So, there was a lot to digest from the Duke-NC State game earlier this week. We had NC State looking like a Final Four contender again (for a half anyway), Cooper Flagg dropping 28 points, Duke freshman center Khaman Maluach vomiting on the court mid-play and a fan passing out and being carried out of the stands.
Amid all the drama ESPN dropped this rather interesting graphic:
— No Context College Basketball (@ContextFreeCBB) January 28, 2025
As anyone that’s paid attention to college basketball knows, the Wolfpack went on an all-time Cinderella run in the 2024 postseason. NC State was down by seven points to Virginia in the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament with no shot at getting an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament; they managed to win the game and eventually topped their rival UNC for the league championship and the automatic bid to the Big Dance. Despite getting an 11 seed, they ran off four consecutive victories topped off by taking down Duke to reach the Final Four. Their run was truly peak March Madness, and helped Kevin Keatts keep his job after a forgettable regular season.
State’s unlikely run is even more surprising when viewed in conjunction with the ESPN graphic. Currently, none of the starters that led NC State on their magical run are in the NBA or the G-League. DJ Burns captured the nation’s attention with his physical style of post play and was the face of the Wolfpack’s run but failed to get drafted. After an unimpressive NBA summer league stint he ended up in South Korea playing for the Goyang Sono Skygunners, where he’s averaging 8.2 points and 3.8 rebounds per game in 16.8 minutes per game.
The rest of the Wolfpack starters have similar stories: DJ Horne signed a 10 day contract with the Spurs and also played in the NBA summer league before signing with USC Heidelberg in Germany. Mohamed Diarra signed a 10 day contract but ultimately wound up in France playing for Limoges CSP in the LNP Pro A league (the top league in France). Casey Morsell jumped into broadcasting after leaving NC State and is currently doing analysis for NC State basketball on the ACC Network.
The 2024 NC State team serves as a stark reminder that NBA level talent - while preferable, to be sure - isn’t necessarily needed to make a deep tournament run. While most fans would prefer their team to have some elite talent, the Wolfpack showed that the right mix of players, coaching, and a little luck can take a team far in postseason play. And besides, this season has shown that having top-end future NBA talent isn’t a guarantee you’ll even make the tournament.