Wes Moore: "We Know The Formula"

No. 2 seed NC State head coach Wes Moore met with the media prior to the start of the 2024 ACC Tournament.

NOTE: Click the video above to watch the interview.

“Greensboro is such a great host of our tournament and does an unbelievable job of really promoting and making it special for our student-athletes.”

“Our league is so balanced with so many great teams this year, I think it’s wide open. It will be interesting to see who can get hot, I guess.”

“If you look at the entire body of work, yes. We’ve played a great schedule. Our NET is really strong and we’ve had some big wins. I think we’re maybe 7-2 against ranked teams. To me that’s a pretty good resume. I’d hope that would be enough.”

“You have to focus on that first game and preparing your team. You don’t know who you’re playing for sure yet.”

“It is a double-edged sword.  If you want to win the whole thing, win the tournament, having the double bye is very critical.  The tough part is the other team has already played a game, got their jitters out the way, and are comfortable in the venue.”

“I’m not going to lie, you prefer the double bye for sure. I do think the other team maybe has an advantage, especially in the first half of the game.”

“Madison is someone I’ve known about a long time ago. She was in the Chattanooga area growing up, playing high school, and I was in the Chattanooga area for 15 years, known her, known her family ... we’re excited.  I consider Madison a glue player.  She does so many things for us defensively, rebounding, shooting the three.  The effort... she’s going to give you all she’s got.  She’s going to try to do what you’re asking and it’s always good to have players like that around and to be leaders by example.”

“I think so, and this team, we played in the Virgin Islands, three games in three days, and played some good competition there.  Three days of ACC play is a big challenge, but at least we’ve gone through it and know the routine. We know as a program how to get it done in Greensboro. It’s a lot of new pieces, but at least we know the formula and how to approach it and can go over there with some confidence.”

“You have to do what you do and do it really well.  I think you focus on the process and preparation and try to clean up some things... get over there and hopefully get off to a good start, get some confidence, feel good, and get on a roll.”

“I think the more experience you get the better. I’ll include Maddie Cox and Laci Steele in that.  Your goal is to play three games in three days so you’ll need some other people to step up and give us quality minutes.”

“Zoe, her urgency and energy on defense has got better... most of these players have been in some high-profile situations.  I know Laci and Maddie, their travel team won a couple of big tournaments like Boo Williams and up in Iowa where they had championship games. I understand it’s definitely a bigger stage, but I expect them to play well.”

“I’m not really concerned about that. I’d love to be a No. 2 seed, that would be great, but again, the important thing is to have the opportunity to host the first and second round. That’s really big. I’m not too worried about whether we’re a two, three, or whatever. I want to go over there and play well and get some momentum going into postseason play.”

“I’m more concerned about how we’re playing and how we do on the court.”

“We were undefeated in the nonconference and played some really good people, but we hit a couple of speed bumps in the ACC.  We’ve lost five games this year, and right now it’s projected all five will be in the NCAA Tournament.”

“I think it’s wide open in Greensboro. As a basketball fan I’d love this tournament.”