North Carolina State University Athletics
Monday, November 2
Raleigh, NC
7:30 PM
NC State
vs
Campbell
10/31/2026 3:57:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Former NC State player is the 22nd head coach in program history
ACC Network Extra | Live Stats | Tickets
NC State Game Notes | Campbell Game Notes
RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State men's basketball team opens the 2026-27 season Monday evening when it hosts Campbell at the Lenovo Center.
Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and the game will be streamed on ACC Network Extra. NC State fans can also listen to Matt Chazanow and Chucky Brown call the action on the Wolfpack Sports Network.
Pack Tracks
- NC State opens the 2026-27 regular season - and its 117th season of basketball - Monday evening when it hosts Campbell.
- The Pack played two exhibition games this preseason, beating Mississippi State, 77-73, in Greensboro on Sunday, Oct. 18 before wrapping up the preseason on Saturday, Oct. 24 with a 130-66 win over Lenoir-Rhyne. NC State ended its win over Mississippi State with a 12-2 run. Paul McNeil, Jr., and Preston Edmead tied for team-high honors with 16 points while Darius Adams added 14 points and team-highs in rebounds (6) and assists (5). In the win over Lenoir-Rhyne, NC State shot 75 percent in the first half to open a 69-30 lead at the break. McNeil, Jr., led NC State with 23 points, connecting on seven three-pointers. Ven-Allen Lubin added 22 points and nine rebounds while Zymicah Wilkins, Kingston Whitty and Robert Jurkovic each added 14 points off the bench.
- Welcome Home, Justin Gainey! Justin Gainey was announced as the 22nd head coach in NC State men's basketball history on March 31, 2026. A former NC State lettermen, Gainey appeared in 128 games during his NC State career, making 103 starts. His 344 career assists ranked among the program's top 10 when he graduated and currently stands 15th in school history while his 190 career steals still rank fifth in program history. Gainey brings 20 years of Division I coaching experience to his new role, including 14 years at the power conference level. He has spent the previous five seasons at the University of Tennessee, including the last four as Associate Head Coach under Rick Barnes.
- NC State only brings three players back from last season (Ven-Allen Lubin, Paul McNeil, Jr., and Zymicah Wilkins) and just two of those three appeared in a game, but the two players that played last season that are back both set program records and led the ACC in individual offensive statistics. Junior guard Paul McNeill, Jr., last season tied a program record with 105 made three-pointers last season while his 42.7 three-point percentage led the ACC while graduate forward Ven-Allen Lubin set a program record and led the ACC with a shooting percentage of 66.8 percent. Lubin's field goal percentage ranked third in the NCAA last season and is tied for the fourth best single season field goal percentage in ACC history.
- Overall, NC State brings 33.3% of its scoring, 30.9% of its rebounding, 10.9% of its assists and 28.0% of its minutes played from last season.
Monday storylines
- NC State has won 31 of its last 32 home-openers when played against a non-conference opponent. NC State fell to William & Mary in the season-opening contest of the 2015-16 season. In the 2019-20 season, NC State dropped a season-opening overtime game to Georgia Tech. That year the ACC had conference games on opening night to celebrate the new ACC Network.
- Dating back to the 2016-17 season, NC State has a 73-4 (.948) record against non-conference opponents in regular season home games.
- NC State has the potential to have 11 players make their official NC State debut on Monday night. If all 11 were to play it would mark the second consecutive season that the Pack has had 11 players make their NC State debut in the season-opening game.
- Monday marks the start of a new era for both NC State and Campbell, as each program opens the regular season under a new head coach. It also marks the third consecutive season that both teams will have a different head coach for their season opener. The Pack and Camels are two of just five NCAA Division I programs entering their third season in three years with a different head coach. The others are Cal State Bakersfield, Louisiana-Monroe and South Florida. (USF is beginning its fifth consecutive season with a different head coach.)
- Paul McNeil, Jr. Showing His Growth as a Scorer: In NC State's first exhibition against Mississippi State on Oct. 18, McNeil tied for the team lead with 16 points, but it was how he scored that highlighted his growth. The Rockingham, N.C., native, who led the ACC in three-point percentage last season, shot just 1-of-7 from beyond the arc but consistently attacked the lane and went 9-of-9 from the free-throw line. Last season, McNeil averaged 4.0 points per game in the seven contests in which he made one or fewer three-pointers, but in the 25 games he made at least two threes, he averaged 17.7 points per game. While the Mississippi State exhibition does not count toward official statistics, it was a notable performance as McNeil never scored in double figures during his first two seasons at NC State without making at least two three-pointers.
