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): 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)

As A Player: Ferrum (1991-95)

Record As Head Coach (through Jan. 9): 196-110 (.641) 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): 7th in 15-team ACC

2023-24 Record (Through Jan. 9): 11-3, 3-0 ACC

2023-24 Midseason Ranking (KenPom): #63 nationally (7th in ACC)

Upcoming Schedule Highlights: #7 North Carolina (1/10), Wake Forest (1/16), Virginia Tech (1/20), at Virginia (1/24)

Kevin Keatts is still searching for that elusive first NCAA Tournament win as a head coach. While there’s no telling when — or if — it will come, one thing seems certain: the Wolfpack is trending in a positive direction.

Last season’s sensational backcourt pairing of Terquavion Smith and Jarkel Joiner helped Keatts and N.C. State reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017-18 — the first year of Keatts’ seven-year tenure in Raleigh.

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-1 guard who now leads the Wolfpack in scoring.

Raleigh is Horne’s hometown, and State is his third collegiate stop. He began his career at Illinois State, where he played for two seasons and earned third-team All-Missouri Valley Conference honors. For the last two seasons, Horne was one of coach Bobby Hurley’s leading men at Arizona State.

Now Horne is Keatts’ biggest catch from the portal, but he’s certainly not the only one.

Jayden Taylor has been a standout for State’s backcourt as well. The Butler transfer is averaging just north of 13 points, good for second 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. Maybe one of those guys can lead us and do it in a different way.”

While N.C. State’s top two scorers are newcomers from the portal, two of its most important players are returnees. Guard Casey Morsell is averaging better than 11 points per game for the second straight year, and perhaps no Wolfpack player is more notable — or more loved — than fan favorite DJ Burns, a crafty post player with captivating charisma.

Burns and Morsell are both 23 years old and no strangers to the portal. 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.

The start to conference play has treated the Wolfpack kindly. In addition to the exciting win at Notre Dame, State defeated Boston College in overtime in December, then walked all over Virginia in its most recent game to advance to 3-0 in ACC play.

All three of State’s early losses came to quality opponents. The Wolfpack fell to BYU and Tennessee, which are both ranked in the national top 20 (national top 10 according to KenPom), and to Ole Miss, which was undefeated until losing to Tennessee in early January.

Even after its solid start to this season, State finds itself on the bubble — again.

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 make it back into the NCAA Tournament field. Just as students are returning to campus for a new semester, State is welcoming the #7 Tar Heels to PNC Arena. The matchup is one of the Pack’s best remaining opportunities to show the committee it belongs on the right side of the bubble.

 

2023-24 NC State Wolfpack
(11-3, 3-0 ACC; through Jan. 9)

Starters

PG DJ Horne, Gr. — 30 mpg, 14 ppg, 3 rpg, 43% FG, 79% FT, 43% threes, 37/10 ATO, 0 blocks, 20 steals
(6-2/180); 2023 Arizona State transfer (2-year starter); Illinois State (2019-21); Trinity Christian, Raleigh, N.C.

G Casey Morsell*, Sr. — 31 mpg, 11 ppg, 3 rpg, 42% FG, 69% FT, 32% threes, 26/14 ATO, 3 blocks, 10 steals
(6-3/200); 2021 Virginia transfer; 11.8 ppg in 2022-23; St. John’s College HS, Ft. Washington, Md.

G Jayden Taylor, Jr. — 29 mpg, 13 ppg, 4 rpg, 40% FG, 77% FT, 36% threes, 21/22 ATO, 3 blocks, 21 steals
(6-4/195); 2023 Butler transfer (2-year starter); Perry Meridian HS, Indianapolis, Ind.

G Dennis Parker Jr., Fr. — 19 mpg, 7 ppg, 4 rpg, 50% FG, 54% FT, 36% threes, 8/8 ATO, 5 blocks, 13 steals
(6-6/205); 4-star signee; 3x state champion; John Marshall HS, Richmond, Va.

C DJ Burns*, Gr. — 27 mpg, 13 ppg, 5 rpg, 53% FG, 59% FT, 39/25 ATO, 9 blocks, 12 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. — 19 mpg, 4 ppg, 3 rpg, 42% FG, 90% FT, 26% threes, 42/11 ATO, 0 blocks, 8 steals
(6-2/195); 2023 Stanford transfer (3-year starter); Blair (N.J.) Academy, Mineola, N.Y.

G Kam Woods, Jr. — 12 mpg, 3 ppg, 2 rpg, 33% FG, 75% FT, 67% threes (few), 1/4 ATO, 0 blocks, 2 steals
(6-2/185); 2023 NC A&T transfer (2nd-team All-CAA); Pinson Valley HS; Bessemer, Ala.

G MJ Rice, So. — 10 mpg, 5 ppg, 2 rpg, 54% FG, 44% FT, 30% threes, 1/4 ATO, 0 blocks, 2 steals
(6-5/215); 2023 Kansas transfer (reserve); Prolific (Calif.) Prep; Henderson, N.C.

F Ben Middlebrooks, Jr. — 14 mpg, 6 ppg, 4 rpg, 55% FG, 76% FT, 10% threes, 6/11 ATO, 8 blocks, 12 steals
(6-10/240); 2023 Clemson transfer (reserve); Westminster Academy; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

F Mohamed Diara, Jr. — 12 mpg, 4 ppg, 5 rpg, 41% FG, 70% FT, 23% threes, 1/4 ATO, 8 blocks, 2 steals
(6-10/215); 2023 Missouri transfer (reserve); Garden City (Kan.) CC (2020-22); Montreuil, France

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