The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/89497
BKB PREVIEW 12-13 THE TIME IS NOW T Has NC State Taking Aim At Lofty Goals BY JACEY ZEMBAL A Blend Of Experience And Talent he excitement and energy is back in the NC State men's basketball program, and for good reason. Last season, NC State went 24-13 overall and 9-7 in the ACC, reaching the semifinals of the ACC Tournament and the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, where the Pack fell to eventual national runner-up Kansas 60-57. Now, NC State returns four starters — including a pair of pre- season ACC Player of the Year candidates — and welcomes Rivals. com's No. 4-ranked recruiting class for 2012, which features three McDonald's All-Americans. The hype machine has been humming along throughout the offseason, and NC State fans have taken notice. The season-tipoff event Primetime With The Pack drew a robust crowd of 10,257 fans Oct. 12. NC State second-year head coach Mark Gottfried has rejuvenated the program, but he does have some words of wisdom in tempering expectations. "I'll go around town and people say, 'Coach, what a great year last year!'" Gottfried said. "The truth of the matter is, it wasn't a great year. It was a great finish. We had a really fun finish, and it was exceptional for our group. But our year wasn't great. We were just OK. I think in general our program has to take another step." Last season, in his first year as head coach at NC State, Mark Gottfried led the Wolfpack to a 24-13 mark, including runs to the semifinals of the ACC Tournament and the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. PHOTO BY LARRY BLANKENSHIP The next step will be led by junior point guard Lorenzo Brown, junior power for- ward C.J. Leslie, senior center Richard Howell and senior wing Scott Wood, who have been the backbone of the rebuild- ing job. Wood always hoped to revive NC State's program, even talking about it dur- ing the recruiting process four years ago. He's glad to see the turnaround and have it happen before he graduates. "I wanted it a lot sooner, but it's nice to bring back that history and get fans ex- cited," Wood said. "That was my main fo- cus — to get NC State back to where they needed to be on the map. I feel like we have the expectations there, and that's big for us, but it's not what I'm settling for. I'm settling on getting one of those big banners at the PNC Arena." Preseason pundits have NC State in the discussion as one of the top-15 teams in the country, and some even place the Pack in the national top five. "It's nice to get all the accolades and for people to say you are No. 4, 5, 6, 9, 10 in the nation," Wood said. "It's all great and dandy, but at the end of the day it [only] matters where you finish. That has always been my outlook." Gottfried is concerned with how his players deal with the added attention. He knows the preseason acclaim doesn't mean anything. "They have to handle it well, and that's a question," Gottfried said. "They've got to be able to understand that to be a great team, and they want to be a great team, the price is high. "One thing we talk about with the team, regardless of where anyone else thinks you are going to finish, it's no different than last year. We were picked near the bottom and that's not something we paid much attention to last year. That's not something we are going to pay attention to this year regardless of where you are going to be picked." Leslie often talked about competing for titles even before he had played his first game at NC State. The athletic power for- ward averaged 14.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.6 blocks as a sophomore, and he is starting to learn that his teammates feed off NOVEMBER 2012 ■ 21