Does the Wolfpack Have a BIG Problem?

Size Matters!

With the other preseason anticipated top tier ACC contenders projected to start big front courts – Louisville (Hadley 6’7”, Fru 6’11”), Duke (Boozer 6’9”, Ngongba 6’11”), UNC (Wilson 6’10”, Veesaar 7’0”), Miami (Reneau 6’9”, Udeh 6’11”), and Virginia (de Ridder 6’8”, Grunloh 7’0”) – the Wolfpack’s lack of size is something to worry about. Or is it?

Based on the ‘25-‘26 team measurements recently posted on GoPack, the 15 man roster averages 78.33 inches. On last season’s Pomeroy height rankings, that would rank the Wolfpack in the 33rd-42nd range along with ten other tall-ish schools. (before the recent ‘Marcus Hill memorial’ boost in height, the team averaged 77.9 inches, which ranked the Pack in the 79-83 range.)

• Last season NC State averaged 77.0 inches and was ranked 215th in average height.
• Houston, who was just a stone’s throw away from winning the NCAA tournament last season, averaged 76.8 inches and was ranked 243^rd .
• NCAA champ Florida averaged 78 inches and were ranked 77th.
• Fun Facts: In the National Championship game, Houston won offensive rebounds 15-8, Florida won overall rebounding 40-39, Houston led in blocked shots 6-5.

ThePLUS metric

While the roster is not sprinkled with 7 foot giants, 10 of 15 players on the Wolfpack are 6’6” or better. And, the staff recruits players that have disproportionately long arms because of the defensive advantage. For drinking game purposes, fans talk about ‘wingspan.’ The Wolfpack staff calls it their ‘Plusscore’. It is calculated as wingspan minus height. For example, Quadir Copeland (6’6”) has a 6’10” wingspan. His plus score is 4. (FYI, the average person’s wingspan is roughly equal to their height – plus score = 0) Coach Wade’s ideal is to keep a team on the court with a cumulative double-digit plus score. NC State doesn’t publish everyone’s wingspan, but the ones that have been published who will be in the regular rotation are Copeland plus 4, Williams plus 2, Deng plus 4, Sagnia plus 2, Lubin plus 3, and Terrance Arceneaux (6’6”) is said to have a ‘near 7’ wingspan’, if true, he would be plus 5-6.

NC State may not be stocked with sequoias, but the Wolfpack is NOT a small team.

Ven-Allen Lubin will be the man

In one of the summer press conferences, Coach Wade said that Lubin (wingspan – “over 7’0” ”) was underutilized last season. “The other school was too dumb to play him,” …“When [Lubin] plays 28-plus minutes — he’s done that in 23 games — he averages 15 (points) and eight (rebounds). I don’t know why the hell they didn’t play him, but we’re gonna play him. So he’s gonna average 15 and eight. We’re very excited about Ven.”.

So what about the other 12-15 minutes? What about foul trouble and/or injury?

Lubin has not historically been foul prone, averaging 2.0 for his career. At Vanderbilt he missed six games for injuries (hope that’s out of his system), but started the 26 he played and averaged a career high 28.2 minutes. Despite the high usage, he got 4 fouls only 4 times and never fouled out. He’s a critical piece of next season’s team; the Pack needs him on the floor.

Option 1: Scottie Ebube

When the Paul Mbiya signing didn’t work out, the team had to pivot quickly. The transfer portal had been open 90 days, and the big man shelf had been thoroughly picked over. Ebube was probably on our list because of his connection to Patrick Stacy but he can’t have been rated highly in the talent evaluation algorithm based on what is well known about the Wolfpack’s transfer preferences.

Scottie is a strong, athletic, 6’10” 280 lb space eater with career (66 games) averages of 9.8 minutes, 5.1 points, and 3 rebounds per game.

In his comprehensive transfer rankings Basket Under Review’s Matthew Winick says, “You know exactly what you’re getting from [Ebube]. Dunker, rim protector, absurd rebounder. He’s a monstrous human being. He’s only ever played in drop coverage, so it will be interesting to see what he looks like in Will Wade’s defense. He’ll do a couple of amazing things on the floor and then commit two awful turnovers and a couple of fouls. You don’t want to depend on him, but you can use him in spurts.”

Option A: Can Musa Sagnia play center in college ball?

