By Mark A. Wood

“Because [NC State] blew that lead, will Coach Gottfried be on the hot seat?”

This was a question a fan posed to a local Raleigh radio show on Monday after NC State lost another nail biter at home against the No. 8 ranked Fighting Irish of Notre Dame, and it’s the same question many Wolfpack fans are still asking.

To answer that question adequately, let me first throw a date at you–1996. This is the year current Arizona State men’s basketball coach Herb Sendek began his coaching career at NC State.

Here’s another number: 6, the number of seasons until Sendek led his Wolfpack team to the NCAA Tournament, which was followed by four consecutive trips to the Big Dance until his departure after the 2006 season.

Enter Sydney Lowe, a beloved player from NC State’s 1983 National Championship season. To not relive the atrocity that was five seasons of no postseason play, let’s skip ahead to 2011–enter Mark Gottfried.

Under controversy, Jim Valvano left the university in the early 1990s, and NC State, after enduring sanctions that would inevitably cripple the basketball program, fought through over two decades of mediocrity filled basketball, slightly mitigated by Sendek’s success of five straight NCAA Tournaments from 2002-2006.

This may sound like a broken record, but in his first three seasons, Mark Gottfried has coached the Wolfpack to three straight tournaments, highlighted by a 2012 Sweet Sixteen birth. Let’s also not forget the three straight top-20 recruiting classes that Gottfried has brought into NC State.

To the Wolfpack fans out there thinking Mark Gottfried should be on the proverbial “hot seat” after some inconsistent play this season, the only question I have is–why should he be?

For Pete’s sake people, should Gottfried honestly be expected to have resurrected a program from complete insignificance and win an ACC Championship in just three seasons, let alone a National Championship? And come on, three for three is a pretty darn good percentage, wouldn’t you agree?

Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski just won his 1000th career game as a head basketball coach. His current success is a far cry from 1983, when Blue Devil fans were calling for Coach K’s head just three seasons into his tenure at Duke after a second straight losing season (augmented, of course, by National Championships by in-state rivals UNC and NC State in 1982 and 1983). The difference here–Duke fans had two seasons of little to no success to bring to the gallows; fortunately for Coach K, success wasn’t too far into the future for his Blue Devils, as another losing season could have been his third strike.

Coach K set up a culture of winning at Duke, but it didn’t come about instantaneously.

Some may argue that Gottfried walked into a good situation in 2011, where CJ Leslie, Lorenzo Brown, Scott Wood and Richard Howell still had eligibility after being recruited by and playing for Sydney Lowe. Could that have been the basis for all of his success? This could have been a valid argument, at least until 2013 and 2014 when Gottfried led two more teams to the NCAA Tournament, teams that consisted mostly of his own recruits.

Moving away from past success, look at NC State’s 2014-15 team. Currently, the Wolfpack are 13-7 (4-4), sitting at the No. 8 seed in the ACC. State has gone 1-4 against ranked teams this season. However, the last two ranked teams the Pack has faced (No. 15 North Carolina and No. 8 Notre Dame) have won by a total of five points. State also held their own against No. 3 ranked and still undefeated Virginia before the Cavs pulled away in the closing minutes. This team is right there, and NC State has only one person to thank: NC State Athletic Director Debbie Yow, who hired Mark Gottfried.

Sure, the Pack probably should have finished off Notre Dame Sunday night at PNC Arena, and with a little more consistency, NC State could be a top five ACC team. A 68 percent team free-throw percentage, unreliable (but improving) forward play, and a shifting position at point guard may have a little to do with this inconsistency. But, on a team with two seniors (both of which have been with NC State for two seasons after transferring in) and only one junior that plays high minutes, this young Wolfpack team is still maturing, and has already made great strides toward being a formidable and scary team to play come tournament time.

With some high profile recruits still considering NC State for 2015, as well as West Virginia transfer and shooting guard Terry Henderson, the team is trending up, as it will only lose two seniors in Dezmond Lee and Raulston Turner. Out of the eight guys averaging major minutes this season that are returning, NC State’s 2015-16 squad will be made up of 1 senior, 4 juniors, 3 sophomores, and any additional recruits, along with Henderson (Jr). With another year of experience, this team could be one to be reckoned with next season.

Let’s not count out this 2014-15 team, though. With three straight games against ACC teams with losing conference records up next on the docket, NC State has a chance to pull back into top 7 ACC teams. Realistically, should the Pack finish on a high note and in the top 7-8 in the ACC, a fourth straight NCAA Tournament trip will most likely be in the mix, which would be a streak only three other coaches have accomplished in NC State history (Everett Case, Jim Valvano, Herb Sendek).

NC State is still a young team, and Mark Gottfried has them on the rise. Consistency will come with experience, and experience will only be afforded if a coach, and a team, is allowed to fail. In the end, however, three straight tournament appearances, and likely a fourth, is anything but a failure.

State fans, be patient. This one’s a keeper.