The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1547338
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2026 ■ 49 the first-year coach relied on a five-guard lineup with little height to combat players like Wake Forest's Tim Duncan and North Carolina's Antawn Jamison. It was a learning stretch for Gainey, facing a losing season for the first time in his playing career. "I like to think of myself as a winner, someone who does whatever it takes to win," he said after a particularly tough loss. "But we haven't won in the confer- ence this year. "I would still like to think I'm a winner." The Pack won only four regular- season conference games that season, but Gainey became a lineup fixture. He went on to start 86 consecutive con- tests and eventually started 103 of his final 111 games. The start streak ranks seventh in school history, and his 3,835 career minutes played rank No. 6. That stability and reliability was put on display near Gainey's hometown of High Point. The eighth-seeded Wolf- pack beat Georgia Tech, top-seeded Duke and Maryland in the first three days of the ACC Tournament at the Greensboro Coliseum to become the first team to advance from the play-in game to the final. Gainey played every minute of every game. In the title contest, Gainey again played every minute, this time being guarded for significant time by North Carolina 7-3 center Serge Zwikker. He didn't have a single turnover in the 64-54 loss. Gainey, once thought to be little more than an ACC reserve, earned respect from fans and opponents after becoming the only player to play all 160 minutes across four ACC Tournament games. "His performance in the ACC Tour- nament was quite remarkable," said Sendek, who once hired Gainey to be on his staff at Santa Clara. "He played in every minute of every game. Hell, I don't know if he even had a turnover." To set the record straight, the rou- tinely steady Gainey did have seven miscues in four games but none in the championship contest. "Just playing in the ACC Tournament, which I had grown up watching when it was in Greensboro, was something that I had always dreamed of," Gainey said. "To be able to play and not come out for a single moment, in my hometown — I was in heaven. Coach tried to ask me if I was tired, and I always said, 'No, I don't want to come out.'" Here's the point that sticks out as much as anything else in Gainey's play- ing career: In his first 40 minutes of ACC play, Gainey had 7 turnovers. In his next 200 minutes of league play, he had the same number, a remarkable tribute to growth for someone who seemed over- whelmed in his first taste of ACC action. Gainey suffered a few setbacks after his freshman debut. As a sophomore, an early-season back injury kept him out of three games and significantly reduced his productivity. As a junior, he started the season limited by offseason sur- gery to remove bone spurs in his ankle. However, he finished that campaign by hitting a game-winning three-pointer against Georgia Tech that improved his team's postseason prospects. The Pack eventually qualified for its third consecutive National Invitation Tournament, with Gainey averaging a team-high 34 minutes per game and leading the team in assists and steals. By his senior year, Gainey became the confident leader he needed to be for a team that had Damien Wilkins, rated the nation's No. 1 senior prospect by recruiting analyst Bob Gibbons, and two seasoned veterans in Kenny Inge and Damon Thornton. In NC State's first regular-season men's basketball game at the Entertain- ment and Sports Arena, Gainey scored the final point in a victory over Georgia. He hit a game-winning three-pointer against Purdue and a two-point winner against Maryland. "I'm the oldest guy on the team: Why not me?" Gainey said, preview- ing words that defined NC State's 2024 ACC champion and Final Four team. At the end of his playing career, the Wolfpack advanced to the semifinals of the NIT, where it lost to Wake Forest. "He has come as close as any player I have been around to reaching his poten- tial," Sendek once said. "Although our world has a different measure of suc- cess, perhaps that is the most impor- tant one there is. He has gotten a lot out of himself and established himself as a very good guard and an everyday guy." Yes, Gainey has never been a head coach except for the eighth-grade team at Cary Academy on his first rung on the coaching ladder. But he has climbed steadily for two decades in college bas- ketball to get this opportunity. He, Sendek and his old boss at Ten- nessee, Rick Barnes, believe he is ready to launch his alma mater to the moon. ■ Tim Peeler is a regular contributor to The Wolfpacker and can be reached at tmpeeler@ncsu.edu. As he begins his first season leading his alma mater, Justin Gainey can draw on the perseverance that helped him develop into a dependable point guard under head coach Herb Sendek, making 103 career starts. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE ATHLETICS