- Getting to the Foul Line and Converting: NC State attempted 38 free throws in each of its two exhibition wins over Mississippi State and Lenoir-Rhyne, converting 64 of 76 attempts (84.2%). The Pack outscored the two opponents by 34 points at the free-throw line and made 14 more free throws than the two opponents attempted. Ven-Allen Lubin led the way by making 21-of-25 attempts (84.0%), while Paul McNeil, Jr., was 11-of-12 (91.7%) and Darius Adams was 9-of-11 (81.8%).
- Sharing is Caring: One of the attributes the NC State coaching staff has been the most excited about in preseason practice is the team's ability share the basketball. In its two exhibition games, NC State had assists on 39 of its 61 made baskets (63.9%). Anything over 60% is considered elite ball movement. Darius Adams led the way for NC State in the two exhibition games with 14 assists and just one turnover. Preston Edmead added eight assists and just two turnovers. Overall, NC State had seven different players record two or more assists in exhibition play.
NC State series with Campbell
- Monday will be the 14th all-time meeting between NC State and Campbell. NC State leads the all-time series, 12-1, and all games in the series have been played in Raleigh.
- This game is the third time in series history that it will be the season-opener for the Pack. NC State defeated the Camels, 68-53, on Nov. 28, 1981, to start the 1981-82 season and beat CU, 94-54, on Nov. 24, 1984, to start the 1984-85 season.
- Last Meeting (Nov. 11, 2022): NC State held off Campbell, 73-67, to improve to 2-0 on the young 2022-23 season. The Pack never trailed in the second half but could never put the Camels away either. An Anthony Dell'Orso basket with 45 seconds remaining cut the Pack's lead to two, 69-67, but Jarkel Joiner scored on the other end to double the Pack's lead with 30 seconds to play and Campbell would not score again. Terquavion Smith led the Pack with 19 points and six assists while Joiner added 17 points.
NC State Game Notes | Campbell Game Notes
RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State men's basketball team opens the 2026-27 season Monday evening when it hosts Campbell at the Lenovo Center.
Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and the game will be streamed on ACC Network Extra. NC State fans can also listen to Matt Chazanow and Chucky Brown call the action on the Wolfpack Sports Network.
Pack Tracks
- NC State opens the 2026-27 regular season - and its 117th season of basketball - Monday evening when it hosts Campbell.
- The Pack played two exhibition games this preseason, beating Mississippi State, 77-73, in Greensboro on Sunday, Oct. 18 before wrapping up the preseason on Saturday, Oct. 24 with a 130-66 win over Lenoir-Rhyne. NC State ended its win over Mississippi State with a 12-2 run. Paul McNeil, Jr., and Preston Edmead tied for team-high honors with 16 points while Darius Adams added 14 points and team-highs in rebounds (6) and assists (5). In the win over Lenoir-Rhyne, NC State shot 75 percent in the first half to open a 69-30 lead at the break. McNeil, Jr., led NC State with 23 points, connecting on seven three-pointers. Ven-Allen Lubin added 22 points and nine rebounds while Zymicah Wilkins, Kingston Whitty and Robert Jurkovic each added 14 points off the bench.
- Welcome Home, Justin Gainey! Justin Gainey was announced as the 22nd head coach in NC State men's basketball history on March 31, 2026. A former NC State lettermen, Gainey appeared in 128 games during his NC State career, making 103 starts. His 344 career assists ranked among the program's top 10 when he graduated and currently stands 15th in school history while his 190 career steals still rank fifth in program history. Gainey brings 20 years of Division I coaching experience to his new role, including 14 years at the power conference level. He has spent the previous five seasons at the University of Tennessee, including the last four as Associate Head Coach under Rick Barnes.
