The Wolfpacker

May 2016 Issue

The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports

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MAY 2016 ■ 55 most visibly upset players after the selec- tions were announced, added: "I wasn't upset for myself as much as my teammates, especially Carlee, because all she talked about was wanting to go to the NCAA [Tournament], and I knew this was her only chance. "That day Coach Moore had asked us if we wanted to go to the WNIT if we didn't make the NCAA, and we all said no be- cause we had no doubt we'd make it. We were all confident that what we'd done during the season was enough. So this was definitely a learning lesson." In looking back at what may have cost NC State an NCAA berth, Moore pointed to a combination of early non-conference, close losses away from home to Seton Hall and Florida (both made the tournament field), and an upset by in-state rival Elon as contributing factors. But the costliest defeats came during the ACC portion of the schedule, when the Pack dropped three games to NCAA qualifiers Louisville, Flor- ida State and Syracuse — all at home — by a combined total of nine points. "If you win one of those, there's no dis- cussion," Moore said. "It's harder to justify leaving you out with 21 wins. But we had our opportunities to make it a no-brainer. We have to make a positive out of this. Hopefully, our kids will have a little chip on their shoulder coming back next year and realize just how urgent every posses- sion in every game is." Despite the heartbreaking end to this season, the 2015-16 Pack can be justifiably proud of an effort that produced 20 wins and the historic sweep of "the blues" after what Moore admitted was a very shaky start. With a record-setting 16-person ros- ter and playing all of its home games at Broughton High School due to the reno- vation of Reynolds Coliseum — which prevented the Pack from having more than a handful of practices in its game-day gym — NC State opened the season with five straight wins but lost promising freshman point guard Kaila Ealy in the fourth game of the season with a knee injury. Spencer filled the role, and she finished first in the ACC in minutes played (37.6), third in assists per game (4.8) and fifth in assists-to-turnover ratio (1.7). She was named second-team All-ACC. "We felt that because of our need at point guard — and Kaila's talent, speed and quickness — that she would maybe have the biggest impact from our freshman class," Moore acknowledged. "I thought Miah handled it great, but losing Ealy did have a trickle-down effect, because Miah would have started on the wing and been the backup at point — now you have to have a different person or persons step in and take those roles." Freshman Camille Anderson, who played in 27 of the Pack's 31 games and started two, became the backup at point, After signing a record-setting six recruits in 2015, NC State coach Wes Moore returned to a more normal-sized recruiting haul last fall with the inking of three incoming freshmen from the class of 2016. Quality beats quantity in this case — the Pack's 2016 class is ranked the 18th best in the country, according to ESPNW, and fourth in the ACC. "It's a good group, and I'm excited about them," Moore said. "We'll have eight perimeter players, which I feel is a good number because you have three starters per team when you're scrimmaging and one sub per team. That also gives us six forward-posts." With four rising seniors, including three perimeter players (Dominique Wilson, Miah Spencer and Ashley Williams) leaving after this coming season, the Pack coaching staff landed two promising guards in Aislinn "Ace" Konig and Kiana "Lucky" Rudd, and a four- star forward in Erika Cassell to fill the void that will be left with the departure of rising senior forward Jenn Mathurin. Konig is a 5-9 guard from Brookswood Secondary School in Surrey, British Columbia in Canada. Ranked a five-star prospect, the No. 38 overall player and the No. 9 guard in the class of 2016 by ESPNW HoopGurlz, Konig was the British Columbia Player of the Year each of the last two seasons and her league's MVP the last three years after leading her Brookswood Bobcats to three straight Provincial championships. Konig once tallied 56 points in a game, and she netted 35 in the Provincial title game this past season. "She's got unbelievable numbers," said Moore. "She can play the point or two-guard, and I think our fans are in for a treat, because as a point guard she can score and involve her teammates." Dan Olson, director of ESPNW HoopGurlz and the Collegiate Girls Basketball Report, added: "Konig has deep range and can beat you off the dribble or from behind the line. She's a crafty, cerebral combo guard who is unselfish, finds her teammates and distributes the ball." Rudd, a 5-9 guard from Thomasville, N.C., is the daughter of former Wake Forest and NBA player Delaney Rudd, who coached her at New Hope Christian Academy her first three years before she played this past season at Forest Trail Academy in Kernersville, N.C. Rudd is the No. 78 overall and No. 19-ranked guard in the class of 2016 and a four-star prospect by ESPNW. She averaged 11.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game to lead Forest Trail to the National Independent School Athletic Association (NISAA) national championship this season, after leading New Hope Christian to the NISAA title as a junior and earning tournament MVP honors. "She's another one who can shoot the three, and her and Ace are both former players' kids so they've been around the game their whole life and understand it," Moore said. Cassell, a 6-2 forward from Marietta, Ga., is the No. 88 overall player and No. 16-ranked forward in the 2016 class. She led Holy Innocents Episcopal School team to the 2016 GHSA state championship, tallying 11 points and 13 boards in the title game, and was a 2016 McDonald's All-American Honorable Mention selection. Cassell also was picked to the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association all-star team and helped Holy Innocents win a school-record 31 games during her junior season. "She's an athletic post who can step out and shoot the three, is very active on the boards and doesn't mind mixing it up in the paint," Moore said. "She doesn't shy away from contact, which is rare — it's getting harder and harder to find kids that don't mind a little contact." "Erika has a workhorse mentality in the paint with post player technique that earns her points in the paint and at the foul line," added Olson. "She gives a consistent effort at both ends of the floor." With the three newcomers, NC State will have a 13-member roster this coming sea - son — which Moore feels is a more workable number than last year's school-record 16. "We're excited about them and the returning freshmen from this year who maybe didn't get a lot of playing time but now have a year of development under their belt," he said. "We can develop some depth which we're going to need with losing four seniors [after next season] who were all starters this past year." — Brian Rapp A Trio Of Newcomers Will Fill Departing Seniors' Roles Junior Miah Spencer took over point guard duties early in the season and averaged 14.1 points and 4.8 assists per game while posting a 1.7 assist-to-turnover ratio. PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN

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