The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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NOVEMBER 2014 ■ 29 WOLFPACK BASKETBALL PREVIEW year early to pursue professional dreams. "Obviously, you have a lot of guys leave to the NBA early, sometimes too early," Gottfried said. "You've got nearly 600 kids transferring [in college basketball each year]. It shifts a little bit in that you almost have to build your roster every year, and anticipate that somebody may leave." Gottfried still expects NC State to achieve its fourth straight NCAA Tour- nament berth, behind his great recruiting class and five players that each earned at least 11 starts last year. "I think we are an unproven team, and we have a lot of unproven players that need to take a major step forward," Gottfried said. "I'm excited about our young guys. We have seven freshmen and sophomores who have a great opportunity to take a big step forward." Deep Talent Pool NC State will once again be one of the most talented teams in the ACC. Rivals. com ranked eight Wolfpack players in the top 150 coming out of high school, includ- ing three in the top 45. Senior wing Des- mond Lee was also an accomplished junior college player. "Competition will always make you bet- ter and you can't be afraid of competition as a player," Gottfried said. "If you are afraid of competition, don't come here. We want to recruit great players every year. "I like our team and the talent that we have." Gottfried has 10 recruited scholarship players, but doesn't always prefer to play that many. He has typically gone with eight-player rotations, and last year it was nine. "I like the fact that we have depth, but I've never been a coach that night in, night out plays 10 guys," Gottfried said. "Last year, we played nine pretty regularly. Each year is different. How your team develops and the identity they take on and how you need to play to win [will determine the rotation]. I do feel we have competition at every position." Gottfried's first two teams at NC State featured balanced scoring, with five dif- ferent players averaging in double figures. The 2012-13 season had five players score between 12.1 and 15.1 points per game. The Wolfpack will need significant jumps in post scoring to again feature five differ- ent double-digit scorers. "If you look at last year, we had three freshman post players in BeeJay [Anya], Lennard [Freeman] and Kyle [Washing- ton], and Kyle was good enough to go to Syracuse and get 14 points and 10 re- bounds," Gottfried said. "I think collec- tively that group of interior players should be better offensively for us. "It should be pretty balanced scoring, and I don't know if this team has to rely on one guy to score." The 6-9, 225-pound Washington is the leading returning scorer among the three post players, after he averaged 4.8 points per game and shot 43.5 percent from the field in 2013-14. The post players will also need to improve at the free throw line, with Washington, Anya and Freeman combining to shoot 49.3 percent. Anya has shed at least 55 pounds and is listed at 6-9 and 295 pounds. He blocked 46 shots in 33 games last year, but is still a work in progress. The 6-8, 250-pound Freeman averaged 4.0 points and 5.7 re- bounds, with the latter number tops among returning players. "They will have to do much more," Gott- fried said. "They are unproven at the level they need to be at for us to be a really good basketball team." Perimeter Playmakers The perimeter players could be the strength of the team, with Lacey, soph- omore point guard Anthony Barber and fifth-year senior wing Ralston Turner lead- ing the way. The Wolfpack will also be deep on the wings with the Martin twins, who were both top-85 recruits, and Lee, who started 19 games last year. The 6-3, 213-pound Lacey is receiving the most preseason buzz and is expected to have a good season. He averaged 11.3 points per game and shot 37.3 percent from three-point range at Alabama in 2012-13, but will need to improve upon his 39.2-percent mark from the field. The former Rivals.com five-star prospect has lost about 20 pounds over the last year, which will help him with his backup point guard duties. "Lacey sat out a year and is new to this league," Gottfried said. "He had two re- ally good years at Alabama, but now he needs to prove that he is one of the premier guards in the ACC." The 6-5, 205-pound Turner finished second on the team in scoring last year at 10.5 points per game, and he shot 40.6 percent from the field and 37.2 percent from three-point range. Two-thirds of his field goal attempts (207 of 310) came from beyond the arc. Lee and Barber both started well before hitting the wall in ACC action. The Tide- water area duo came off the bench and provided a spark down the stretch. The 6-2, 180-pound Barber was third on the team in scoring with 8.5 points per game, and tal- lied a season-high 26 against North Caro- lina Central. The 6-4, 200-pound Lee was right behind at 8.4 points per contest, and poured in 24 in the season opener against Appalachian State. Barber is the lone true point guard on the roster, and the Wolfpack's postseason hopes rest with his great speed and ability to create his own shot. He'll need to im- prove his jump shot (26.1 percent on three- pointers) and shot selection for NCSU to compete for a top finish in the ACC. "I believe in Cat Barber, but it is time for him to step up to another level," Gottfried said. The coach doesn't mince his words in that he wants the Wolfpack to be "a team that scores a lot of points." He also will need the younger players to improve on the defensive end. The Wolfpack allowed Head coach Mark Gottfried has compiled a 70-36 record at NC State, and last season he became just the third coach in ACC history to take his school to the NCAA Tournament in each of his first three campaigns. PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN