2024 North Carolina Sports Network
Atlantic Coast Conference Basketball Spotlight:
North Carolina State

By Ben McCormick
North Carolina Sports Network

School: North Carolina State University

Location: Raleigh, N.C.

Previous Conference Affiliations: Independent (1912-1921), Southern Conference (1921-1953)

ACC Member Since: 1953-54

ACC Ranking Among 32 Leagues (KenPom): 5th (2024), 7th (2023), 5th (2022), 5th (2021), 4th (2020)

NCAA Tournament Bids: 28 (1950, 1951, 1952, 1954, 1956, 1965, 1970, 1974, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2023)

NCAA Championships: 2 (1974, 1983)

Final Fours: 3 (1950, 1974, 1983)

Conference Titles: 17 (1929, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952 in SoCon; 1954, 1955, 1956, 1959, 1965, 1970, 1973, 1974, 1983, 1987 in ACC)

Conference 1st-Place Finishes: 13 (1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1953 in SoCon; 1955, 1956, 1959, 1973, 1974, 1985, 1989 in ACC)

Head Coach: Kevin Keatts, 51, 7th season at NC State, 129-88 (.594)

As A Player: Ferrum (1991-95)

Record As Head Coach (through Feb. 19): 201-116 (.634) in 9+ seasons

Previous HC Experience: Hargrave Military Academy/prep school (1999-2001; 2003-11), UNC Wilmington (2014-17)

AC Experience: Southwest Michigan/NJCAA (1996-97), Hargrave Military Academy (1997-99), Marshall (2001-03), Louisville (2011-14)

Assistant Under: Greg White, Rick Pitino

2022-23 Record: 23-11, 12-8 (6th in 15-team ACC)

2023-24 Preseason Prediction (Coaches/Media): 7th in 15-team ACC

2023-24 Record (Through Feb. 19): 16-9, 8-6 ACC

2023-24 Midseason Ranking (NET/KenPom): #75/#73 nationally (8th/8th in ACC)

Remaining Regular-Season Schedule: Syracuse (2/20), Boston College (2/24), at Florida State (2/27), at UNC (3/2), Duke (3/4), at Pitt (3/9)

Kevin Keatts is still searching for that elusive first NCAA Tournament win as a head coach. While there’s no telling when — or if — that will come, the Wolfpack has become a solid program on Keatts’ watch, with only a single losing record and just one sub-.500 ACC mark during his seven seasons in Raleigh.

Last year’s sensational backcourt pairing of Terquavion Smith and Jarkel Joiner helped N.C. State reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017-18, Keatts’ first season with the Wolfpack.

With Smith (Philadelphia 76ers) and Joiner off to the NBA and the G League, respectively, State again was forced to lean into the transfer portal, where Keatts has had tremendous recruiting success in years past.

From the portal emerged DJ Horne, a talented 6-foot-2 guard who leads the Wolfpack in scoring (17.2 points per game), 3-point shooting (43.3%), free throw shooting (83.1%) and steals (35).

A fifth-year college player, Horne likely will receive all-conference honors in the same league he grew up watching. Raleigh is Horne’s hometown, and his family now lives in next-door Cary, about a 10-minute drive from PNC Arena.

Horne began his career at Illinois State, where he played for two seasons, earning All-Freshman recognition as a rookie and third-team All-Missouri Valley Conference honors as a sophomore. For the last two seasons, he was the point guard for legendary former Duke point guard Bobby Hurley, now the head coach at Arizona State.

While Horne — now a five-year college starter who has a chance at 2,000 career points — was Keatts’ biggest catch from the portal last year, he certainly wasn’t the only one.

Jayden Taylor has been a standout for State’s backcourt this season as well. The Butler transfer is averaging just north of 11 points per game, good for fourth-best on the team. State also brought in forward Ben Middlebrooks from Clemson and has received solid play from true freshman guard Dennis Parker Jr.

“In today’s world, you’re going to lose some really good basketball players, and you got to figure out what you’re going to do,” Keatts said. “We went out and we recruited seven transfers and one freshman. (We thought) maybe one of those guys can lead us and do it in a different way.”

While N.C. State’s top four scorers are all portal additions, two of them are returnees. Guard Casey Morsell is averaging almost 12 points per game for the second straight year, and perhaps no Wolfpack player is more notable — or more loved — than fan favorite DJ Burns Jr., a crafty post player with captivating charisma.

Burns and Morsell are both 23 years old and no strangers to the transfer circuit. Burns came to State after a redshirt year at Tennessee and a very productive three-year stint at Winthrop that earned him the Big South Player of the Year honor in 2022. Morsell was an intraconference transfer from Virginia.

