North Carolina State enters the season with high expectations as the sixth-ranked team in the nation.
The Wolfpack are ranked higher than in-state rivals Duke and North Carolina this year and has the chance to establish dominance in the ACC. Last season the team finished with a 24-13 record, but were tied for fifth in the conference with Miami and Virginia
The team was considered to be in a rebuilding phase last season under coach Mark Gottfried, but made a surprising run to the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA Tournament before losing to Kansas.
The Wolfpack were impressive in wins against San Diego State and Georgetown, but couldn't overcome the power of the Jayhawks, who eventually made it to the championship game.
"That's the one thing I tell our guys that we can control: we can control how driven we are every day," Gottfried said to the Associated Press. "It's easy to talk about it, it's a little bit harder to do it at practice. I can't control a lot of things nor can our guys, but we do have the ability to control that, so that's what we're trying to do each day."
The Wolfpack became the forgotten team in North Carolina over the past few years after not making the NCAA tournament since 2006. Last year was a breakout season for the team after they advanced to the Sweet Sixteen and stayed competitive with Kansas to the final seconds before losing.
"I'll go around town and people will say to me, 'Wow, coach, what a great year last year,'" Gottfried said. "And the truth of the matter is, it wasn't a great year. It was a great finish. We had a really fun finish. And it was exceptional for our group. But our year wasn't great. We were just OK. So we have to be a lot better than we were, not just at home, but start to finish."
The team brought in a high-ranked recruiting class that includes talented players Tyler Lewis, Rodney Purvis and T.J. Warren. The program feels that a mix of veteran leaders and young talent can translate into a championship squad.
"I don't want to shoot myself in the foot and say, 'We're going to go out there and do this,'" senior forward Richard Howell said. "I just feel like we have the right pieces to reach whatever goals we feel that we need to. ... I feel like we definitely have enough to finish stronger than we did last year."
The team will rely on junior C.J. Leslie after he decided to stay in school rather than enter the NBA Draft. He had a solid season last year, averaging 14.7 points and 7.3 rebounds.
"(Coach) tells us all the time: 'How do we deal with this?'" Leslie said. "We practice hard. We ignore (outside expectations) and we do all those things that great teams do to be great. ... We've got to listen and we've got to be focused and jump on it from the start."
Miami would love nothing more than to start the season by derailing the Wolfpack's enthusiasm. The RedHawks are starting their first season under new coach John Cooper, who took over for longtime head coach Charlie Coles after he retired following last season's first round Mid-American Conference tournament loss.
According to the Associated Press, "the RedHawks have dropped 20 straight to ranked opponents since a 73-67 victory over then-No. 10 Boston College on Dec. 20, 2001, in the Hawaii Rainbow Classic."
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