The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1043000
NOVEMBER 2018 ■ 31 BASKETBALL PREVIEW 2018-19 By The Numbers 1 Ranking for Duke's five-man recruiting class by Rivals.com in the class of 2018 team rankings. Wing R.J. Barrett was listed No. 1, wing Cameron Reddish was No. 3, post Zion Williamson was No. 5, point guard Tre Jones was No. 14 and forward Joey Baker, the only four-star recruit in the group, was No. 48. 6 Transfers on the Clemson basketball roster, five of which are eligible to play this season, including starters Elijah Thomas (Texas A&M), Shelton Mitchell (Vanderbilt) and Marcquise Reed (Robert Morris). The ACC has 31 transfers playing this season. 7 ACC programs in Sporting News' preseason top 25 — No. 4 Duke, No. 5 Virginia, No. 6 North Carolina, No. 16 Virginia Tech, No. 17 Syracuse, No. 19 Florida State and No. 22 Clemson. 8 Projected first-round picks in the 2019 NBA Draft, according to NBADraft. net, that NC State will play against this season — No. 1 R.J. Barrett of Duke, No. 2 Cameron Reddish of Duke, No. 4 Zion Williamson of Duke, No. 5 Nassir Little of UNC, No. 13 Jaylen Hoard of Wake Forest, No. 16 Nickeil Alexander-Walker of Virginia Tech, No. 29 DeAndre Hunter of Virginia and No. 30 Austin Wiley of Auburn. TOP THREE BACKCOURTS 1. Syracuse The one-two punch of junior Tyus Battle and fifth-year senior Frank Howard lead the way once again. The 6-6, 205-pound Battle pumped in 19.2 points per game last year, and the 6-5, 205-pound Howard broke through to average 14.4 points and 4.7 assists a contest. Both pro- vide great length at the top of the zone defense. 2. NC State The combination of point guard Markell Johnson and wing C.J. Bryce should flourish this season, and sophomore Braxton Beverly could see time behind both of them. The 6-1, 175-pound Johnson averaged 8.9 points, an ACC-best 7.3 assists and 1.7 steals per game. The 6-5, 195-pound Bryce led UNC Wilming- ton with 17.4 points and 5.4 rebounds a contest in 2016-17 on an NCAA Tournament squad. 3. Clemson The Tigers return fifth-year seniors Shelton Mitchell and Marcquise Reed, who started their college careers at Vanderbilt and Rob- ert Morris, respectively. The 6-3, 188-pound Reed led the Tigers with 15.8 points, plus 4.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game, last year. The 6-4, 200-pound Mitchell chipped in 12.2 points and a team-best 3.6 assists per contest, to go along with his 3.0 rebounds per game. TOP THREE FRESHMEN 1. R.J. Barrett, wing, Duke He was ranked as the No. 1 player in the class of 2019, and then reclassified and held on to the top spot in 2018. He had 26 points for the East squad in the McDonald's All-American Game last spring. Barrett also led Canada's squad to a 99-87 win over the United States in the semifi- nals of the U-19 World Championships with 38 points and 13 rebounds in Cairo, Egypt, on July 8, 2017. 2. Zion Williamson, power forward, Duke He averaged 29.7 points and 11.3 rebounds per game during Duke's Canada Tour this past August. Rivals.com ranked Williamson as the No. 5 overall prospect in the class of 2018. He had some injuries his senior year at Spartanburg (S.C.) Day, but still made the McDonald's All-American Game, where he had eight points and five rebounds before getting hurt. 3. Nassir Little, wing, North Carolina He earned MVP honors after scoring 28 points in 21 minutes to help the West squad to a 131-128 win in the McDonald's All-American Game. He was also co-MVP of the Jordan Brand Classic contest after scoring 24 points. Rivals.com ranked the Orlando (Fla.) Christian Prep prod- uct No. 2 overall in the class of 2018. TOP THREE FRONTCOURTS 1. Miami The Hurricanes return starters Dewan Huell, a junior center, and Anthony Law- rence, a senior power forward, and have senior center Ebuka Izundu in reserve. The 6-11, 220-pound Huell started living up to his top-30 prep hype last year with 11.4 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.0 block per game. The 6-7, 207-pound Lawrence averaged 8.8 points and 6.5 rebounds per contest and shot 43.2 percent on three-pointers. 2. Florida State The Seminoles will have a deep group of bigs, led by fifth-year senior power forward Phil Cofer, 7-4 senior center Christ Koum- adje and sophomore post Mfiondu Kaben- gele. The 6-8, 230-pound Cofer broke out last year with averages of 12.8 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. Senior Terance Mann, who averaged 12.6 points and 5.4 boards an outing, can also play both forward spots. 3. North Carolina The Tar Heels will play small ball with senior center Luke Maye and fifth-year senior forward Cameron Johnson, who had offsea- son hip surgery. The 6-8, 240-pound Maye shot 43.1 percent on three-pointers last year, while the 6-9, 210-pound Johnson averaged 12.4 points and shot 34.1 percent from beyond the arc. Sophomore centers Garrison Brooks and Sterling Manley provide depth in the middle.