After losing their two captains last season, Wolfpack will use a young group of players to build upon last year's successful season.
Both Anthony Grundy and Archie Miller left town last spring, but freshman phenom Julius Hodge is still running the court for Herb Sendek's team, who will begin this season with a new group of team captains.
"It could be a good thing [losing Archie and Grundy] from the standpoint that more than one or more guys can take the ownership and lead in their own unique ways," Sendek said. "As much as we talk about Anthony and Archie leading us they did so in very different ways. Those guys were a great example of that."
Hodge's fellow classmates Josh Powell, who was also named to the All-ACC rookie team, and Ilian Evtimov will be a force on the blocks this year for the Wolfpack. After tearing his ACL and missing most of last season, sophomore Levi Watkins has recovered and is ready to make an impact on the court for a team that finished 22-10 last season. Sendek praises his forward's progress and also his leadership qualities.
"I even think someone like a Levi Watkins could be a terrific leader," Sendek said. "He has all the characteristics of someone who could be a good leader."
Aside from the sophomore class, the Wolfpack's lone senior, Clifford Crawford, should start at point guard and use his team's quickness to beat teams up and down the floor. Another upperclassman, junior Marcus Melvin, has the versatility to post up or use his outside shot to hurt opposing defenses. He forecasts that this year's squad should be very exciting to watch.
"We're going to press the whole game and we're going to run it," Melvin said. "We're going to make a couple back door cuts to keep the defense honest and that's what you can expect."
Melvin's plan sounds simple enough, but with a plethora of inexperience on the floor, the Wolfpack could get rattled in conference games on the road. This year's burning question will be whether or not someone can replace Grundy's and Miller's ability to calm their teammates in a difficult situation. The obvious heir apparent to the former captains is the highly touted Hodge, who has the room to grow as a player under Sendek.
"I want Julius to have fun and I want him to go out and take full advantage of his versatility," Sendek said. "I think he's somebody who has the capacity on a given night to help us win in any number of ways. I don't want to limit his possibilities in any way."
After losing to Duke in the ACC tournament final, and then exiting the NCAA tournament with a three point loss to Connecticut, N.C. State achieved more than most critics predicted.
This year's team will have another rigorous ACC season to test them as well as tough road games at Temple and Massachusetts. Despite some preseason rankings that put the Wolfpack as low as 6th in the ACC, Melvin said his team's expectations have risen since last season.
"Our minimum is making it to the tournament," Melvin said. "We want to make it to the tournament and win games in the tournament."
The Wolfpack have the potential to grow as a unit and excel into the postseason, but they need someone to unite them as a team. A more balanced ACC will certainly test this team in early January. Sendek is confident that just witnessing last year's team will be enough for a leader to emerge from his young squad.
"They saw firsthand what it takes and that is probably as meaningful as anything," Sendek said.
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