Season Recap: NC State

2009-2010
NC State: 20-16 (5-11 ACC)

Out of all the teams in the ACC, I would say NC State had the least surprising year. They were predicted to be near the bottom of the conference, and that's where they finished. Sidney Lowe's team had another year where they had some decent wins but some head-shaking losses and a pretty good run in the ACC Tournament. The season started out fine: an 8-1 record with the only loss being to Northwestern, and a road win at Marquette thrown in.

Things started to unravel with an unlikely heave from Chandler Parsons of Florida to beat State in Raleigh in overtime. And once they got into the conference, the lack of talent did them in. State had a stretch where they lost 7 of 8, with the only win being over NC Central. They were a team that had some real trouble scoring at times. Tracy Smith turned into a very nice inside player, but they didn't have any consistent threat on the outside. At times, Javier Gonzalez would be great, and other times he would disappear. The Wolfpack ended up with only two players averaging double figures.

You have to wonder how much rope Lowe has left. He had another year in which he finished pretty strong, which made the fan base feel a bit more optimistic. The Wolfpack did win 3 of their last 4 conference games, then won 2 in the ACC Tournament and 1 in the NIT.

Best Win: 88-74 over Duke (1/20)

This was an easy choice. NC State came into the game with a 1-3 conference record, and the eventual National Champion coming in. But they played their most inspired game of the year, really controlling the game, and played really well on both sides of the floor. This was a head-scratcher, but State did rise up to their competition a few times. Three of their five conference wins were against teams who made the tournament.

Worst Loss: 77-63 to UNC (1/26)

A week after the Duke game, the Wolfpack had a great chance to knock off their biggest rival at home, a team that was really struggling. But State had a dud performance, losing by 14. For all Carolina's struggles this year, they played well against NC State, sweeping the two games they played.

Postseason Play:

The postseason certainly could have gone much worse for NC State. They came into the ACC Tournament as an 11 seed. In the first round, they were able to win a close one against Clemson, by 2 points. Then they knocked out another NCAA Tournament bound team in Florida State by 6. They gave Georgia Tech a battle in the semis before losing by 3. Carrying that momentum, they were able to get a bid to the NIT. In the first round, State put together a nice performance to knock off South Florida on the road by 1. They had a tough time in the second round, though, losing by 20 to UAB in a game in which they only scored 52 points.

What's Ahead:

Like I said before, there is reason for optimism in Raleigh, but I'm not sure if that is justified as long as Lowe is still there. The Wolfpack have a decent nucleus coming back, led by Smith, who tested the draft waters but decided not to go pro. Gonzalez returns, along with young players with potential like Richard Howell and CJ Williams. State will lose Dennis Horner, the second leading scorer this past year, and Farnold Degand, who I always thought was more of a negative than a positive. Josh Davis and Julius Mays have decided to transfer.

State will also bring in a very strong recruiting class, led by C.J. Leslie. They will probably have the pieces to finish in the top half of the ACC next year. But will they be able to win with Lowe as coach? That remains to be seen.