A year ago, Will Wade was N.C. State’s new basketball coach, telling Wolfpack fans they were in store for a “Red Reckoning” and promising a fast, exciting team. Good promotion can go a long way, and Wade relentlessly promoted.
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Justin Gainey now is the man in charge of the Wolfpack program. No fancy slogan from him, although there are three words displayed in a corner of the Pack’s practice gym on campus that sums up the Gainey approach: “Gritty not pretty.”
Wade, gone to LSU after one ill-fated season, wanted to score a lot of points to score points with the fans. Gainey thinks good defense goes a long way. Defense no longer is optional, not under a former Wolfpack guard who learned from one of the game’s best defensive minds, Tennessee coach Rick Barnes.
Gritty not pretty.
Gainey was always that way when he played in the backcourt for the Pack in the late 1990s. He scored some big baskets along the way — beating Purdue at Purdue with a 3 — but did all the fundamental things well. Good defense was a given from the former guard.
The focus was on defense Tuesday as Gainey, a head coach for the first time and still learning the ways of being a head coach, allowed the media to see a portion of the Pack practice at the Dail Complex. It was a high-volume practice in terms of coaching instruction and the players, minus Paul McNeil Jr, worked hard to follow those instructions and provide some sweat equity.
“I’m really excited about how hard they’ve been working,” Gainey said before practice. “They have been relentlessly pushing themselves and pushing each other and holding each other accountable. … They’ve been pushed in ways I don’t think any of them have been pushed before.
“I’m really excited about how quickly they’ve meshed together. If you didn’t know any better you’d think they’ve been together for multiple years. They have all come together, they’re connected. They communicate with each other like veteran teams I’ve seen. And from a development standpoint they’re always trying to get better. So I’m excited.”
McNeil sat out practice Tuesday, watching as he worked out on a stationary bike. No word on a possible injury, but the team’s most important returnee from last season — and Wade did work hard to pull him to LSU — should soon return and drew praise from Gainey.
“Paul has been a beast,” Gainey said.
McNeil, one of the best shooters in college basketball, has been sharpening his leadership skills in the offseason, Gainey said, calling or texting almost nightly to offer some ideas on how to better bond the team — go-karting, for example.
“And he wants to be pushed and pushed hard.” Gainey said.
Roster building was the immediate concern for Gainey after he was announced as coach on April 1. The NCAA portal opened April 7 and Gainey had to quickly piece together the staff and go to work to put together a team.
The Wolfpack has 13 players on the roster with the recent additions of Robert Jurkovic, a 6-10 senior forward from Slovenia, and Shah Hall, a junior-college transfer and 6-11 post player. Gainey still has two spots open and isn’t ruling out using one or both.
“Hopefully those two bring something that we didn’t have,” Gainey said. “Shah’s athleticism and size and how he moves is completely different than anybody else. And Robert brings that veteran, older piece who’s versatile and can play both spots, can play inside but also stretch the floor and shoot it outside. … He just has that European savvy about his game.”
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Some of the players have been reshaped, so to speak, in terms of playing weight by strength and conditioning coach Cody Dukquits. McNeil has added eight pounds and sophomore Darius Adams 10 pounds, Gainey said. Going the other way are Eemeli Yalaho, a senior forward who has lost 20 pounds, and red-shirt freshman forward Zymicah Wilkins, down 25.
Gainey continues to learn more and more about his team, knowledge that can be learned on the practice floor and in team settings.
Gainey mentioned Yalaho, who transferred from Washington State and is called “EY.”
“I didn’t know he had the interior presence that he had and the calmness to make plays from the low post at that size. And he’s every bit of 6-8,” Gainey said, offering a mini-scouting report. “He’s big, he’s physical, he can shoot it.
“You can watch them on film but until you have them in your system you don’t really have a great feel for it.”
The Pack was 20-14 overall and 10-8 in the ACC a year ago after a late-season slide. Selected for the NCAA’s “First Four,” the Wolfpack was beaten by Texas and Wade was soon gone, leaving behind some bruised feeling and an angry fan base.
The Wolfpack continues to put together the schedule that will include a nonconference game against North Carolina in Greensboro, a product of the ACC’s quirky scheduling. Still to be determined: which team the Pack will face in Gainey’s first game as head coach at his alma mater.
Until then there will be more loud, lively practices at Dail. The players’ practice jerseys have “Connect Develop Compete” on the back and those are the Pack’s core values, Gainey said.
“The guys are laying the foundation of the identity,” Gainey said. “Who are we going to be? Who are we going to be on a night-to-night basis? You instill that right now in the summer, with everything you do every single day.
“Defending, rebounding, taking care of the basketball. Those are the three things we have just been harping on all summer. You’ve got to do those three things. Defense travels, no matter where the game is at. If you defend, rebound, and you take care of the ball, you’re going to give yourself a chance.”
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