The Wolfpacker

January 2019

The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports

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JANUARY 2019 ■ 29 WOLFPACK BASKETBALL of his three-point field goals and even missed two crucial free throws to finish with one points and four assists in 23 min- utes. Keatts joked — or maybe not — that Beverly's beard would be undergoing changes after his 0-of-4 effort. "I told him if he ever went 0 for 4, he had to get rid of his beard," Keatts said. At the prodding of his coach or not, Bev- erly became clean-shaven right before the Vanderbilt contest. The beardless Beverly went 1 of 7 from the field for four points and contributed three assists in the 80-65 win over the Commodores in Miami. Beverly is averaging 7.1 points and 2.7 assists in 23.9 minutes per game while shooting 30.0 percent from the field and 34.2 percent on three-pointers through eight games. Freshman Jericole Hellems Is Learning To Play Multiple Positions NC State head coach Kevin Keatts had teased that, if called upon, freshman for- ward Jericole Hellems would be the Wolf- pack's third-string center following the transfer of freshman Ian Steere. Sure enough, against Saint Peter's Nov. 20, there was the 6-7 Hellems as the de facto "tallest" NCSU player after red- shirt sophomore DJ Funderburk picked up his second foul on a made free throw with 9:17 left in the first half and then redshirt junior Wyatt Walker got his second foul with 5:56 left in the half. Hellems also ended up playing some center against Wisconsin in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge Nov. 27, battling Badgers star center Ethan Happ in the post. "Coach really doesn't like positions. He stresses that you can work the one through five," Hellems said. "He told us we could switch one through five while Wyatt and DJ were in foul trouble." Hellems has provided a strong boost off the bench, averaging 7.1 points in 15.4 minutes per game, and he was 8 of 20 on three-pointers (40.0 percent) through eight contests. "I'm not ready to call him the microwave yet," Keatts said. "He can score off the bench. He's a talented freshman and he works hard. He deserves to play well." Hellems has solidified a spot in the rota- tion, and has scored at least nine points in four different contests. He had a season- high 13 points and three three-pointers in the 95-49 win over Maryland Eastern Shore Nov. 10. "I work out with the bigs every day," Hellems said. "I just try and take bits and pieces from Wyatt's game and DJ's game. I am just trying to learn and soak everything in as a freshman." Freshman Ian Steere Leaves Program Freshman center Ian Steere left the NC State basketball team Nov. 12 after playing in just one game. Steere was not in attendance for the con- test against Maryland Eastern Shore on Nov. 10 and used that weekend to mull his final decision. He then talked for a final time with head coach Kevin Keatts and elected to transfer. The Sanford, N.C., native quickly sched- uled an official visit to St. John's and ver- bally committed to play for the Red Storm Nov. 23. Creighton, Virginia Tech, Nevada and Cincinnati also reportedly showed in- terest in the 6-9, 260-pounder. Rivals.com ranked Steere at No. 138 overall in the country in the class of 2018. He originally verbally committed to Creighton, but then backed out on the Bluejays and zeroed in on NC State. Steere was the last player to check in against Chowan in the exhibition game and against Mount St. Mary's in the sea- son opener. He had four points and four rebounds in five minutes of action against Mount St. Mary's. Steere's departure gives NC State two scholarships to use for the spring signing period. ■ 2018-19 NC State Men's Basketball Schedule Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Oct. 29 Chowan! W, 111-62 Nov. 6 Mount St. Mary's W, 105-55 Nov. 10 Maryland Eastern Shore W, 95-49 Nov. 13 UNC Asheville W, 100-49 Nov. 17 Maine W, 82-63 Nov. 20 Saint Peter's W, 85-57 Nov. 24 Mercer W, 78-74 Nov. 27 at Wisconsin% L, 79-75 Dec. 1 vs. Vanderbilt^ W, 80-65 Dec. 5 Western Carolina# (ACCNE) 7 p.m. Dec. 15 vs. Penn State$ (ESPNU) 2 p.m. Dec. 19 Auburn (ESPN2) 7 p.m. Dec. 22 USC Upstate (RSN) 12 p.m. Dec. 28 Loyola (Md.) (ACCNE) 7 p.m. Jan. 3 at Miami* (ESPN/ESPNU) 7 p.m. Jan. 8 North Carolina* (ESPN/ESPN2) 9 p.m. Jan. 12 Pittsburgh* (Raycom) 12 p.m. Jan. 15 at Wake Forest* (Raycom) 8 p.m. Jan. 19 at Notre Dame* (Raycom) 2 p.m. Jan. 24 at Louisville* (Raycom) 8 p.m. Jan. 26 Clemson* (Raycom) 2 p.m. Jan. 29 Virginia* (ESPN/ESPN2) 7 p.m. Feb. 2 Virginia Tech* (Raycom) 12 p.m. Feb. 5 at North Carolina* (Raycom) 8 p.m. Feb. 9 at Pittsburgh* (Raycom) 2 p.m. Feb. 13 Syracuse* (Raycom) 8 p.m. Feb. 16 at Duke* (ESPN/ESPN2) TBA Feb. 20 Boston College* (RSN) 7 p.m. Feb. 24 Wake Forest* (ESPNU) 6 p.m. Mar. 2 at Florida State* (ESPN/ESPN2) 12 p.m. Mar. 6 Georgia Tech* (RSN) 9 p.m. Mar. 9 at Boston College* (RSN) 2 p.m. Mar. 12-16 ACC Tournament+ TBD ! Exhibition; % Big Ten-ACC Challenge; ^ Hoophall Miami In- vitational in Miami; # Reynolds Coliseum; $ Boardwalk Clas- sic in Atlantic City, N.J.; * ACC game; + at Charlotte; ACCNE — ACC Network Extra; RSN — Regional Sports Network Beverly shaved off his beard before the Vanderbilt game, an 80-65 victory for the Pack. PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN The 6-6 Hellems is listed as a forward on the roster, but has played a little bit of everything eight games into his Wolfpack career, includ- ing some time as a de facto center. PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN

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