NC State men’s basketball head coach Kevin Keatts and seven returning players from last season’s ACC Championship and Final Four squad took a moment to bask in the glory of last season’s successes when they watched two banners go up in the rafters of the Lenovo Center before the Wolfpack’s season opener against USC-Upstate Monday night.
But that’s the only moment the Wolfpack took to reflect on last season — it moved on from last year and beat the Spartans 97-66, proving there was no hangover from last season’s improbable run.
“I’m glad the game went the way it went,” Keatts said. “I didn’t want to have to hang two banners and just have an okay game. So I’m glad the game turned out the way it did.”
It couldn’t have gone much better for the Wolfpack. All 11 players that logged significant minutes scored. Senior guard Breon Pass scored a career-high 14 points. Senior forward Ben Middlebrooks stuffed the stat sheet with 10 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, four blocks and a steal. And the Wolfpack’s transfer class shined in their debut in the red and white.
Keatts welcomed eight newcomers to this year’s roster, which is nothing new for the eight-year coach who had that same amount last season and led them to the program’s first ACC Championship since 1987 and first Final Four since 1983.
He’s had to replace his leading scorer every year since he became the coach in 2017 but Keatts has proved he knows how to find talent in the portal and turn them into his best players. Keatts mentioned graduate guard Michael O’Connell receiving the biggest ovation during player intros and remembers people questioning if he could play at NC State. Then, he became the hero of March.
“We just do a great job — assistant coaches — in developing guys,” Keatts said. “We’ve always done that. We want to continue to do that. I love developing players.”
In the past, Keatts had relied on transfers to be his go-to scorers like guards DJ Horne and Jarkel Joiner were but this year he thinks it will be more of a committee approach when it comes to scoring. Against the Spartans, the Wolfpack racked up 20 assists on 38 field goals while four players scored in double figures.
Last season, during the Wolfpack’s nine-game postseason win streak it had five different leading scorers and played unselfishly. If the season opener was any indication, it seems like this Pack squad will play like that all season.
“I think it’s more of a depth team,” Keatts said. “I think on any given night, anybody is going to lead us in scoring.”
If there was one player who showed he could be the Wolfpack’s number-one scorer, it was senior guard Marcus Hill. Last season at Bowling Green, Hill averaged over 20 points per game, and coming out of the second half, he scored eight of NC State’s first 10 points, all coming from strong drives to the rim.
On one of those drives, Hill hit a spin move around a Spartans’ defender on the way to a layup and he said that’s all he needed to get him going. Similar to Horne last year, Hill just needs to see one shot go in and his confidence rises.
“Usually I get a little quick move that gets me going,” Hill said. “Once I got that spin it got me going and kept me playing so I really needed that.”
Hill was a part of the four-guard starting lineup that Keatts implemented against USC-Upstate. The fast, guard-reliant playstyle was a stark difference from the way the offense ran last season. Having four guards and a big that can run the floor like Middlebrooks or senior forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield allows for an aggressive and fluid offensive attack.
“It makes it much easier for me,” O’Connell said. “I can get an outlet or pitch it ahead or call up a big for a pick and roll. To be able to spread the floor and have so many options makes it easy.”
Although nine of NC State’s 13 scholarship players are upperclassmen, the three freshmen on the roster made positive impacts on the game. Guard Trey Parker hit two 3s, providing a deep threat to an already dangerous Wolfpack offense. Parker also authored two alley-oops to fellow freshman guard Bryce Heard, turning them into an athletic layup and electric dunk in the second half.
“We really built a connection off the court,” Heard said. “That’s where the connection really started and it just bleeds onto the court. We want to get out there and actually play with these guys in a real environment.”
Not to be forgotten, freshman guard Paul McNeil hit a step-back 3-pointer for his first collegiate bucket and NC State’s final shot of the game, capping off an impressive showing for the new recruits.
“I got three really good freshmen,” Keatts said. “All three are going to show glimpses of being a really good player in this uniform.”
Above all, the energy felt different in the Lenovo Center. Compared to some of NC State’s regular season matchups last season, the crowd was loud and exuberant as the Wolfpack began its 2024-25 campaign. The energy was clearly received from the players as Middlebrooks put on a clinic in the first half. In the span of a minute, the big man recorded his third block of the night and knocked down an uncharacteristic long 2-pointer, then immediately stole the inbound pass and notched two more points for NC State.
“I always pride myself on being an energy guy,” Middlebrooks said. “We felt we had a lot of juice going in with a lot of fans in the building. We’re a real high-paced, high-intensity team, so I’m just trying to feed off my teammates and all the energy going on.”
The Wolfpack returns to Lenovo Center on Friday as it hosts Presbyterian. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. and will be televised on ACC Network Extra.
