Practice has started, the schedule is out, the countdown is on
Season Previews:
This is the first of a series of weekly articles leading up to opening night against USC Upstate on November 4.
- Full Schedule Released
- Reintroducing the team
- Let’s discuss rebounding
- The ‘24-’25 Offense
- The ‘24-’25 Defense
- Who’s going to be the X-Factor this season?
Recruiting News:
The Pack got a commitment from 6’8” 4-star forward Zymicah “Mikey” Wilkins last week. Mikey is a two-time, first team, all-state player from Rutherfordton NC. He led Christ School (Arden) to the NC Independent Schools 4A title this past season. 247 Composite ranks him #81, Rivals #121, and ESPN has him #54 in their ESPN 100. After his commitment, Wilkins said. “But getting back to a Final Four isn’t enough. I want to go get a National Championship, for real. I want to help NC State win and be a dog in the post. … I feel like we’re the hottest team in North Carolina right now. Now we’re ready to prove again why we’re one of the best teams in the country.”
“He is a unicorn in the best sense,” [his current coach] Josh Coley said of the 6-foot-8, 240-pound Wilkins. “He is very, very unique and very special to coach because he can do so much. I think his greatest gift is that he’s never uncomfortable in any place you put him on the floor. No matter where you put him, he’s comfortable and no matter what you ask of him, he will do.” “Who he is as a person speaks milestones, even compared to who he is as a basketball player. And he’s a very, very talented basketball player.”
He joins RJ Greer, 6’4” 4-star guard (ESPN #78, 247 Composite #159, Rivals #131) in our 2025 class.
We’re still in the market for freshmen. Darius Adams and Kaden Magwood have both had official visits and are in play.
New Scheduling Strategy?
The ACC men’s basketball coaches heard from ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi at the ACC Spring Meetings held in mid-May about how the league can get more teams at-large berths in the NCAA Tournament. It will be especially interesting to see if there are noticeable changes in the way ACC teams schedule their Out of Conference (OOC) opponents this season. The Wolfpack seems to be holding on tight to the “4 resume builders and 7 teams you’ve probably heard of” strategy.
The ’24-’25 Schedule
The schedule was released here.
Banners Will Be Raised!
The reigning ACC Champions will raise their 2024 ACC Championship and 2024 Final Four banners to the roof of the Lenovo Center in a pregame ceremony at the first game of the regular season, November 4. That’s a night not to be missed.
Taking a closer look at the OOC Schedule:
We know how important it is that we do as well as possible in the ‘resume builder’ games. The rest of the opponents (which we HAVE to win), are preparation for them. I included Bart Torvik’s anticipated rankings for this coming season.
NOTE: No mention of the previously announced public exhibition with UNC-W on the final schedule. As noted in the earlier schedule article, the proposal to allow open exhibitions was never approved by the NCAA. Instead, we play Lees-McRae as our exhibition game on October 30.
Group 1 – The first month – the 24-day run up to the first three key games.
· 11/4 USC Upstate (Torvik ‘25 ranks #346)
· 11/8 Presbyterian (Torvik ‘25 #305)
· 11/13 Coastal Carolina (Torvik ‘25 #299)
· 11/18 Colgate (Torvik ‘25 #203)
· 11/22 William & Mary (Torvik ‘25 #213)
· 11/28 Purdue (San Diego) (Torvik ‘25 #16)
· 11/29 BYU / Ole Miss (San Diego) (Torvik ‘25 #27 or 39)
· 12/4 Texas (Torvik ‘25 #11)
LAST SEASON – We played 3 games, 2 NET 200s and a ‘300’ during the 17 days stretch leading up to the Vegas tournament in which we beat Vandy, and then ran out of gas and gave up 57 points in the second half against BYU and lost. Following that, we had three days off and went on the road to Ole Miss and collapsed, losing by 20 – our worst loss of the season.
THIS SEASON – We don’t play our first P5 until Thanksgiving, the 28th, so we have an extra week and a couple more games to prepare, versus last season. (it’ll be interesting to see how the team manages the holiday) Plus, based on the Torvik ’25 predictions, the quality of opponent increases over last season. And then we have four days off before coming home to a Saturday afternoon game at a ‘sure to be rocking’ Lenovo Center against Texas.
CONCLUSION – This is a much better start than last season’s schedule.
Group 2 – The 10-day run up to possibly the toughest game of the season, on the road at Kansas
· 12/7 Florida State (Torvik ‘25 #94)
· 12/10 Coppin State (Torvik ‘25 #359) – Reynolds – Heritage Game
· 12/14 Kansas (Lawrence KS) (Torvik ‘25 #4)
LAST SEASON – We had an 18-day gap between our third OOC P5 (Ole Miss) and our neutral court game in Texas against Tennessee. That gap included our first ACC game, an OT win on the road at BC followed by a ‘200’ and a ‘300’. We played Tennessee close; we were within 5 at the 2:03 mark, but unfortunately our offense went cold, and we let it get away.
THIS SEASON – We have a shorter gap, which includes the opponent anticipated to be the weakest in the annual Heritage game (we always want to win that one), and our ACC opener, and then a tougher opponent than last season. Not many teams leave Phog Allen Fieldhouse with a win. Last season BYU was the only one.
CONCLUSION – 10 games leading up to Kansas, including four P5 opponents is pretty good. I’m glad we saved them for last. Good planning.
Group 3 – The final 17-day fine-tuning prior to ACC season beginning full time
- 12/22 Rider (Torvik ‘25 #247)
LAST SEASON – We had an 18-day gap, including a Christmas break and playing another ‘200’ and a ‘300’, prior to going on the road for a rough one at Notre Dame. We trailed that whole game and were finally bailed out by DJ Burns with 0.6 seconds left for the 2-point win.
THIS SEASON – We have a 17-day lead up to a road trip with Virginia. After Kansas we only have Rider and the Christmas break to deal with. UVA is a tough road game to start with, but there should be plenty of practice time to prepare.
CONCLUSION – The OOC schedule is just what Coach Keatts seems to prefer but is more favorably structured than last season. The ACC schedule is what they give us. (thank heavens, no UNC Saturday / Duke Monday combo) Happy to see our one trip to California includes both Cal (Wednesday) and Stanford (Saturday). SMU visits us this season.
However, were I involved in scheduling, I would have tried to schedule tougher teams than Coppin State and Rider as our final OOC opponents. I’ve always been a proponent of playing a couple of the local schools each season, maybe even one on the road (bonding over ice cream) to experience a hostile environment prior to starting the ACC season in earnest. There are several often ranked in the 100s or low 200s, playing them would be great prep.
Let’s tip this thing off!