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Steve Victory JOURNAL – Post-season 2027
There is probably only one thing that can stop the N.C. State juggernaut from rolling all the way to a 41-0 season – injuries.
Coach Steve Victory is plenty familiar with torn ACLs, ruptured tendons and broken skulls (even a little kidney disease). Some of his best teams have fallen short of expectations because of so-called “injury sniper” attacks, most of the time late in the season. How many gray hairs does the coach have because of watching players fall to the hardwood in pain during big games? Too many to count.
State’s 2027 season will be no different. The first two big injuries happen in the ACC tournament championship game. The Pack manages to win its first ACC title under Victory – beating Clemson 103-61, North Carolina 91-65 and Wake Forest 89-61. But not before losing its top two point guards.
Roy Wrenn is lost for a month with a knee injury (likely gone for the rest of the season). Ian Demory, the All-ACC player, tweaks his Achilles and will be out 1-2 weeks. Victory enters the NCT tournament nervous as heck. Who is going to play point? SG Marcus Hill is a great shooter but has about zero offensive and defensive awareness. Backup SF Calvin Carstensen is a solid player and tough at 6-8, but can he handle the rock? What about freshman PG Todd Holliway?
Victory settles on Carstensen, and the sophomore proves impressive in State’s NCT opener – a decent 78-57 win over #16 Fairfield. Carstensen leads the team with 17 points, but only has four assists. “It’s OK to pass the ball,” Victory tells him repeatedly. (The Wolfpack is the #1 seed in the South by the way – Virginia, Wake and Maryland also make the NCT from the ACC. Louisville, Illinois and Mississippi State are the other top seeds. UNC is in the ACT).
Of course, another injury befalls State against Fairfield. A third PG is lost. This time it’s Holliway, the freshman third-stringer who saw limited action in about 28 regular season games and was needed more than ever in the post-season. He injured his hip and is gone for the tournament.
It’s here that Victory makes a bold (rash?) decision. He lifts the redshirt of freshman PG Julian Collins. “I feel like I have to. We have no point guards left and only two guards at all in the lineup,” the coach tells the press. “We’re down to eight players total. Collins wants to play. He wants to be a part of this amazing season. We’re really throwing him to the wolves, though. I hope he can handle it.”
Assistants actually recommend that Collins start against Kansas in the second round! Victory defers to Carstensen again, but tells Collins to be ready to play a lot of minutes. Thankfully, things run smoothly and State drubs the eighth-seeded Jayhawks 98-48. Hemphill scores 32, and Deon Brown adds 20. Carstensen dishes out nine assists and even gets six rebounds. Collins contributes a few points and assists in a reserve roll. Whew!
The good news: Ian Demory will be back for Sweet 16 action! State must beat an instate team – upstart 12-seed UNC-Asheville. UNC-A knocked off LSU and Jackson State to become this year’s Cinderella. Can they continue to wear the glass slipper? State meanwhile is the last ACC team standing. Wake and UVa lose in the second round. Maryland was gone in the first round. UNC falls in the ACT… The ACC isn’t what it used to be, unfortunately…
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