ACC Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2023-24 season

6. NC State Wolfpack

Last year’s record: 23-11, 12-8 in ACC play

The NC State Wolfpack made an NCAA Tournament appearance under head coach Kevin Keatts this past season with a sixth-place finish in the conference standings. It was just the second appearance in the NCAA Tournament for Coach Keatts this past year. With an experienced mix of returners and transfers, look for them to be a potential tournament team once again.

Casey Morsell leads a group that should have a ton of depth all around with D.J. Burns, Ernest Ross and Mohamed Diarra (Missouri) in the painted area. Morsell posted 11.8 ppg and 4.4 rpg on 41% from 3-pointer range in 2022-23. Look for him to play a more significant role with his experience in the backcourt. Kam Woods (North Carolina A&T) and Ben Middlebrooks (Clemson), M.J. Rice (Kansas) join a returning backcourt of L.J. Thomas and Breon Pass alongside Morsell as the Wolfpack look to wreak havoc once again in the ACC ranks.

Burns is an underappreciated big man who put up 12.5 ppg, 4.8 rpg and 1.5 apg on 56.1 percent shooting from the field in 2022-23. Thomas and Pass both made 30 appearances apiece in spot minutes this past year and seem poised to grow into bigger roles given what they can do at both guard roles. The Wolfpack enter the rankings just outside the Top 5 at number six with room to shake things up as a sleeper in the conference.