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NC State Basketball
Italy Trip Comes At A Perfect Time For NC State
NC State has starting the process of blending its new parts and it is not just to a new coaching staff.
The Wolfpack is embarking on an 11-day trip to Italy and arrived Thursday. The journey represents a unique chance to for the team to learn a bit about itself individually and collectively.
There will be three games in Italy for NC State. It allows both the chance to tinker with lineups, as the Wolfpack will have all of its roster except for Omer Yurtseven, and an allotment of free time to get better acquainted off the court.
For NC State head coach Kevin Keatts, the trip is ideal and the timing is impeccable.
“We’re trying to blend a lot of different guys together,” Keatts said. “When you talk about our transfers, when you talk about the returning guys, and then add in the freshmen, and then just blending those guys together I think it comes at a perfect time for us.”
One of the holdovers in Lennard Freeman. The redshirt-senior missed the previous campaign but is feeling like he can shine in 2017-18.
“It was hard watching our team not do as good as we thought we were going to do, and knowing what I can bring to the table,” Freeman said of last season. “It was hard for me to just sit there and watch knowing I can’t sub myself in. It was a learning experience for me.
“I feel good. My weight is down, I’m out there playing, and I don’t feel like last year or the year before. I feel like there’s nothing holding me back now but myself.”
Torin Dorn Jr. also returns. The transfer from Charlotte started last season well but his productivity tapered as the campaign progressed.
In Keatts, the wing player believes the Wolfpack will play a style that can bring out the best in him.
“I think it is a match made in heaven,” Dorn said. “I love to play fast, get up and down the floor and transition. That is all he wants to do, play fast and aggressive so I think it is a great mesh.”
The are plenty of new faces for the few returning players to learn. While the process has begun thanks to the NCAA allowing NC State 10 practices in preparation for its trip, Freeman -- who lost a Beltway buddy in BeeJay Anya to graduation -- sees plenty of impact coming from The Queen City.
“Everybody’s cool, and I feel like everyone’s adapted quickly,” Freeman said of the newest members of the team. “We started to get to know each other. We’ve got a whole bunch of Charlotte boys on our team. I don’t know how I feel about that, but everybody’s cool. This is a good group.”
For Dorn, the influx of talent from Mecklenburg County represents a throwback to earlier times.
“I love it,” Dorn said. “I played against Al [Freeman] in high school. I played against C.J. [Bryce] in high school; we were in the same conference, so it is kind of cool to see the guys you played against growing up now on the same team--and being able to play against other people now.”
The goal for NC State is to be in its best shape in March.
To get to that point, the Wolfpack is looking to learn each other, define roles and become a tight-knit unit by its season opener. The trip to Italy is an important step.
“For me, I think we have a long ways to go,” Keatts said. “It’s tough to say. As a coach, even though I’m a coach that prides ourselves on being in great condition, you don’t want them to be in the best condition in July and August. You want it to be towards the season.
“I’m excited to get out there and have these guys and see these guys play. Really, honestly, I know it’s tough, because I don’t put much emphasis in what happens on foreign trips, or scores, or everything else, because we don’t have traditional lineups and everything else. I’m excited to have the opportunity to see some guys play against different guys, because you don’t get a good feel.
“[The trip to Italy] is a once in a lifetime thing for us. We’re going to use it for many different things, obviously to come together as a group, obviously to develop some chemistry, some bonding and also to have the opportunity to be able to play.”
The Wolfpack is embarking on an 11-day trip to Italy and arrived Thursday. The journey represents a unique chance to for the team to learn a bit about itself individually and collectively.
There will be three games in Italy for NC State. It allows both the chance to tinker with lineups, as the Wolfpack will have all of its roster except for Omer Yurtseven, and an allotment of free time to get better acquainted off the court.
For NC State head coach Kevin Keatts, the trip is ideal and the timing is impeccable.
“We’re trying to blend a lot of different guys together,” Keatts said. “When you talk about our transfers, when you talk about the returning guys, and then add in the freshmen, and then just blending those guys together I think it comes at a perfect time for us.”
One of the holdovers in Lennard Freeman. The redshirt-senior missed the previous campaign but is feeling like he can shine in 2017-18.
“It was hard watching our team not do as good as we thought we were going to do, and knowing what I can bring to the table,” Freeman said of last season. “It was hard for me to just sit there and watch knowing I can’t sub myself in. It was a learning experience for me.
“I feel good. My weight is down, I’m out there playing, and I don’t feel like last year or the year before. I feel like there’s nothing holding me back now but myself.”
Torin Dorn Jr. also returns. The transfer from Charlotte started last season well but his productivity tapered as the campaign progressed.
In Keatts, the wing player believes the Wolfpack will play a style that can bring out the best in him.
“I think it is a match made in heaven,” Dorn said. “I love to play fast, get up and down the floor and transition. That is all he wants to do, play fast and aggressive so I think it is a great mesh.”
The are plenty of new faces for the few returning players to learn. While the process has begun thanks to the NCAA allowing NC State 10 practices in preparation for its trip, Freeman -- who lost a Beltway buddy in BeeJay Anya to graduation -- sees plenty of impact coming from The Queen City.
“Everybody’s cool, and I feel like everyone’s adapted quickly,” Freeman said of the newest members of the team. “We started to get to know each other. We’ve got a whole bunch of Charlotte boys on our team. I don’t know how I feel about that, but everybody’s cool. This is a good group.”
For Dorn, the influx of talent from Mecklenburg County represents a throwback to earlier times.
“I love it,” Dorn said. “I played against Al [Freeman] in high school. I played against C.J. [Bryce] in high school; we were in the same conference, so it is kind of cool to see the guys you played against growing up now on the same team--and being able to play against other people now.”
The goal for NC State is to be in its best shape in March.
To get to that point, the Wolfpack is looking to learn each other, define roles and become a tight-knit unit by its season opener. The trip to Italy is an important step.
“For me, I think we have a long ways to go,” Keatts said. “It’s tough to say. As a coach, even though I’m a coach that prides ourselves on being in great condition, you don’t want them to be in the best condition in July and August. You want it to be towards the season.
“I’m excited to get out there and have these guys and see these guys play. Really, honestly, I know it’s tough, because I don’t put much emphasis in what happens on foreign trips, or scores, or everything else, because we don’t have traditional lineups and everything else. I’m excited to have the opportunity to see some guys play against different guys, because you don’t get a good feel.
“[The trip to Italy] is a once in a lifetime thing for us. We’re going to use it for many different things, obviously to come together as a group, obviously to develop some chemistry, some bonding and also to have the opportunity to be able to play.”
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