That’s the million dollar question. (he has the wingspan! reported as 6’11.75” ) NC State fans have all hoped the staff could fill out the roster with a talented big man for depth at center. Coach Wade reports that Musa surprised the staff when measured, rather than the expected 6’8”, he measured “about 6’10” “. Also in his resume, he has played in more games than anyone on the team. Sagnia has played four full seasons (136 games) of professional ball in Spain’s top pro league. However, for his career, he only averaged 16.65 minutes per game logging 4.8 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. His most prolific season was his rookie year, (7.8 ppg / 6.8 rpg – 20.5 mins) Loads of high-end experience, but not a lot of statistical production. On his highlight reels, he looks like a forward. It’s unclear how much of that experience was played at center.

Rivals Senior National Recruiting Analyst Jamie Shaw recently visited practice, and other than Darrion Williams, the two players that stood out the most were Paul McNeil and Musa Sagnia. He described Sagnia as a ‘super unique’ player with outstanding athleticism. He said he moves around the floor really well, can step out and guard a shooter and recover quickly to defend the basket. He thought he could defend the 3-5.

In the recent media day, Coach Wade described Sagnia saying, “He is an elite, elite, elite defender”. “Terrance Arseneaux is one of the best defenders in the country, and Musa is every bit as good a defender as Terrance is.”

Option 2: What about Mikey?

Mikey Wilkins is a Top 100 4-star recruit. He’s 6’9” ( 6’10” wingspan) and 260 lbs. The 2025 NC Mr. Basketball averaged 15.6 points, 8.0 rebounds. 2.3 assists, 2.0 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game in 23.1 minutes per game this past season. He shot 56% / 32% (44 attempts) / 67%.

Unfortunately, he needed to finish up his high school academics this summer. So, he missed most of the summer skills & conditioning and the opportunity those activities bring for bonding with the team. So he is starting behind most of the team.

During the recent media day, when asked about Mikey, Coach Wade said, “We’re excited about what he can become.” “…he’s a ways behind right now” “He’s going to be a special, special player for us” “… in time”

Wildcard Option 3C, subsection T(tall): Jerry Deng 

Jerry is a 6’9”, 230 lb (Wolfpack wingspan champ at 7’1”), 4-star transfer out of FSU starting his third season. His claim to fame is as a career 38% (229 attempts) 3PT shooter – which, before the season starts, ranks as best on the Wolfpack. Last season, at 15.4 min per game he totaled 59 rebounds in 31 games played. (for comparison, that would rank him 8^th on last season’s lousy rebounding Wolfpack) So, the question is, can the staff mold him into someone who can provide some depth at center? Can he provide some rebounding and rim protection? On film it looks like he doesn’t like to get physical, he only had 4 dunks and 7 blocks last season, in two seasons he’s never fouled out and only picked up 4 fouls once –  both indicative of playing away from the basket – and limited playing time. Last season he shot 37% from 3PT, and 93.2% of those shots were assisted. Catch and shoot is clearly his sweet spot. And that’s okay, you need guys like that. And the Pack has some excellent passers to get him the ball.

So what about those other 12-15 minutes?

The 42 days between the start of practice and the first game will tell the staff a lot about the team. But there are some sure bets and one of them is that as long as he stays healthy, Lubinwill start every game at center and will play as many minutes as he is productive, and based on that legendary presser, that probably means at least 28 minutes per game. The rest probably looks like this:

• Musa Sagnia is the most experienced and talented second option. He will be the first off the bench and get most of the minutes.
• With the realization that Sagnia is bigger and better than expected, Scottie Ebube becomes more of a ‘foul trouble’ / ‘injury’ / ‘big lead’ option and on the periphery of the regular rotation.
• Jerry Deng has got size and length, but he’s more naturally a wing than a ‘bump and grind’ center. Seems unlikely that the staff has spent (or will spend) any effort at all to mold him into a backup center when the team has options this year, and probably won’t need him there next season. Teach him to rebound!
• At this point, it appears Mikey Wilkins is too far buried in the roster to see meaningful playing time this season.

I’m betting this will be a one-time anomaly, and going forward Coach Wade and Co will be well stocked with skyscrapers – and wingspan! He’s already signed his first. Don’t sleep on Trevon Carter-Givens, he could be a hidden gem. He’s 6’11” (wingspan 7’6” – a plus 7!) and still growing. He’s already ranked as 247’s #115 player, 4-star, and he’s only played basketball for two seasons. Huge, long term potential.