History says don’t doubt NC State. Why it isn’t down ahead of the ACC Tournament
N.C. State trailed No. 10 seed Louisville by double digits in the first half of the first round of the ACC Tournament on March 12, 2024. Many speculated, if the team lost, the school would fire head coach Kevin Keatts immediately.
Most casual college basketball fans know what happened next. The Wolfpack not only came back to win but rattled off five victories in five days to secure the ACC Championship. It earned the conference’s automatic bid and eventually reached the Final Four. The Cinderella postseason came after N.C. State looked dead in the water, losing four in a row to end the regular season.
Almost two years have passed since that opening round contest with Louisville. This season’s squad, now led by Will Wade, opens the postseason 729 days later. The situation isn’t exactly the same — Wade isn’t on the hot seat and the Pack doesn’t need to win out to make the March Madness field — but it’s similar.
Senior walk-on Jordan Snell was on the 2024 team. He held the ball when N.C. State upset North Carolina for the ACC title. He knows this year’s group is different but understands firsthand that anything can happen in March.
“We’re actually in a better position than we were (in 2024), because we get to play on Wednesday, not Tuesday,” Snell said on Saturday after N.C. State’s 85-84 loss to Stanford. “Every team I’ve been on, my freshman year, we ended on a losing streak. Sophomore year, ended on a losing streak. I can bring a little bit of composure to the locker room. … I can really help this team out with that, because it’s a new season starting Wednesday.”
This isn’t exactly unfamiliar territory for N.C. State, the ACC or even Wade.
Virginia Tech beat Duke and North Carolina en route to the 2022 ACC title, needing to win out for the automatic bid.
VCU was on the bubble in 2011 when Wade was Shaka Smart’s assistant. The Rams picked up a couple of wins in the conference tournament, earned an at-large bid and made it to the Final Four as an 11 seed.
The Wolfpack won the national championship in 1983 after winning nine straight postseason games.
What N.C. State needs to make NCAA field
This season’s Wolfpack (19-12) has the metrics and resume to make the NCAA Tournament. Many bracketologists have considered the team a lock, but it could use a win or two. Having a 20-win record would provide momentum, confidence and dispel any concerns the selection committee may have about the team’s inclusion.
“Our resume is not complete,” Wade said. “We’re gonna have some opportunities in Charlotte, and we hopefully can close them out and take advantage of that.”
N.C. State wasn’t always in this uncertain position. It went from a solid start in ACC play to ending the regular season on a four-game losing streak. It went 2-6 in the final month. Ven-Allen Lubin, the senior forward, said the team was one or two possessions away from wins in several contests.
On an individual level, several players struggled down the stretch. Darrion Williams, the preseason ACC Player of the Year, shot 34.7% from the field in the final eight games. He was on the opposing Texas Tech team during N.C. State’s miracle run in 2024.
Michigan State transfer Tre Holloman was limited to 16 points in the five games leading up to Saturday. Even Paul McNeil wasn’t as efficient as he can be, shooting 31.3% in the last four.
Missed opportunities
With two weeks left, the Wolfpack still had an opportunity to finish top 4 in the ACC — even after blowing leads to Georgia Tech and Miami — and a shot to tie the program record for most wins in a conference season. It didn’t have to win out, either. N.C. State needed to go 2-2.
Instead, the Wolfpack went 0-4 during that stretch and is metaphorically limping into the postseason.
“Obviously we would have loved to finish top four, but that’s not the way it worked,” Snell said. “We know that was attainable for us, but we just didn’t get it done. You can use that as motivation, and that can help propel you to some important wins that we’re going to need in the ACC Tournament.”
Wade said N.C. State experienced some “fluky” things”, missed shots it could make and didn’t make some of the hustle plays that would alter outcomes.
His team still has another opportunity this week. It opens the tournament with a guaranteed rematch, either against Stanford or Pittsburgh.
“Anything can happen, but we’ve got to make it happen,” Wade said. “We can’t hope and talk about it. We got to, we got to make it happen. … We should certainly be, you know, three or four games better than we are, but we’re not. You are what your record says you are. Unfortunately for us, that includes a bunch of close losses and overtime losses. You don’t get any points for trying. You get points for winning, and we haven’t won enough.”
