The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1523120
40 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BY NOAH FLEISCHMAN t didn't seem likely. NC State needed to win five games in as many days at the ACC Tournament in Washington, D.C., just to earn a bid into the NCAA Tournament. It was title or bust for the Wolf- pack. But NC State didn't approach it that way. The 10th-seeded Pack avoided thinking about the ultimate goal, con- centrating instead on each step along the way. That approach yielded an amazing result. The Wolfpack downed Louisville, Syracuse, Duke, Virginia and top-seeded North Carolina en route to its first ACC Tournament championship since 1987 and an unlikely spot in the Big Dance. It was a historic accomplishment; NC State became the first team in league history to win five games on its way to the title. And the Pack was just getting started. At the NCAA Tournament, NC State handled Texas Tech with ease in the Round of 64, then pulled out a 79-73 overtime win against upstart Oakland to earn a trip to the Sweet 16. Matched up against No. 2 seed Mar- quette, NC State coasted to a 67-58 vic- tory, setting up a clash with Duke in the Elite Eight. It was the teams' third meet- ing of the season, and NC State cruised to a 76-64 win, clinching an appearance in the Final Four for the first time since the 1983 national championship season. The Pack's run finally came to an end against Purdue in the national semifi- nals, 63-50, in front of 74,720 fans at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. But while it fell at the Final Four, NC State's nine consecutive victories turned it into one of the great feel-good stories of the postseason and made it an obvious choice as The Wolfpacker's Male Team of the Year. "When you're in any sport, you want to have a story," NC State coach Kevin Keatts said after the Final Four defeat. "Look at our story. The way this story was written was unbelievable, because in order to win any championship, you have to have highs and lows. We started the season with great highs, in the mid- dle there were some lows, but then some highs. At the end of the regular season there were lows. Look what this team was able to accomplish." Although the Wolfpack did not reach the national championship game, it be- came America's Team. NC State was able to draw interest from neutral fans in nearly every city it played in as the un- derdog, capping the trip in the Arizona desert. "Every win we've gotten, it's felt like a championship," graduate guard DJ Horne said in the postgame locker room at the Final Four. "To see all the joy and the happiness that it's brought our university, our city and everything, how many people got behind us, not just from NC State, but the whole country, it just shows when you come together, stick together, what you can do as a team. I'm just grateful that I was a part of it all." Wolfpack faithful from all around the country backed the squad as it took the world by storm on college basketball's biggest stage. The team helped revive the basketball crowd in Raleigh, which was craving another deep trip into March (and April). "We were just glad we could bring the [basketball] culture back to Raleigh and State fans," forward DJ Burns Jr. said. "They've been waiting a long time. We hope we gave them something they can build on next year." Next year is fast approaching, but there's still time for the Wolfpack to bask in the memories of its miraculous sprint to the Final Four. Keatts, who earned a two-year contract extension by winning the ACC Tournament, plans to sit back and watch each win as a fan before ready- ing to lift a new set of banners into the ceiling of PNC Arena. "When you're making history at your school, that goes a long way," Keatts said. "We're making history. We're hanging banners. This particular group will be for- ever known. A lot of the folks growing up that went to NC State have never had a chance to experience anything like it, and now they do." ■ I 2023-24 YEAR IN REVIEW TEAMS OF THE YEAR MALE TEAM OF THE YEAR AMERICA'S AMERICA'S TEAM TEAM NC State Captures The Country's Imagination With A Miraculous Postseason Sprint Kevin Keatts' team won nine straight postseason games, advancing to NC State's first NCAA Final Four since 1983. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE ATHLETICS