With a pair of double-doubles in Tech’s last two games, Deivon Smith has the quickness to match the Wolfpack. (photo by Danny Karnik)
In a league full of potent, pure-scoring guards, the most instant offense alpha of the ACC may reside in Raleigh.
Terquavion Smith (6-4, 165) comes to McCamish averaging an ACC-leading 18.7 points per game, with four straight 20-point games. Smith gave a full sampler of his skills last year when he blitzed the Yellow Jackets for 26 points (6-8 3pt.) and nine rebounds in a 77-61 win. He’s an athletic blowtorch who gets downhill in transition and can make tough shots in the half-court (he also leads the ACC with 2.9 3pt. FGM/game).
Head coach Kevin Keatts has paired him this year with 6-1 Ole Miss transfer Jarkel Joiner (16.1 ppg), a quicksilver guard who can shoot, slash and create. Senior Casey Morsell (12.9 ppg) lurks around them with an ACC-leading 45-percent three-point success rate, but between Smith and Joiner, N.C. State has a pair of irrepressible shot makers who see any sliver of daylight as an invitation to shoot.
The Wolfpack run their usual ball screen-heavy offense, including a series of plays that begin off an “Iverson cut” where a guard glides over a pair of screens at the elbow and catches on the wing. The Wolfpack are also running more straight post-ups than they have in years past. D.J. Burns (6-9, 275), a former Big South Player of the Year at Winthrop, is a brawny target on duck-ins and a crafty passer out of double teams. Through it all, N.C. State plays soundly – the Wolfpack rank ninth nationally in turnover percentage.
Can Tech avoid getting into scrambles? Can they stay active and alert out high, rotational-rebound well, and make Smith and Joiner see bodies on penetration? They’ll make tough shots, but that can’t deflate Tech’s spirits.
*****
Joiner’s bio may harken Tech fans back to their post-season run from six years ago.
The Oxford, Miss., native began his career at Cal-State Bakersfield, where he spent two seasons before transferring home to Ole Miss. Georgia Tech, of course, knocked out Ole Miss in the 2017 NIT quarterfinals in Oxford, then beat Cal-State Bakersfield in the NIT semis in New York City.
So how did a Mississippian land with a relatively nascent Division I program in California? The connective thread, as you might suspect, is former Ole Miss head coach Rod Barnes (1998-2006), now the head man at CSUB. Barnes’ recruiting relationship with Joiner actually began in a barber’s chair: his Dad used to cut Barnes’ and his kids’ hair.
*****
They don’t play at breakneck speed – their KenPom adjusted tempo ranks sixth in the ACC in conference games – but few teams score more lethally in transition than N.C. State. The Wolfpack rank sixth nationally in fast break points per game, a number that’s due in part to their hectic defensive style. N.C. State also leads the ACC in steals and ranks 16th nationally in turnover margin (+4.5).
| Points |
PPG |
% of overall points |
| Off Turnovers |
17.7 |
22.30% |
| Fast Break |
17.3 |
21.70% |
Look for the Wolfpack to spring traps, shoot gaps, jump handoffs, and overhelp as they hunt for turnovers. Joiner is a frisky point-of-attack defender, which could make Deivon Smith’s quickness even more vital. The Loganville, Ga., native took his first official visit to N.C. State as a junior at Grayson High School.
