Basketball Season Is Here! Game One - The Citadel

When: Monday November 6 - 7:00 PM

Where: PNC Arena

Opponent: The Citadel Bulldogs (Southern Conference)

TV: ACC Network Extra

Pomeroy Prediction: Wolfpack 81-62

Let me welcome you to the OFFICIAL START OF BASKETBALL SEASON! The ACC basketball writers predict a 7th place finish for the Wolfpack in the ‘23-’24 season, but with ACC teams averaging more than 4 transfer additions per team, they really don’t have a clue. And neither do we.

The schedule leading up to Christmas looks a little better this season, hopefully allowing time for this totally rebuilt roster to build chemistry. Last year we played 15 games before January, including the defending national champion Kansas Jayhawks in the fifth game of the season and four ACC games in December. We started January at 11-4, having lost 3 of those 4 ACC games - and 2 of our starters! This season we only play 12 games before January, three of our four ‘signature’ OOC games are on neutral courts, and we only play one ACC opponent, Boston College (picked 12 in the ACC, Pomeroy 128 - for what that’s worth), before the new year.

This will be our 13th time playing the The Citadel Bulldogs (Pomeroy 296), we are currently enjoying a 12 game winning streak. The SOCON writers predict them to finish 9th in their 10 team league, just ahead of VMI. (see the pattern?) Fun fact - the Bulldogs play in McAlister Field House, and if you go inside and gaze upward, you will see NC State alumnus and former Wolfpack basketball coach Les Robinson’s retired coach’s jersey.

Coach Ed Conroy, former Pack assistant under Les Robinson, is in his second stint as head coach at The Citadel, returns two guards (Sophomore Madison Durr 6’4” 200 lbs 7.7 ppg and Grad student Elijah Morgan 6’1” 180 lbs 7.6 ppg) of their top 7 players on a 10-22 / 5-13 season. So just like the Pack, they will rely on a lot of new faces and they aren’t sure what to expect.