NC State basketball must find a way to replace the bucket-getting magic of top 2023-24 Wolfpack scorers DJ Horne and DJ Burns. Plus, the 2024-25 squad will need to deliver answers in the rim-protection and rebounding departments after losing Mohamed Diarra to the professional ranks.

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But as CBS Sports national college hoops guru Jon Rothstein observed from his exclusive inside glance at the NC State basketball players and coaches while official practices got underway this week, this year’s Wolfpack collection has the pieces to shine where last year’s bunch struggled:

Several potent newcomers from the recruiting trail and transfer portal complement a handful of key returning talents.

“The Wolfpack look like they have the potential to be deeper and potentially better defensively than last season’s team that won the ACC Tournament title and advanced all the way to the Final Four,” Rothstein notes in the video from the program’s on-campus Dail Basketball Center practice facility.

“A couple of under-the-radar pieces for Kevin Keatts’ squad, we start with 6-5 freshman Paul McNeil, who could find a place in the Wolfpack’s rotation. Also, Bowling Green transfer Marcus Hill, he’s got all sorts of shiftiness, and he sets the table with regularity.

“NC State has the requisites to be an NCAA Tournament team for the third consecutive season under Kevin Keatts.”

In his recently revealed ROTHSTEIN 45 ahead of the 2024-25 college hoops campaign, Rothstein advertised NC State’s placement at No. 43, one spot above Georgia, via the following video (prior to his trip to Raleigh this week):

“Kevin Keatts doesn’t have what he had last season when NC State went on a miracle run to the Final Four,” Rothstein explains, “But he still has enough to be in the top half of the ACC.

“Michael O’Connell and Jayden Taylor are back to anchor the perimeter for NC State, who will also return do-everything glue guy Ben Middlebrooks. Keep an eye on Louisville transfer Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, as the Wolfpack aim to return to the NCAA Tournament.”

The eighth NC State basketball campaign of Keatts’ reign in Raleigh tips off at home against USC Upstate in the Lenovo Center on Nov. 4.

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Stay tuned to NC State Wolfpack On SI for more NC State basketball news.