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aztarheel · 01-30-2007, 02:25 PM

Steve Victory JOURNAL – Preseason 2024-25

OK, so the cat’s out of the bag on the 2024-25 season, Victory's fourth at the helm at NC State. Steve Victory and the Wolfpack make it to the Final Four in Phoenix (as noted in an earlier post). They play Colorado in one national semifinal, with the winner taking on either Oklahoma or Wake Forest in the championship game.

How amazing it would be if State and Wake – schools about 85 miles from each other in North Carolina – made it to the NCT final in Arizona. Fans would have to travel 2,000 miles from their home state just to catch the game live… Couldn’t they just move it to Greensboro or Charlotte or something?

But first, a recap on the roller coaster path State takes to reach the Final Four… Some striking similarities to the magical ’83 final with Jim Valvano… Remember Derrick Whittenburg’s broken foot, then his magical return late in the season?

The Pack enters 2024-25 campaign with very high expectations. Pundits call the freshman class “superior” and the overall talent level “superior.” The NCSU administration goes from wanting a .500 conference record the previous few years to “encouraging” Victory to make the NCT this time around. Secretly, the bigwigs want several wins in the NCT but don’t go so far as to put that in writing…

So who are these so-called “Superior” players? A few introductions, please:

THE STARTERS:
PG Michael Stokes (sophomore, actually a true SG)
SG Andre Baker (junior)
SF John Henry (junior, actually a true PF)
PF Toni Zupic (sophomore)
C Deon Brown (freshman, actually a true PF)

Notice that none of these players are seniors. Provided they avoid the NBA trap, next season could be a banner one as well… Wait – no jumping ahead…

THE BENCH:
SF Ricardo Merton (redshirt senior)
SF Jalen Hemphill (sophomore)
SG Marcus Hill (freshman)
C Jeff Bailey (junior)
SF Brett Montgomery (redshirt junior)
C Brandon Collins (redshirt sophomore)

THE REDSHIRTS
PG Ian Demory (frosh, good potential, OK ratings)
C Jean Sykes (frosh, same as Ian)

The bench will become vitally important as the season plays out… The preseason rankings have the Pack at 17th and 13th respectively… The prestige ranking for NCSU is 63 out of 100 (above average!!)…

01-30-2007, 02:25 PM	#177
aztarheel High School JV Join Date: Sep 2006	Steve Victory JOURNAL – Preseason 2024-25 OK, so the cat’s out of the bag on the 2024-25 season, Victory's fourth at the helm at NC State. Steve Victory and the Wolfpack make it to the Final Four in Phoenix (as noted in an earlier post). They play Colorado in one national semifinal, with the winner taking on either Oklahoma or Wake Forest in the championship game. How amazing it would be if State and Wake – schools about 85 miles from each other in North Carolina – made it to the NCT final in Arizona. Fans would have to travel 2,000 miles from their home state just to catch the game live… Couldn’t they just move it to Greensboro or Charlotte or something? But first, a recap on the roller coaster path State takes to reach the Final Four… Some striking similarities to the magical ’83 final with Jim Valvano… Remember Derrick Whittenburg’s broken foot, then his magical return late in the season? The Pack enters 2024-25 campaign with very high expectations. Pundits call the freshman class “superior” and the overall talent level “superior.” The NCSU administration goes from wanting a .500 conference record the previous few years to “encouraging” Victory to make the NCT this time around. Secretly, the bigwigs want several wins in the NCT but don’t go so far as to put that in writing… So who are these so-called “Superior” players? A few introductions, please: THE STARTERS: PG Michael Stokes (sophomore, actually a true SG) SG Andre Baker (junior) SF John Henry (junior, actually a true PF) PF Toni Zupic (sophomore) C Deon Brown (freshman, actually a true PF) Notice that none of these players are seniors. Provided they avoid the NBA trap, next season could be a banner one as well… Wait – no jumping ahead… THE BENCH: SF Ricardo Merton (redshirt senior) SF Jalen Hemphill (sophomore) SG Marcus Hill (freshman) C Jeff Bailey (junior) SF Brett Montgomery (redshirt junior) C Brandon Collins (redshirt sophomore) THE REDSHIRTS PG Ian Demory (frosh, good potential, OK ratings) C Jean Sykes (frosh, same as Ian) The bench will become vitally important as the season plays out… The preseason rankings have the Pack at 17th and 13th respectively… The prestige ranking for NCSU is 63 out of 100 (above average!!)… Last edited by aztarheel : 01-30-2007 at 04:05 PM.