of Mark Gottfried’s rotation scheduled to return for the 2016-2017 season. The summer was not kind to N.C. State as they lost a lot of talent with Cat Barber going pro and the Martin twins transferring to the University of Nevada.

Coaching

Mark Gottfried graduated from the Univeristy of Alabama in 1987 and began his coaching career when he accepted an assistant position at UCLA under Jim Harrick. Also on Harrick’s staff during Gottfried’s time in L.A. were fellow future head coaches Lorenzo Romar and Steve Lavin. Gottfried spent eight seasons as an assistant and ended his tenure in Hollywood with a bang as the Bruins won the 1995 NCAA Championship. After winning big as an assistant, Gottfried struck while the iron was hot and took his first head coaching job at Murray State University.

Gottfried took over a talented Murray State squad who had won the Ohio Valley Conference in seven of the previous eight years. In his first year leading the program, Gottfried won the OVC regular season title, but failed to make the NCAA tournament after losing to rival Austin Peay in the conference championship game. Murray State would return to the NCAA Tournament a year later after sweeping both the OVC regular season and tournament championships. In Gottfried’s third and final season at Murray State, the Racers went 29-4 and repeated as OVC champions. Murray State received a nine seed in the NCAA tournament and were matched up with Rhode Island. The Rams were coached by Gottfried’s former mentor Jim Harrick and were the superior team that day beating the Racers by the score of 97-74.

In 1998 Gottfried was hired to be the new head coach at his alma mater, Alabama. The Mark Gottfried era in Tuscaloosa got off to a bumpy start with the Crimson Tide going 30-31 over his first two seasons. The Tide broke through in Gottfried’s third season and won 25 games while also making it to the NIT Championship before falling to Tulsa. Alabama built on that success and in the 2001-2002 season the Crimson Tide would go 27-8, and peaked as the top-ranked team in the nation. However, the season would end with disappointment as second-seeded Alabama fell to tenth-seeded Kent State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Gottfried would go on to guide the Crimson Tide to five straight NCAA Tournament appearances, including a trip to the 2004 Elite Eight.

Alabama’s NCAA Tournament streak ended following the 2006 season. Over the next two seasons the Tide began to regress, missing the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back seasons for the first time since the 2000 and 2001 NCAA Tournaments. With 11 games remaining in the 2008-2009 season, Mark Gottfried stepped down as the head coach of Alabama following the controversial departure of Ronald Steele.

Following his time at the University of Alabama, he took a break from coaching, and spent two seasons as an analyst for ESPN. However, it didn’t take long for Gottfried to return to coaching and on April, 5th 2011, he was named the 21st Head Coach at North Carolina State University. The Wolfpack got out to a fantastic start under Gottfried and were 22-12 (9-7) entering the 2012 NCAA Tournament. N.C. State received an eleven seed and upset San Diego State and Georgetown before falling to Kansas in the Sweet Sixteen. Over the course of the next two seasons, the Wolfpack would go 46-25 and qualify for the NCAA Tournament twice. Unfortunately for Coach Gottfried and Co., they failed to make deep runs and were bounced in the round of 64 both times.

During the 2014-2015 season, the Wolfpack went 22-14 and returned to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight season. This time they were an eight seed in the Big Dance and drew LSU in the first round. N.C. State snuck by the Tigers, 66-65, when big man BeeJay Anya made back-to-back shots with less than a minute to play. In the second round, the Wolfpack shocked top-seeded Villanova, 71-68, to reach the Sweet Sixteen for the second time in four years. This time it was conference foe Louisville that knocked the Wolfpack out when they beat them 75-65. Gottfried’s team stumbled last season and failed to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2009. Even though the Wolfpack lose three of their seven rotation players from last season, don’t be shocked if they are a better team this year.

Returning Players

North Carolina State returns six players from last year’s roster, with four of them logging significant minutes for the Wolfpack. Unfortunately, senior Lennard Freeman will be unavailable this season while he redshirts with a leg injury. This leaves the Abdul-Malik Abu and BeeJay Anya as the only two experienced post players on the rosters. Abu started every game as a sophomore and was second on the team in scoring last season with 12.9 PPG. He scores most of his points down low, but can step out and hit a mid-range jump shot if he is left unguarded. The 6’8 power forward also averaged 8.8 RPG, which led the Wolfpack and was good for sixth in the conference.

Abu is joined down low by former ACC sixth-man of the year, BeeJay Anya. Measuring in at 6’9, 285 lbs, Anya is quite a load under the hoop. While he is not a major threat on offense, Anya is a dominant defender who is N.C. State’s all-time leader in blocks. The key to Anya’s defensive prowess is his 7’9 wingspan, which allows the big man to contest anything near the rim. Anya also used his wingspan to limit his opponents to one shot and was second on the team in rebounding with 5.3 RPG. When he does shoot, Anya is extremely efficient shooting over 57% each of his three years in college. The biggest weakness in Anya’s game is his poor free throw shooting. After shooting a career-best 56% from the charity stripe as a sophomore, Anya regressed as a junior shooting only 43%.

