Four of the top eight scorers from the epic 2023-24 NC State basketball team are no longer in Raleigh. The departures included the two go-to weapons throughout the Wolfpack’s unbelievable ACC Tournament title run and Final Four journey in DJ Burns and DJ Horne.

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Of course, on a glass-half-full note, four of the top eight scorers returned for the 2024-25 season: Jayden Taylor, Michael O’Connell, Ben Middlebrooks, and Dennis Parker Jr.

Moreover, eighth-year NC State basketball head coach Kevin Keatts and his crew added a proven cast of newcomers, featuring the top two scorers from last season’s Louisville squad in Brandon-Huntley Hatfield and Mike James, Georgetown’s second-leading scorer in former UNC wing Dontrez Styles, and the reigning MAC scoring leader in Bowling Green transfer guard Marcus Hill.

That’s not to mention three composite four-star freshman guards in Paul McNeill, Bryce Heard, and Trey Parker, plus an intriguing Canadian addition in 2024 CIAU Championship MVP Ismael Diouf.

Despite seemingly clear potential to prove naysayers wrong again, the Wolfpack got little love from the media this week.

NC State received zero votes from Associated Press Top 25 Poll voters. ACC media projected the team to finish eighth in the conference standings. And in the annual “Top 100 And 1” preseason ranking that CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander published on Thursday, the national college hoops expert placed the Wolfpack at No. 67 in the country.

No worries, though, for Norlander stacked up NC State at No. 66 overall in last year’s edition.

In the end, the underdog role suited Keatts’ Wolfpack just fine. Perhaps the practically just as low expectations this go-round will ultimately work wonders for the program once again.

Finally, it’s worth remembering that Keatts’ 2023-24 roster was also without the two leading NC State scorers from the previous year in Terquavion Smith and Jarkel Joiner, who powered the Wolfpack’s first NCAA Tournament invite since 2018.

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