Members of the N.C. State club basketball team have national championship aspirations after an early exit in last year’s American Collegiate Intramural Sports Basketball National Championship.
State’s club basketball team was founded in 2009, and the University has hosted the ACIS National Championship in May ever since. Although the team is fairly new, the Pack established itself as one of the best club programs in the nation, winning its first and only national title in 2010.
Senior captain Andrew Wilson said that this year the goal for the team is a second national championship.
“I’ve been here four years, and this is the best team that I’ve ever seen,” Wilson said. “I feel like our goal should be to win a national title because we have the caliber of team that could win.”
Last year’s run at a national championship ended with a disappointing loss in the sweet 16 to archrival UNC-Chapel Hill.
“Looking at last year, our team had some communication problems,” Wilson said. “We didn’t play quite as a team but more as individuals.”
With five new players on the roster, the Pack has put an emphasis on improving team chemistry. One of the ways the club has tried to get everyone on the same page is with a coaching change.
In the past, players would coach the team, often leading to biased decisions down the stretch. This year, senior Tanner Hogue took the reigns as the team’s first official head coach, and the move has paid off.
“[In the past,] we didn’t have a coach, and we would go out there and play pick-up ball,” Wilson said. “[Hogue] helps us be more organized. It makes people work harder, and people actually trust each other more.”
Another factor the head coach is addressing is new players’ transition into the program. More relaxed practices help the players bond as a team and concentrate on their ultimate goal.
“After a couple drills, we’ll play pick-up,” freshman forward Austin Lotuhan said. “We only practice one time a week, so the biggest thing for us is getting to know each other.”
The club is 2-1 in scrimmage matches so far this season, including a victory at East Carolina. The other two games were part of a double-header against UNC-Greensboro’s first and second teams.
Looking back on the games, Louthan said that the strength of the team is the fact that everyone contributes.
“We’ve had a very balanced attack so far,” Louthan said. “I think that’s what makes us good, the fact that we don’t have one player who we rely on to win.”
On Friday and Saturday, the Pack will head to UNCG for the Spartan Classic, a tournament that showcases club teams from around North Carolina and other states along the East coast.
State wants to return to Raleigh with its first tournament championship of the season and hopes carry that momentum all the way to the national championships in May.
