The Will Wade era has begun in Raleigh, and it’s gotten off to a hot start too, as the NC State Wolfpack took care of the N.C. Central Eagles by a final score of 114-66 Monday night at Lenovo Center.
In front of a sold-out crowd, the first for an NC State home opener since 1999, and donning some classic throwback jerseys, the Wolfpack were received by a raucous crowd.
“I thought the atmosphere was phenomenal,” Wade said.
“I grew up three, five blocks away, so I know the energy that surrounds the program,” said N.C. Central coach LeVelle Moton. “I know the craziness, the madness. I was a kid when Jimmy V was here, so I know the fan appreciation. I know that after a couple of buckets how this place can get loud.”
While expectations have been high for NC State, they’ve managed to live up to the hype so far, namely by the way of a team record 19 made 3-pointers on 47.5% shooting from beyond the arc.
“It’s based on what they’re going to give you,” Wade said on his team’s 40 3-point attempts. “We’re a good shooting team and they played a bunch of zone tonight. We’re going to take what they give us. Most nights we’re going to shoot somewhere between 30 to 35, this was probably on the higher end, but we’ve got good shooters, so we’re gonna let that thing fly.”
In fact, the Pack scored more 3-pointers than Central even attempted (18).
“They shot the cover off of the basketball,” Moton said. “If they shoot the basketball like this, there’s going to be some long nights for a lot of teams, not just North Carolina Central.”
Senior forward Darrion Williams got the Pack off to a quick star right away, with back-to-back triples to open the game.
“We were a little jittery, but that’s what you want your senior, best player to do,” Wade said. “Settle us in. Him hitting those two 3s allowed us to settle in. Darrion being able to make those shots and get us going as a senior leader, I thought that was really critical.”
The ACC’s Preseason Player of the Year finished with a big statline with 19 points, four rebounds — including three offensive boards — eight assists and just a single turnover.
“We know who D5 is, trust me,” said senior guard Quadir Copeland, who finished the night with 15 points of his own. “We know that that POY wasn’t for no reason. We know what kind of player he is and we know that we want to get him started early. It doesn’t matter if he missed his first three shots, we would have kept going back to him. We know what he can do for us and we know he can set the tone at any time.”
Another big standout was freshman guard Matt Able, Wade’s first commitment when he took the job at NC State.
Able finished the night with 14 points, six rebounds, four assists, two steals and was a +44 in 27 minutes of action for the Pack.
“I shed some tears on that bench today,” Copeland said. “Just seeing his growth and seeing everything he’s been through. Like, he’s been killing it all summer so we knew the kid was good. We already knew the type of player and kid he is and it was just amazing to see him shine.”
“He was much improved defensively tonight,” Wade said on the freshman. “I was really proud of his defensive focus, his defensive effort. He’s going to be a great player. He was awesome tonight, but I think by the middle of January, he’s going to be one of the best players in the country.”
There might have been some worries with the Wolfpack bringing in 11 new players and how everything would gel, but practically everyone had a hand in the win, with 7 players reaching double-digit points and the team registering 27 assists on 37 baskets.
“I think one of the most underrated aspects of the NIL era is the fact that you get to buy the winners,” Moton said. “That DNA in that locker room in there, all those kids have won games in the tournament, so they know how to win and he doesn’t have to coach the why and so on and so forth. … He’s done a good job of taking winning DNA and implementing it into his program.”
NC State broke triple digits with 7:31 to go in the game and the 114 points was the most scored by the Wolfpack since 2017.
Defensively, the Pack’s press really gave the Eagles trouble, but Wade isn’t one to be satisfied even in a 48-point win.
“We have some things to clean up defensively,” Wade said. “Certainly we were better at the back end of the press, but we still gave up a couple of easy ones. We messed up some boards defense a few times, some roll and replace. There’s some things defensively we have to get cleaned up there.
“We play to our standards for 40 minutes. I thought we did that for 36 minutes, so we have some work to do.”
Wade’s intensity and fire was evident all night, but especially when he got T’d up with 6:10 to go and his team leading by 55 points.
“It brings everyone else’s spirits up because we’re up however many and he was still fighting for us,” Able said. “Every single time, win or lose, it doesn’t matter.”
NC State will continue the “Red Reckoning” on Friday when the team hosts UAB for a 9 p.m. showdown.
