The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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NOVEMBER 2017 ■ 37 BASKETBALL PREVIEW 2017-18 Top Five Players 1. BONZIE COLSON Senior • Power Forward • Notre Dame The native of New Bedford, Mass., was named Blue Ribbon Basketball Yearbook's preseason National Player of the Year. The 6-6, 224-pound Col- son averaged 17.8 points, 10.1 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game last year. 2. JOEL BERRY II Senior • Point Guard • North Carolina The 6-0, 195-pound Berry will miss around three weeks in November due to a broken hand. Last year he averaged 14.7 points and 3.6 assists per game, and shot 38.3 percent from three-point land. He had 22 points and six assists to help defeat Gonzaga 71-65 in the national title game. 3. MARVIN BAGLEY III Freshman • Power Forward • Duke The basketball prodigy from Phoenix attended high school for just three years. The 6-11, 234-pounder averaged 25.8 points, 14.9 rebounds and 3.1 blocks per game, and shot 63.2 per- cent from the field in 18 Nike Elite Youth Basketball League games this past spring and summer before deciding to enroll a year earlier than planned for college. 4. JEROME ROBINSON Junior • Point Guard • Boston College The former Raleigh Broughton High standout aver- aged 18.7 points and 3.4 assists per game last year. The 6-6, 191-pounder scored in double figures in all but five games last year, and scored at least 20 points in 17 contests. 5. BEN LAMMERS Senior • Center • Georgia Tech The 6-10, 234-pounder went from deep reserve to one of the top players in the ACC last year. He averaged 3.6 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game in 2015-16, and improved to 14.2 points, 9.2 rebounds and 3.4 blocks per game while shooting 51.6 percent from the field a year ago. By The Numbers 5 ACC teams are ranked in ESPN.com's pre- season top 25, though it hasn't been updated since Louisville fired coach Rick Pitino. Duke is at No. 1, Miami No. 11, UNC No. 16, Louisville No. 17 and Notre Dame No. 20. 7 ACC coaches are 57 years or older, with five who are at least 67 — UNC coach Roy Wil- liams (67 years old), Miami's Jim Larranaga (68), FSU's Leonard Hamilton (69), Duke's Mike Krzyze- wski (70) and Syracuse's Jim Boeheim (72). 12 ACC colleges were ranked in KenPom. com's top 68, with Duke and Virginia lead- ing the way at No. 6 and No. 9, respectively. 13 Class of 2018 basketball recruits in the Rivals.com top 100 have committed to ACC schools through Oct. 26, including NC State forward commit Jericole Hellems of St. Louis Chami- nade (No. 99). 16 Transfers playing this season among ACC schools, including NC State's Sam Hunt (North Carolina A&T), Allerik Freeman (Baylor) and Torin Dorn (Charlotte). Top Three Freshmen 1. Marvin Bagley III, power forward, Duke: The gifted 6-11, 234-pound Bagley reclassified this summer and moved into the class of 2017 to get a jump on his professional career. Rivals.com ranked him No. 2 in the class of 2017, but also had him No. 1 throughout his time in the class of 2018. DraftExpress.com has him slotted for the third overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. 2. Wendell Carter, center, Duke: The 6-10, 259-pounder from Atlanta is listed No. 10 by DraftEx - press.com for the 2018 NBA Draft. Rivals.com ranked Carter No. 7 overall nationally in the class of 2017. 3. Trevon Duval, point guard, Duke: The athletic 6-3, 186-pound Duval of Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy was rated No. 5 overall nationally in the class of 2017 by Rivals.com. DraftExpress.com ranks him No. 11 for the 2018 NBA Draft. Top Three Frontcourts 1. Duke: Freshmen Wendell Carter, Marvin Bagley and Gary Trent Jr. all enter college with impressive prep credentials. Add in sophomore cen - ter Marques Bolden and sophomore power forward Javin DeLaurier, and depth shouldn't be an issue. 2. Louisville: Louisville's depth in the post paves the way. Six different players are listed 6-7 or taller and that doesn't include former McDon- ald's All-American Brian Bowen, who is being held out as the FBI investigation plays itself out. Senior center Anas Mahmoud, junior power forward Ray Spalding and freshman power forward Malik Williams could form a quality trio. 3. Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets have a quality center in senior Ben Lammers and a top up-and-coming small forward with sophomore Josh Okogie, but need help at power forward. Freshmen Evan Cole and Moses Wright could log time at power forward, or Georgia Tech could play small ball with Okogie sliding down to the post. Top Three Backcourts 1. Wake Forest: Junior Bryant Craw- ford and redshirt junior Keyshawn Woods meshed well last year. Craw- ford was second on the team in scoring at 16.2 points per game, while Woods was third with 12.5 points per contest and shot an impres- sive 34.8 percent from three-point land. Senior combo guard Mitchell Wilbekin is a former starter and sophomore point guard Brandon Childress provides depth. 2. Boston College: The statistics are stellar, but the wins were few for North Carolina products Jerome Robinson and Ky Bowman. The latter averaged 14.3 points per game and shot 44.9 percent from beyond the arc. 3. Miami: Senior point guard Ja'Quan Newton is as tough as they come and is great at driving to the basket off high-ball screens. He aver- aged 13.5 points and 3.4 assists per game last year. Sophomore shooting guard Bruce Brown was stellar in his ACC debut and is a top NBA Draft prospect. Sophomore wing Dejan Vasiljevic provides long-range shooting off the bench. Notre Dame senior forward Bonzi Colson, who led the ACC in rebounding (10.1 boards per game) and finished ninth in scoring (17.8 points per contest) in 2016-17, was tabbed as the preseason National Player of the Year by Blue Ribbon Basketball Yearbook. PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND Top Passer Notre Dame senior point guard Matt Farrell was 29th in the country with 5.2 assists per game in 2016-17. The 6-1, 176-pounder dished out at least seven assists in 11 games last year, and is expected to have full control of the Fighting Irish this season. Top Shooter Virginia sophomore shooting guard Kyle Guy ranked seventh in the nation after draining 50 of 99 (50.5 percent) three-pointers last year. He tied his season high with five three-pointers en route to 19 points in a 70-55 win over NC State Feb. 25. ACC Outlook The Key Teams And Players From NC State's Conference Matchups