NC State to lean on its depth in 2024-25 season: ‘I think on any given night, anybody [could] lead us in scoring’

NC State coach Kevin Keatts has come to laugh at it now. In each of his eight seasons at the helm of the Wolfpack, he has lost his leading scorer from the previous year due to exhausted eligibility or the NBA Draft.

NC State as a program hasn’t had the same player lead the team in scoring in back-to-back seasons since CJ Leslie did it in the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons. That makes the early stages of the following campaign an interesting test to see who will grab the scoring steering wheel.

Last year, as the Pack looked to replace Terquavion Smith’s 17.9 points a night, Arizona State transfer DJ Horne stepped up to pace NC State with 16.9 points a game. It didn’t happen right away, but Horne was able to string together six 20-plus-point performances in ACC play to prove he was the go-to bucket getter.

Now, as NC State has turned the page from its ACC Championship season that ended in the Final Four, the Wolfpack is looking for its next double-figure leading scorer. After the Pack’s 97-66 win over USC Upstate on Monday night, paced by senior guards Breon Pass and Marcus Hill with 14 points apiece, it looks like NC State will be balanced.

At least to start. 

“I think this is more of a depth team,” Keatts said. “I think on any given night, anybody [could] lead us in scoring. I don’t know that we’re going to have DJ Burns or DJ Horne. Now, neither one of them were DJ Burns or DJ Horne at the beginning of the year, it took time and they got better.”

Pass doubled his previous career high in the season opener, while Hill was efficient with a 7-of-10 shooting night with all of his makes coming inside the paint as a slashing guard. Senior forwards Brandon Huntley-Hatfield and Ben Middlebrooks combined to score 23 points with 14 rebounds as they anchored the front court in the Pack’s four-guard lineup. 

Oh, and senior point guard Michael O’Connell ran the show with 9 points and a game-best six assists as one of five returning players from last season’s squad. 

As NC State used a balanced scoring attack — eight players had at least 8 points in the win — the Wolfpack’s posted 20 assists on 38 made baskets, its highest assist total since it had the same number against Syracuse on Feb. 14, 2023. That was exactly what Keatts was looking for from a team that lacks the alpha scorer at the moment. 

“I thought we flew around. This is what I wanted with this team,” Keatts said. “Twenty assists on 38 made field goals was pretty impressive. I thought we did some good things.”

While the Wolfpack had a steady attack, O’Connell’s night showed the development that NC State’s offense has taken a step forward. The point guard averaged just 5.7 points a year ago, despite putting up at least 10 points in each of the Pack’s five ACC Tournament games. 

In all honesty, the former Stanford transfer was content with setting his teammates up instead of himself. Keatts wanted to break that habit. 

“I asked Michael to score the ball a little bit more,” Keatts said. “He would leave the game and be so hyped that he got six assists. I told him he had to shoot it a little bit more and he decided to shoot the ball. He’s the only guy in my career that I’ve ever had to say ‘shoot the basketball.’”

O’Connell did just that against the Spartans. He knocked down a pair of threes as he picked up where he left off in the postseason after he hit 16 triples in the Pack’s magical run through March. 

While O’Connell will not likely be the one to step up as the Wolfpack’s double-figure scorer each night, he will be key in limiting the turnovers and finding his teammates on the floor. NC State had 11 turnovers in its season opener, but only two of those came after halftime as the Wolfpack played clean for the final 20 minutes. 

Keatts isn’t sure who will be NC State’s next leading scorer, but he does pride himself on developing talent. That allowed Horne to take a near five-point jump in his average to pace NC State to glory last season and that same leap could come from Hill or a guard that has yet to have his moment. 

Only time will tell, but NC State’s balanced approach helped the Wolfpack post its highest scoring output since the 2022-23 campaign. Not a bad way to begin a season with eight newcomers on the roster after the Wolfpack lost four of its top five scorers from a year ago.