Men’s College Basketball 2021-2022 Season Preview: NC State Wolfpack

The college basketball season is just over two weeks away — time is just flying by. To get you ready for the season, I’m previewing the season in men’s college basketball, team by team. In these previews I will highlight key departures, additions, returners and overall DFS viability for each team. These previews will be heavily focused on DFS and fantasy in general, so keep that in mind when I’m talking about the relevancy of a player or team rotations.

We kick things off with the ACC, a conference that severely underperformed in the pandemic-impacted season last year. While the conference will inevitably have a handful of DFS staples for us to use each slate, it still seems like the ACC lost more talent than it was able to gain. With the transfer rules changing after March Madness ended it ultimately led to what was essentially free agency in CBB. There were coaching changes as well which I will talk about throughout this breakdown because new philosophies will mean new strategies for our DFS builds. 

In this one, NC State.

(Check out our full college basketball season preview!)

NC State Wolfpack 2021-2022 Season Preview

2020-2021 record: 14-11 (9-8 ACC), ninth in ACC
Postseason: Lost in NIT quarterfinal

Key Departures | NC State Wolfpack

• Devon Daniels (graduated)
• DJ Funderburk (left for NBA)
• Shakeel Moore (transferred to Miss State)
• Braxton Beverly (transferred to Eastern Kentucky)

Key Additions | NC State Wolfpack

• Casey Morsell (transferred from Virginia)
• Greg Gantt (transferred from Providence)
• Ernest Ross (top 70 recruit)
• Terquavion Smith (top 100 recruit)

Returners | NC State Wolfpack

• Cam Hayes (7.8 PPG/2.4 RPG/3.1 APG)
• Thomas Allen (7.4 PPG/2.5 RPG/1.3 SPG)
• Jerichole Hellems (12.9 PPG/5 RPG/1.1 SPG)
• Manny Bates (9.8 PPG/5.9 RPG/2.7 BPG)
• Dereon Seabron (5.2 PPG/3.4 RPG/0.8 APG)

NC State Wolfpack Outlook for 2021-2022

Kevin Keatts has said his team plans to play an up-tempo style on offense, which is something we as DFS players love to hear. Up-tempo play leads to more possessions and more chances to pad the box score thus padding our bankroll.

Sophomore Cam Hayes is going to have to grow up quickly and become the alpha on this team on the perimeter. He is on breakout watch this year and should see his overall numbers skyrocket. He had an assist rate of 23.8% in his freshman season and led the team in assists 10 different times. He hovered around 36% from long range and should see his overall volume increase well past 100 attempts. The fan base is excited about Casey Morsell, something I don’t necessarily share with them. Morsell averaged 4.4 PPG and didn’t seem to fit in with Tony Bennett’s system at Virginia. I will say his skillset is much better suited for a run and gun type of system which is what Keatts has said he wants to run. Thomas Allen is another shooter the team will look to as a partial replacement for Devon Daniels and he knocked down roughly 38% of his 66 attempts a year ago. Freshman Terquavion Smith will compete for minutes right away and averaged over 25 PPG in high school. 

Rim protector Manny Bates returns, and we finally don’t have to worry about him losing minutes to DJ Funderburk, who has left to play professionally. Bates was playing well over 35 minutes a game the last month and a half of the season averaging 11 PPG/6 RPG/2.2 BPG over his last 5 contests. Bates had a top 20 block rate at 10.7% and will certainly be one of the best low post defenders in the conference if not the country. Jericole Hellems and Dereon Seabron really blossomed as the season went on especially after Devon Daniels went down with a mid-January injury. Both wings should make a big impact on this team. Greg Gantt can play multiple positions and will prove to be invaluable to Keatts rotation. Lastly, Ernest Ross is the prized recruit of the class for Keatts and is the perfect fit for this offense. He has a beautiful shooting stroke for a big man and should endure himself to DFS players immediately once they see him play.

(Check out our rankings of the top 100 teams and top 100 players for men’s college basketball in 2021-2022.)

Summary

I don’t know if this team will end up winning many games when it’s all said and done, but they will be a favorable team to use when it comes to accruing fantasy points. That’s really all that matters to us anyway, right? There are a good 3-4 guys on this team that can play multiple positions which will equate to more playing time and I really do think solving this rotation early will lead to many profitable nights. Ernest Ross, Manny Bates and Cam Hayes are going to be a nasty trio.