As finals week presses on, NC State men’s basketball head coach Kevin Keatts met with the media ahead of Sunday’s road nonconference matchup with UNC-Greensboro. Here are some important takeaways from the presser.

Hellems’ status still unclear

After suffering a scary fall against Wake Forest on Dec. 7 that required him to be stretchered off the court, sophomore forward Jericole Hellems suffered a low-grade concussion and is a game-time decision for Sunday, according to Keatts. Hellems has not practiced all week, though junior guard Braxton Beverly seemed confident that Hellems would try to power through. Hellems is averaging 12.3 points per game this season, so his scoring punch would certainly be missed against a difficult UNC-Greensboro team.

“No, he has not practiced,” Keatts said. “I just have to make sure, number one, with the doctors and trainers that he is fully healthy to be able to go. He has to feel good about it, but I also have to feel good about it, but I have not seen him since the situation that happened. [Hellems] had a low-grade [concussion] early in the week; from what the trainer and the doctor said, he has passed a couple of tests for the concussion. As far as his back goes, it was great news, there were no fractures. We were blessed that he did not fracture anything in his back.”

Dixon could return soon

While the status of Hellems is up in the air, Keatts seemed very optimistic about graduate forward Danny Dixon’s availability moving forward. Dixon has only played in three games for the Pack and seen very limited minutes in those games, but if Hellems is unable to go, Dixon could play some spot minutes at the center position if the team opts to go big for a lineup. While Dixon is healthy, it is unlikely that he will play even if Hellems is not good to go, as Keatts would probably just shorten the rotation as he seemed keen to do so in the presser.

“The promising thing is that Danny Dixon was able to go a couple of days ago and was able to give us something in practice,” Keatts said. “If there is a chance that Jericole won’t play then hopefully we can get something out of Danny, which will give us the ability to play D.J. [Funderburk] a little bit at the power forward spot.”

Keatts viewing UNCG game as a major test for the Pack

The Spartans are 8-2 overall this season, 6-1 at home, and despite not being ranked are a very formidable matchup for the Wolfpack. Keatts is not taking this game lightly.  He said at the presser it could be a huge nonconference game for the Pack, and that games like these are the difference between making and missing the NCAA Tournament. The Spartans are historically good at home and went 15-2 at Greensboro Coliseum last season.

“When you look at UNCG, I give those guys a lot of credit,” Keatts said. “They have stuck with Wes [Miller] for years from when he first started, and as he has built a program; he has done a tremendous job. They have great wins over the years. This year, they have great wins … Wes has done a tremendous job, and it is a great game for us. We have a chance to go on the road and play against a very good mid-major team. We will get a chance to find out what we need to work on, and I like the game. It will be looked upon as a very good game when talking about your nonconference games.”

Finals week presents an interesting conundrum

This past week has been finals week at NC State, and Keatts’ student athletes have had to balance the requirements of a student with the expectations of an athlete. With over a week between games, Keatts has had to find a happy medium between preparing for UNCG and giving his players time to study, prepare for and take their exams. And for a shorthanded NC State team that already typically uses just an eight-man rotation even when fully healthy, the mini-break of exam week has allowed some guys to rest and heal up.

“Our kids … are here because we need them to graduate,” Keatts said. “They’re student-athletes. But it’s tough; if you’re playing well, you want to continue to play. But obviously, you have to take a long week off … It’s been a good week for us. Even though I do think we were playing good basketball [prior to exam week], because we’re only playing really eight guys in the games, we needed the week to be able to get some guys some rest. We needed the week for some guys to study, to take care of their academics. So we’ve tried to break the week up [between basketball and academics].”