Merely one week after the national championship game, ESPN.com analysts have begun predicting the success of next year’s college basketball teams.
For N.C. State, which finished last season 20-16 and made a run to the ACC Championship game, the opinions of where it might finish differ greatly.
ESPN.com writer Andy Katz has State listed as the fifth team outside of the top 25 with a list of teams he claims “we’ll regret not having, but reserve the right to toss in here after we know all the early-entry fallout.” Katz has North Carolina as the No. 3 team in the nation and Duke as No. 23.
Another ESPN.com analyst, Joe Lunardi, has not posted a top 25, but has filled out his prediction for next season’s NCAA tournament bracket. Lunardi has the Wolfpack as the No. 2 seed in the South region in Houston.
Reid Robol, a freshman in First Year College, said he believes Katz’s prediction is more accurate.
“I believe that Andy Katz’s prediction is more suitable for next year’s N.C. State team,” Robol said. “The No. 2 seed is not possible, I don’t think. We don’t have a good enough point guard, or a guard that has enough experience.”
Mike Lawn, a sophomore in business and marketing education, said he agrees with the assessment that the point guard position is too questionable for State to be a top-seeded team.
“I’m still more with Andy Katz,” Lawn said. “I wish I could be more on the Joe Lunardi side. But I agree that we don’t really have a point guard. We have a great front court. It’s just the back court is still kind of questionable. We don’t really know a lot about [redshirt sophomore Farnold] Degand or [freshman Javier] Gonzalez or anything. But I think we’ll be one of the top four teams in the ACC. I just know how we’ll do around tournament time.”
Gray Robinson, a junior in business management, said he feels the sky is the limit for next year’s Wolfpack team, seeing as the team will lose little talent from last season.
“I agree with Lunardi that we’ll be a two seed because we have a great recruiting class coming in,” Robinson said. “JJ Hickson has been dominating. He was the leading scorer for his team in the McDonald’s All-American Game. He was the MVP of another tournament [Roundball Classic].
“We’ve also got a point guard and two other big guys, and they’re going to fill in the spots we need to compete with Duke and Carolina consistently. We have everyone back except for [senior guard Engin] Atsur, so I think we’ll be a high seed in the tournament.”
The Pack’s recruiting class is ranked No. 19 by Scout.com.
