Is someone going to be a ‘happy surprise’ like Mo Diarra or Michael O’Connell last season?’ That is the quintessential question.
Basketball News & Notes:
- Mike James missed Primetime With The Pack reportedly due to a minor illness. He is not expected to miss the start of the season.
Season Previews:
This is the final in a series of six weekly articles leading up to opening night against USC Upstate on November 4. (Banners will go up!) This final article will be published in five smaller segments this week.
- Full Schedule Released – Taking a look at new Wolfpack committment Mikey Wilkins; New schedule released; Analyzing the OOC schedule
- Re-introducing the ‘24-’25 players – Breakdown on all 13 players
- What about rebounding? – This team should be much, much better.
- Where’s the offense going to come from? – We’ve got scorers!
- Taking a Look At The ‘24-’25 Defense – This could be a really good defensive team.
- Countdown Week: Who’s going to be the X-Factor this season?
- Monday – The Likely Startering Lineup
- Tuesday – Marcus Hill
- Wednesday – Paul McNeil
- Thursday – Dennis Parker, Jr
- Friday – Ben Middlebrooks, and a couple of Honorable Mentions
Who’s Going To Surprise Us This Season?
While we start each season with certain expectations, part of the fun is seeing who will surprise us during the season. Preferably in a good way. Discounting the extremely late pickup of Kam Woods, our last two transfers signed in 2023 were Mo Diarra and Michael O’Connell. I’d give the nod to Mo as the biggest surprise, but you could certainly say that Michael was a nice surprise last season as well.
Five surprises from last season:
- DJ Horne – 40.4% 3PT, up from 35.5% the previous season, set team record with 105 3PT made in a season
- Casey Morsell – 27% 3PT, down from 41.1% the previous season
- DJ Burns – 117 assists from a center!
- Mo Diarra – 14 games with double digit rebounds. Double-double machine, 5 during post season – hit 21 3PT shots. Nobody saw ‘Ramadan Mo’ coming.
- Michael O’Connell – Led the team in assists while only starting 22 games. 50% 3PT shooting during the postseason run.
Expectations – The probable starting lineup to start the season
I believe this year’s team could have an ACC top tier, very experienced, starting lineup. We’ll most likely start the season with O’Connell (98 starts), Huntley-Hatfield (66 starts), Styles (32 starts), James (64 starts) and Taylor (71 starts). (“James Taylor”?) There is an argument to be made that each of these guys could have his best season.
1. O’Connell – To start the season, he is the face of the team. What could be better than having your PG be a 5th year player, who has started 98 P4 games, won an ACC championship and been to the Final Four? His confidence level is peaking, he’s reported to be a vocal leader in practice. We know he will shoot more this season, if they go in, he’s scary. He’ll have a strong inside player to feed – one that is good at the P&R, one that will immediately go to the rim, rather than DJB’s patented drive from outside. (and Michael’s assist numbers will go up) He’ll also have at least two good 3PT shooters to dish to in Styles and Taylor.
2. Taylor – You might argue that JT had his career best season. While his minutes and points per game went down a little, his FG% and 3PT% increased while the rest of his stat line stayed about the same as his previous season, He is a great defender and will be assigned the opponent’s best guard every night. He is a returning senior and he knows the system. And he’s got a ring. This should be his best season.
3. James – MJ was the guy that got the tough basket for Louisville last season. He might fit the same role for the Pack. He’s not a great shooter from the field (39.6% / 34%), historically he’s been either really good, or not good at all from 3PT. But he is an excellent paint touch guy, and an outstanding free throw shooter (81.8%). As players mature, they get more consistent. He’s got experience, this is his third season playing plus he redshired his freshman season due to injury. I would hope we see more consistency this season. If so, he could be a star. The good news is, he’s got another season of eligibility and should only get better.
4. Styles – Trez is a one of those talented Kinston (NC) boys, in the footsteps of Brandon Ingram, Reggie Bullock, Jerry Stackhouse, and the original Shack – our own Charles Shackleford. He is a very good shooter (43% / 36.8% / 77.6%) and good rebounder (5.8 pg). He did nothing in two seasons at Chapel Hill, he broke out last season at Georgetown and was 2nd on that team in minutes, scoring, rebounds and 1st in blocked shots. He’s the player we’ve heard most frequently mentioned as standing out in practice.
5. Huntley-Hatfield – BHH was a 5-star player coming out of HS, recruited to Tennessee. He hit his potential last season, by far the best season of his career. He is a legit threat to give us a double-double every night. If he continues to improve off last season, the NBA will be interested. This is his ‘NBA resume’ season. Nobody can replace the huge personality of DJ Burns, but I think we’re going to love this big guy too. Somebody get him some shades!
What About The Bench? Who’s Going To Be Our X-Factor?
This season’s bench might have the most potential of any we’ve had in a while, quite possibly ever. Consider this:
- In Hill we have a 20 ppg player, D1’s leading returning scorer.
- In Diouf we have the #1 overall pick in this year’s Canadian pro basketball draft.
- In McNeil we have the player who scored the most points (71) ever in a NC high school game.
- Returnees Dennis Parker, Jr. and Ben Middlebrooks would start on many other teams.
Our bench has players that could come into a game and be the difference maker. As a matter of fact, if this season ends up being a really good one, it might very well be due to one (or more) of the guys that start the season on the bench.
Over the next four days, we’ll discuss four players that I expect to begin the season coming off the bench – each for different reasons – but who might be starters at some point. Each of which I think could be X-Factors this season.
ONE WEEK TO GO!