NC State basketball to play in Wooden Legacy
Scheduling wisely has become important for the NCAA Tournament, especially in the era of NET rankings and quadrants. To that end, NC State basketball has lined up a marquee event to add value for the 2023-24 slate.
According to Jon Rothstein of College Hoops Today, NC State will join Arizona State, BYU and a team to be announced in Las Vegas for the Wooden Legacy, which had been previously held in southern California.
The news comes coincidentally the same day that Arizona State grad transfer DJ Horne announced he was transferring to NC State. Horne averaged 12.5 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game for an Arizona State squad that went 23-13 and was one of the last four teams in the NCAA Tournament.
Coached by former Duke legend Bobby Hurley, ASU routed Nevada in Dayton, Ohio to open NCAA Tournament play and nearly upset TCU two days later. ASU though has lost at least three of the top four scorers from that team, Horne included.
In the final NET rankings before the NCAA Tournament was announced, Arizona State was No. 61, which on a neutral court would have counted as a Quad 2 contest for NC State.
BYU was NET No. 84, which was also a Quad 2 game for NC State on a neutral court. The Cougars finished the season 19-15 while competing for the last time in the West Coast Conference. Next season will come a move to the Big 12.
BYU recently landed Charlotte post transfer Aly Khalifa, a skilled 6-foot-11 post player who averaged 11.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per game as a sophomore. Khalifa joins a squad that is expected to return three players who averaged double digits in scoring.
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Other scheduling tidbits for NC State basketball
In 2020-21, when college basketball scrambled to get schedules done on the fly because of COVID-19, NC State scheduled a road game at Saint Louis. When the agreement was announced, details of a return date to NC State for 2022-23 were also revealed.
Kevin Keatts however told TheWolfpacker.com last summer that the game may get pushed back to 2023-24 instead, and that appears to have been the case since the Billikens were not on the slate last winter.
Saint Louis went 21-12 this past season and was in a three-way tie for second in the Atlantic 10. Their final NET ranking was No. 97, which would have been a Quad 3 contest at home.
The Pack will also presumably be a part of the inaugural ACC/SEC Challenge. Matchups have yet to be announced.