- NC State only brings three players back from last season (Ven-Allen Lubin, Paul McNeil, Jr., and Zymicah Wilkins) and just two of those three appeared in a game, but the two players that played last season that are back both set program records and led the ACC in individual offensive statistics. Junior guard Paul McNeill, Jr., last season tied a program record with 105 made three-pointers last season while his 42.7 three-point percentage led the ACC while graduate forward Ven-Allen Lubin set a program record and led the ACC with a shooting percentage of 66.8 percent. Lubin's field goal percentage ranked third in the NCAA last season and is tied for the fourth best single season field goal percentage in ACC history.
- Overall, NC State brings 33.3% of its scoring, 30.9% of its rebounding, 10.9% of its assists and 28.0% of its minutes played from last season.
Monday storylines
- NC State has won 31 of its last 32 home-openers when played against a non-conference opponent. NC State fell to William & Mary in the season-opening contest of the 2015-16 season. In the 2019-20 season, NC State dropped a season-opening overtime game to Georgia Tech. That year the ACC had conference games on opening night to celebrate the new ACC Network.
- Dating back to the 2016-17 season, NC State has a 73-4 (.948) record against non-conference opponents in regular season home games.
- NC State has the potential to have 11 players make their official NC State debut on Monday night. If all 11 were to play it would mark the second consecutive season that the Pack has had 11 players make their NC State debut in the season-opening game.
- Monday marks the start of a new era for both NC State and Campbell, as each program opens the regular season under a new head coach. It also marks the third consecutive season that both teams will have a different head coach for their season opener. The Pack and Camels are two of just five NCAA Division I programs entering their third season in three years with a different head coach. The others are Cal State Bakersfield, Louisiana-Monroe and South Florida. (USF is beginning its fifth consecutive season with a different head coach.)
- Paul McNeil, Jr. Showing His Growth as a Scorer: In NC State's first exhibition against Mississippi State on Oct. 18, McNeil tied for the team lead with 16 points, but it was how he scored that highlighted his growth. The Rockingham, N.C., native, who led the ACC in three-point percentage last season, shot just 1-of-7 from beyond the arc but consistently attacked the lane and went 9-of-9 from the free-throw line. Last season, McNeil averaged 4.0 points per game in the seven contests in which he made one or fewer three-pointers, but in the 25 games he made at least two threes, he averaged 17.7 points per game. While the Mississippi State exhibition does not count toward official statistics, it was a notable performance as McNeil never scored in double figures during his first two seasons at NC State without making at least two three-pointers.
- Getting to the Foul Line and Converting: NC State attempted 38 free throws in each of its two exhibition wins over Mississippi State and Lenoir-Rhyne, converting 64 of 76 attempts (84.2%). The Pack outscored the two opponents by 34 points at the free-throw line and made 14 more free throws than the two opponents attempted. Ven-Allen Lubin led the way by making 21-of-25 attempts (84.0%), while Paul McNeil, Jr., was 11-of-12 (91.7%) and Darius Adams was 9-of-11 (81.8%).
- Sharing is Caring: One of the attributes the NC State coaching staff has been the most excited about in preseason practice is the team's ability share the basketball. In its two exhibition games, NC State had assists on 39 of its 61 made baskets (63.9%). Anything over 60% is considered elite ball movement. Darius Adams led the way for NC State in the two exhibition games with 14 assists and just one turnover. Preston Edmead added eight assists and just two turnovers. Overall, NC State had seven different players record two or more assists in exhibition play.
NC State series with Campbell
- Monday will be the 14th all-time meeting between NC State and Campbell. NC State leads the all-time series, 12-1, and all games in the series have been played in Raleigh.
- This game is the third time in series history that it will be the season-opener for the Pack. NC State defeated the Camels, 68-53, on Nov. 28, 1981, to start the 1981-82 season and beat CU, 94-54, on Nov. 24, 1984, to start the 1984-85 season.
- Last Meeting (Nov. 11, 2022): NC State held off Campbell, 73-67, to improve to 2-0 on the young 2022-23 season. The Pack never trailed in the second half but could never put the Camels away either. An Anthony Dell'Orso basket with 45 seconds remaining cut the Pack's lead to two, 69-67, but Jarkel Joiner scored on the other end to double the Pack's lead with 30 seconds to play and Campbell would not score again. Terquavion Smith led the Pack with 19 points and six assists while Joiner added 17 points.
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