Also returning in the frontcourt is 6’8 sophomore Shaun Kirk, who played sparingly as a freshman. The versatile Kirk can play both forward positions depending on who the Wolfpack are matched up against. He is a threat to dunk anything around the rim thanks to his leaping abilities. Kirk is most dangerous in transition when he is able to run the court and is a great target for ally oops. Kirk has a solid first step and can get by bigger defenders on his way to the rim. In addition to being a good finisher down low, he is developing a respectable three-point shot and can knock down his open looks from deep.

On the perimeter, the Wolfpack welcome back Terry Henderson who missed all of last season after he tore a ligament in his right ankle seven minutes into last season’s opener. Henderson averaged 11.7 PPG three years ago at West Virginia before transferring to N.C. State and sitting out the 2014-20015 season. The 6’5 guard is a very good shooter, both from the free throw line (85% in ’13-’14) and from behind the arc (38% in ’13-’14). Henderson’s return to the court brings much-needed experience to a backcourt that is full of underclassmen.

Joining Henderson on the perimeter is 6’7 sophomore Maverick Rowan. Rowan can play both the shooting guard and small forward positions and was one of the bright spots for the Wolfpack last season and averaged 12.9 PPG. Rowan has a smooth shot and doesn’t need a lot of time or space to get his shots off. He wasn’t the most efficient three-point shooter last season, shooting under 34% from deep, but the number should improve with the Wolfpack having other options from outside. Rowan is capable of making defenders pay when they rush out to contest his shot by putting the ball on the deck and going around them and finishing in the lane.

Incoming Players

It was a banner year recruiting for Coach Gottfried as the Wolfpack welcome a top-five recruiting class to Raleigh. In addition to the five freshmen coming in, the Wolfpack will also get their first look at transfer Torin Dorn, who sat out last season after transferring from Charlotte.

The gem of N.C. State’s 2016 recruiting class is North Carolina native Dennis Smith. The 6’3 point guard is a consensus top-10 player in the nation and selected the Wolfpack over rivals Duke and North Carolina. Smith is an explosive athlete that can get to the rim at will and finish with thanks to his terrific body control. An improving shot from deep will make Smith one of the most difficult players to defend in the entire conference. While he is capable of putting up big scoring numbers, Smith is also at ease running an offense and getting his teammates involved. Smith actually arrived at N.C. State last spring and was able to adjust to college early while rehabbing a torn ACL prior to his senior season.

The next player to sign with the Wolfpack was 6’7 forward Darius Hicks. Hicks is a combo forward and is capable of playing some minutes on the perimeter, but will probably spend more time down low this season. He is a big body who finishes extremely well through contact and is a fierce rebounder to boot. Hicks is capable of taking bigger defenders off the bounce and has can knock down an open jumper when presented with the opportunity. While he may struggle to crack Gottfried’s rotation this year, Hicks has the potential to be a multi-year starter in the future if he continues to improve his perimeter game.

Just a few days after Hicks committed, the Wolfpack nabbed their third prospect with highly touted big man Omer Yurtseven. Hailing all the way from Istanbul, Yurtseven has a polished offensive game and can finish both through and around defenders in the post. Yurtseven is also very comfortable stepping away from the basket and taking the occasional jump shot. The 7′ 245 lbs center already has the frame to bang with ACC-level big men and is an excellent rebounder. Yurtseven will be suspended the first nine games of the season due to the fact that he played professionally in Europe before coming to America for college even though he never accepted any money.

In late June, North Carolina State bolstered their roster further with the addition of two four-star recruits in Ted Kapita and Markell Johnson. Kapita will provide quality of depth in the Wolfpack frontcourt and could prove to be an excellent spark off the bench. He is a very good scorer around the rim and attacks his defender with a quick first step. At 6’8, 220 lbs, Kapita is a physical presence on both ends of the court and is not afraid to initiate contact with anyone.

The fourth recruit for N.C. State is point guard Markell Johnson. Originally a member of the class of 2017, Johnson reclassified in May then committed to the Wolfpack a month later. Johnson is a true lead guard who can set his teammates up to score in both transition and a half court offense. He is an elite athlete with fantastic speed and an ability to snake his way through opposing defense while making it look easy. His biggest weakness is his lack of a consistent outside shot which makes him a bit one-dimensional when it comes to scoring.

The final piece of the puzzle for the Wolfpack is transfer guard Torin Dorn. After winning Freshman of the Year in Conference USA while at Charlotte, Dorn transferred to N.C. State and sat out last season. The decision to transfer came after the 49ers fired their head coach, Alan Major. Dorn is another great athlete and is a proven scorer at the college level averaging 12 PPG as a freshman. He is a good but not great three-point shooter who is aggressive when attacking the rim and can finish through bigger defenders. Dorn adds even more depth to an already talented backcourt and could see some time at the small forward position as well if Gottfried decides to go small.

Season Outlook

N.C. State had a complete overhaul of their roster from last season with only four rotation players returning. While they didn’t qualify for the NCAA Tournament last season, the Wolfpack have the talent and depth to be a possible Final Four contender come March. The upside of the Wolfpack will depend on how quickly all the new faces adjust to each other. North Carolina State should be a much more balanced team in terms of scoring which will make the Wolfpack that much more difficult to guard.