The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/125393
A New Chapter NC State Basketball Will Have A Cast Of New Faces Next Season N By Matt Carter C State began this past basketball season as the favorite to win the ACC, and the Pack was ranked as high as No. 6 in the preseason polls. The team ended the year tied for fourth in the conference and then lost its first game of the NCAA Tournament to Temple. But while the squad may not have met the lofty preseason expectations, it was not a season devoid of accomplishments. NCSU went 24-11 overall and 11-7 in the ACC, the most conference wins since the Pack went 11-5 in 2003-04. The 48 wins over the past two years marked the most in back-to-back campaigns since the Pack also won 48 contests in 1981-82 and 1982-83, the latter of those a national title-winning season. The 24 wins this year and last represent the most since that championship effort, which yielded 26 victories. Mark Gottfried became the first NC State head coach and just the third in ACC history to lead his team to the NCAA Tournament in his first two seasons. In Wolfpack coaching history, only Everett Case tallied more wins in his first two years on the bench (55) than Gottfried's 48 victories. NC State spent 14 weeks ranked in the top 25 this year and reached the semifinals of the ACC Tournament for the second straight season. The Pack also defeated its Big Four ACC rivals UNC, Duke and Wake Forest in the same season for the first time since 1989. "I think there are a lot of positive things that happened this year, just not as many as we would've liked and not as much as we wanted to accomplish," Gottfried concluded. "But I think our players need to recognize the fact that they have accomplished some things here the last two years, especially the upperclassmen, that haven't Rising sophomore forward T.J. Warren was named to the ACC All-Rookie team after averaging 12.1 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. photo by ken martin been done here in a long time. There are some positives things that have happened, but now it's time to somewhat turn the page and get on to the next chapter." The next chapter will feature some unfamiliar characters. Gone are seniors Richard Howell, a first-team All-ACC center, and Scott Wood, a four-year starter on the wing. Also, junior guard Lorenzo Brown and junior forward C.J. Leslie, both two-time All-ACC selections, have entered the NBA Draft, and freshman guard Rodney Purvis is transferring to Connecticut. "We're going to have some tough things to fill," Gottfried conceded. "We've had a lot of guys that have accomplished a lot the last couple of years. Whether it's rebuilding, restarting, reloading, whatever word, we are going to have a pretty big challenge to replace the guys that have done a lot for our program." That, however, does not dampen Gottfried's enthusiasm. "I will be excited this year," Gottfried said. "Every year has different challenges. This year is going to have some unique challenges that maybe last year's team didn't. We will be tremendously inexperienced. We'll be young. We'll have a number of young guys on the floor at the same time, and this team coming up will have to learn itself who can do what really, and to learn how to be an effective team. "We have a lot of questions, we know it. That's going to be exciting." Here's a look at how the roster is shaping up heading into the offseason. On The Perimeter Despite Brown being an early entrant to the NBA Draft, his departure was expected, and Wood's was a given. Losing Purvis, though, was an unpleasant surprise. That leaves only rising sophomore Tyler Lewis as an experienced backcourt player. Lewis, a former McDonald's All-American, averaged 3.5 points and 1.4 assists in 12.4 minutes per game while backing up Brown. However, Lewis showed his potential in two games State played without Brown. May 2013 ■ 39 38-40,42.Men's BKB Wrapup.indd 39 4/30/13 2:37 PM