Pack Opens Keatts Era with Visit from VMI

Friday, November 10

Raleigh, NC

7:00 PM

NC State

VMI

Buy Tickets

11/9/2017 2:13:00 PM | Men's Basketball

The 20th head coach in program history, Kevin Keatts, opens the 108th season of NC State basketball

Tickets | Live Stats | ACC Network Extra | Game Notes

RALEIGH, N.C. – The Kevin Keatts era officially gets underway Friday night as the NC State men's basketball team opens the 2017-18 campaign by hosting VMI at 7 p.m. inside PNC Arena.

Keatts was hired on March 17 as the 20^th head coach in program history.

Tickets for the game are still available by visiting GoPack.com/BuyTickets or call the ticket office at (919) 865-1510 to purchase tickets.

Pack Tracks
- NC State opens its 108th season of basketball Friday night when it hosts VMI
- Friday's game marks the first at NC State for head coach Kevin Keatts. Keatts was hired as the 20th head coach in NC State men's basketball program history on March 17, 2017. Keatts comes to the Pack after three successful seasons as head coach of UNC-Wilmington. Keatts took a Seahawks program that had finished seventh or worse in the Colonial Athletic Association seven of the previous eight seasons and won the regular season title in the CAA in each of his three seasons at UNCW. Keatts led the UNC-Wilmington to NCAA Tournament appearances in 2016 and 2017, which was the second time in UNCW history that the Seahawks advanced to the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back seasons.
- The Wolfpack defeated Mars Hill last week, 109-66, in its lone exhibition game of preseason. Markell Johnson led the Pack with 16 points, 12 assists and five steals. Torin Dorn had a game-high 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting, while Allerik Freeman finished with 18 points.
- The Pack returns eight lettermen from last season and also adds back senior Lennard Freeman, who sat out the 2016-17 season while recovering from offseason leg surgery.

Noting NC State
- Senior forward Abdul-Malik Abu is NC State's leading returning scorer (11.8 ppg.) and rebounder (7.0 rpg.). The Boston, Mass., native has led NC State in rebounding the last two seasons and is aiming to be the first NC State player to lead the Pack in rebounding in three consecutive seasons since Todd Fuller did it from 1993-96. Abu suffered a Grade 2 MCL Sprain in October and did not play in last week's exhibition game against Mars Hill.
- Torin Dorn (18 starts) and Omer Yurtseven (14 starts) also return for the Pack. Dorn averaged 9.5 points and 4.6 rebounds per game last season as a sophomore, while Yurtseven added 5.9 points and 4.4 rebounds per contest.
- NC State must replace its top three scorers from last season in Dennis Smith, Jr. (18.1), Terry Henderson (13.8) and Maverick Rowan (12.0). The Pack also lost the school's all-time shot block leader in BeeJay Anya (243 career blocks). Smith, Jr., was named the ACC Freshman of the Year, the first Pack player to accomplish this feat since Hawkeye Whitney in 1977. Smith was selected by the Dallas Mavericks with the ninth pick of the NBA Draft. Henderson, after having his appeal denied to return to NC State, went through training camp with the Charlotte Hornets and is now on the Greensboro Swarm roster in the NBA G-League. Rowan was the third overall selection of the NBA G-League draft by the Lakeland Magic.
- NC State joins Florida State and Pittsburgh as the only ACC teams to lose its top three scorers from last season.

NC State-VMI Series
- NC State leads the all-time series with VMI, 22-8.
- NC State has won the last eight meetings between the two teams.
- VMI last beat NC State in the 1940-41 season.
- The Pack won the last meeting between the two programs,75-55, on Nov. 23, 2005.

Friday Storylines
- Coaching debut of Kevin Keatts at NC State as the 20th head coach in Wolfpack men's basketball history. The last nine NC State head coaches have won their debut. Bob Warren in the
1940-41 season is the last coach to lose his debut game.
- With two players sitting out as transfers, freshman guard Braxton Beverly not cleared and senior forward Abdul-Malik Abu out with injury, NC State will only dress nine
scholarship players in uniform on Friday night.
- The Wolfpack welcomed six newcomers to the roster this season. Grad transfer Allerik Freeman and Sam Hunt, transfers C.J. Bryce and Devon Daniels (both sitting out 2017-18 season per NCAA rules) and freshmen Lavar Batts, Jr., and Braxton Beverly.

Yurtseven Selected to Preseason Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Watch List
NC State sophomore center Omer Yurtseven has been selected as one of 20 student-athletes to the preseason watch list for this year's Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award. Yurtseven was also on the preseason list that honors the nation's top center last season. A former five-star recruit, Yurtseven averaged 5.9 points and 4.4 rebounds per game last season.

NC State Roster Breakdown
The Wolfpack's 2017-18 roster features 15 players representing seven states, the District of Columbia and one player from outside the United State (Istanbul, Turkey).
- Seven of the 15 players on the NC State roster hail from North Carolina. Alabama, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Ohio and Washington, D.C. all have one.
- NC State has six players listed on the roster at 6'7" or taller. Omer Yurtseven is the tallest player at 7'0" and Braxton Beverly is the shortest at 6'0".

NC State Adds Four Signees in Fall Signing Period
- NC State signed four-star recruits Manny Bates, Saddiq Bey, Jericole Hellems and Ian Steere in the fall signing period. The four players will be freshmen on the 2018-19 NC State basketball team.
- Manny Bates is regarded as one of the best shot blockers in the 2018 class. He plays for Northwood Temple Academy in Fayetteville, N.C. where he is teammates with fellow signee Ian Steere.
- Saddiq Bey hails from Washington D.C., where he plays for Sidwell Friends School. He averaged 14.2 points per game as a junior to lead Sidwell Friends to a conference championship.
- Jericole Hellems is from Hazelwood, Mo., and plays for Chaminade High School. As a junior, he averaged 22 points, seven rebounds, three assists and one steal per game to lead Chaminade to a second consecutive Class 5 State Semifinal berth.
- Ian Steere from Sanford, N.C., plays with Bates at Northwood Temple Academy in Fayetteville. Steere is a physical player that helped lead his former school, Wesleyan Christian Academy, to a runner-up finish in the North Carolina 3A State Championship last season.