'Why not us' -- again: 5 things to know about NC State basketball in 2024-25

RALEIGH, N.C. — N.C. State’s Final Four run is officially in the rearview mirror as the Wolfpack starts a new season, and the team is excited for another chance to say, “Why not us?”

That underdog mindset drove the Wolfpack through March and April, and the team plans to have that mentality as it enters the 2024-25 season.

N.C. State lost DJ Horne, DJ Burns, Casey Morsell and Mohamed Diarra — three of which play internationally — while returning Jayden Taylor, Michael O’Connell, Ben Middlebrooks, Breon Pass and Dennis Parker to its rotation. Then, it added eight new scholarship players.

Head coach Kevin Keatts and several players continually point to three things that lifted the Pack to its success last season: Competitive drive, team chemistry and selflessness.

Taylor already sees those characteristics on this new roster. The players have built trust through off-court activities and they’ve committed to working hard for the group’s betterment.

“If you’re coming to NC State, a non-negotiable is playing hard, talking every day and being confident. You can’t come here if you’re not going to play hard,” Taylor said. “We have championship DNA on our team. Bringing in the new guys, they’ve all come in with open minds, and they want to win. … I feel like those guys have been nothing but ready to learn.”

Here’s what to know and questions that remain ahead of the season opener on Nov. 4:

Seemingly ideal nonconference schedule

The Wolfpack’s nonconference slate is designed in a way that should allow the team to find a rhythm early in the season before taking on resume-building opponents ahead of ACC play.

N.C. State starts the season with a five-game stretch of mid-major opponents, all at home, which should give the program a chance to experiment with lineups and gain confidence as a group. The team has a number of returning players, but only four played significant minutes together last season. Chemistry might be great in practice, but things can change when playing another team. This should help the Pack work out issues early.

Then, the team faces Purdue in San Diego for a neutral-site matchup and Final Four rematch. It could face BYU or Ole Miss — two other opponents it lost to last season — in the second game of the Rady Children’s Invitational.

N.C. State plays Texas at home and Kansas on the road. The ACC has historically succeeded during the NCAA Tournament, but the number of teams represented has gone down in recent years.

If the Pack hadn’t won the ACC tournament, it would have been left out of March Madness in part due to its strength of schedule. Keatts said he doesn’t want his team to be in that position.

“We didn’t want to get to the end and have such a good year, then don’t have the opportunity to play (in the NCAA Tournament) because someone’s going to hold your nonconference against us,” Keatts said at ACC Tipoff. “If you look around our conference, I think our entire league has raised their level of who they play.”

Sprinkled between those marquee matchups are a pair of nonconference opponents that should provide chances for the Pack to make mid-season adjustments based on the results of the other contests.

What will things look like in the frontcourt?

No one will replace Burns — Keatts has made that abundantly clear. But the Wolfpack hopes to find an efficient rotation at center, likely between Louisville transfer Brandon Huntley-Hatfield and Ben Middlebrooks.

CBS basketball reporter Jon Rothstein predicts Huntley-Hatfield, coming in at 6-foot-10 and 240 pounds, will start. Middlebrooks would come off the bench. Middlebrooks is listed at the same height and weight, and with his postseason experience, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Middlebrooks can — and probably will — start several games.

Things get a little trickier when determining who will be at the power forward spot. The Pack didn’t have a consistent starter at the position until late in the season. It saw stretches with Middlebrooks, Diarra, Parker and even O’Connell starting at the four.

Diarra was the go-to guy down the stretch, starting at power forward in 16 of the last 17 games. He set a new ACC tournament rebounding record, surpassing Tim Duncan, and pulled down 112 of his 311 rebounds in the postseason.

It appears North Carolina/Georgetown transfer Dontrez Styles will fit into that spot. O’Connell and Taylor both complimented Styles at ACC Tipoff, calling him an underrated player. It wouldn’t be a surprise, however, to see Parker, Middlebrooks, Ismael Diouf or Mike James get time.

Keatts reportedly played Huntley-Hatfield at center and Middlebrooks at power forward in a closed scrimmage last week.

At this point, no one should expect a solid rotation for at least a few weeks. Even then, Keatts isn’t afraid to mix things up on a game-to-game basis to try and find something that works.

Overall rotation questions

N.C. State faces questions about the entire rotation, not just the frontcourt. It appears the team should be able to play eight or nine deep during the heart of the season, but there’s little information on who those players will be and their expected minutes.

Taylor can play shooting guard and small forward, but he mostly played the three, but so can James and Parker. Does the Louisville transfer come off the bench in favor of Taylor? Or does he start at shooting guard, leaving Taylor in his typical spot?

And where does Parker fit on the depth chart? He is a versatile player who can play two through four, and earned starting minutes at power forward last season before missing the entire postseason due to illness. He could be Styles’ replacement in the lineup.

Keatts said Breon Pass has also worked to become someone the staff goes to more regularly. He’s competing with Marcus Hill, Paul McNeil, Bryce Heard, Trey Parker and the players who can play multiple positions.

The Pack reportedly lost to South Carolina, 86-78, in a closed scrimmage, but put up nearly 80 points without O’Connell, James, Parker or Heard participating. The quartet is dealing with minor injuries that are expected to be healed by the season opener.

At this point, O’Connell, James, Taylor, Styles and Huntley-Hatfield are the projected starters.

However, there may be seven or eight different lineups fans see throughout the season and everyone will just have to wait and see what those are.

Age and experience matter

N.C. State might have a revamped roster this season, but it has plenty of playing time — even with the new guys.

The Wolfpack has nine upperclassmen on scholarship and two walk-ons. Of the scholarship players, members of the roster have played just over 600 combined games. Five previously played for teams that are now members of the ACC.

Having knowledge of the league, its coaches and what it takes to win on the Power Four level makes a big impact.

Keatts pointed directly to Huntley-Hatfield and James. Their Louisville team struggled last season, winning just eight games, but the lessons they learned will be beneficial to the Wolfpack.

“Whether you win or not, playing in the ACC for a couple years or three years, in some cases,” Keatts said, “man, you cannot ignore that experience that they have.”

Preseason expectations are low again

The Associated Press Top 25 and ACC preseason poll were recently released. Looking at them, there’s no indication N.C. State is coming off an ACC championship or Final Four.

The Wolfpack was picked to finish No. 8 in the league. That’s still in the top half of the 18-team conference, but not close to being a title contender again. The team didn’t receive a single vote for the AP Top 25.

The lower expectations make sense in some respect — N.C. State lost Burns, Horne and Diarra to the pro ranks — but Keatts brought in talented new faces who should supplement the returners nicely.

Taylor said at ACC Tipoff that the team can’t control what anyone says, but the squad will use it as motivation to try and prove the doubters wrong again.

“It’s just fuel, and once people realize that, they’ll stop,” Taylor said. “But we don’t really feed into it. If anything, we like it that way.”