“I think we got really two good veteran guys (Burns and Morsell) who had a really good year for us last year,” Keatts said. “One of the reasons why we made it to the tournament and won 23 games.”

Burns clearly has the hearts of the Wolfpack faithful.

Last season, Burns captivated the crowd at PNC Arena when he dropped in 18 points in a throttling of Duke, and he notched 18 points in both battles with North Carolina as well. Those performances earned him notoriety all around the ACC.

Burns’ heroics have transferred into his final season of college ball, too. State led Notre Dame on Jan. 3 for less than a second. It was in that final second that Burns used his imposing size to seal off his defender, then utilized his deceptive finesse with a pump fake to get his Irish defender in the air so he could drop in a layup to give State the 54-52 win on the road.

Overall, the Wolfpack has been solid in ACC play, with its 8-6 mark highlighted by a dominating home win over UVa (76-60) and, most recently, a 78-77 victory at Clemson, with Horne netting the game-winning bucket down the stretch.

All three of State’s nonconference losses came to quality opponents. The Wolfpack fell to BYU and Tennessee, which are both still ranked in the national Top 25, and to Ole Miss, which is 19-6 and another NCAA Tournament hopeful.

Despite its lack of bad losses, State’s relative shortage of high-quality victories has left it on the NCAA Tournament bubble — again — in late February.

Since its improbable climb to college basketball’s highest peak in 1983, the Wolfpack has struggled to replicate that success. Increasingly, the Pack has found it difficult to find its footing in the midst of its nearby rivals’ successes. Instead, State often has found itself on the wrong side of the NCAA bubble looking in.

The Wolfpack is hoping to add on to last year’s success and return to the NCAA Tournament. A strong finish will be necessary to make that happen, with a March 2 trip to #10 UNC and a March 4 home game against Duke the only remaining regular-season opportunities for a signature victory.

 

2023-24 NC State Wolfpack
(16-9, 8-6 ACC; through Feb. 19)

Starters

PG DJ Horne, Gr. — 32 mpg, 17 ppg, 3 rpg, 44% FG, 83% FT, 43% threes, 62/26 ATO, 3 blocks, 35 steals
(6-2/180); 2023 Arizona State transfer (2-year starter); Illinois State (2019-21); Trinity Christian; Raleigh, N.C.

G Casey Morsell*, Gr. — 32 mpg, 12 ppg, 3 rpg, 41% FG, 80% FT, 29% threes, 44/26 ATO, 11 blocks, 26 steals
(6-3/200); 2021 Virginia transfer (backup); St. John’s College HS; Ft. Washington, Md.

G Jayden Taylor, Jr. — 29 mpg, 11 ppg, 4 rpg, 38% FG, 78% FT, 31% threes, 35/41 ATO, 13 blocks, 33 steals
(6-4/195); 2023 Butler transfer (2-year starter); Perry Meridian HS; Indianapolis, Ind.

G Dennis Parker Jr., Fr. — 17 mpg, 6 ppg, 4 rpg, 46% FG, 57% FT, 31% threes, 11/18 ATO, 7 blocks, 21 steals
(6-6/205); 4-star signee; 3x state champion; John Marshall HS; Richmond, Va.

C DJ Burns Jr.*, Gr. — 25 mpg, 12 ppg, 4 rpg, 51% FG, 60% FT, 65/45 ATO, 16 blocks, 17 steals
(6-9/275); 2022 Winthrop transfer (3-year starter); 2023 HM All-ACC; York Prep; Rock Hill, S.C.

Key Reserves

PG Michael O’Connell, Gr. — 22 mpg, 5 ppg, 3 rpg, 46% FG, 81% FT, 28% threes, 77/25 ATO, 2 blocks, 22 steals
(6-2/195); 2023 Stanford transfer (3-year starter); Blair (N.J.) Academy; Mineola, N.Y.

F Ben Middlebrooks, Jr. — 15 mpg, 5 ppg, 4 rpg, 50% FG, 68% FT, 8% threes, 10/17 ATO, 12 blocks, 18 steals
(6-10/240); 2023 Clemson transfer (reserve); Westminster Academy; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

F Mohamed Diarra, Jr. — 16 mpg, 5 ppg, 6 rpg, 47% FG, 63% FT, 37% threes, 6/12 ATO, 13 blocks, 14 steals
(6-10/215); 2023 Missouri transfer (reserve); Garden City CC (2020-22); Montreuil, France

*—returning starter (started at least 50% of current team’s games last season)