Trevor Lacey to turn pro – 2016 excitement deflated

15-16 Basketball283

. @TrevorLacey5 plans to declare for #NBADraft –> http://t.co/B6zeNfZ8a9 pic.twitter.com/iVnsWCJ1NP

— NC State Men's Bball (@PackMensBball) April 15, 2015 ” target=”_blank”>Link

N.C. State announced Wednesday that guard Trevor Lacey, who turns 24 in October, plans to enter the NBA Draft.

The 6-foot-3 Lacey averaged 15.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists as a redshirt junior during the 2014-15 season, when he made the All-ACC second team and led the Wolfpack to the Sweet 16.

“I would like to thank the coaching staff, university and fans for a wonderful experience the last two years at N.C. State, but I’d like to declare for the NBA Draft,” Lacey said in a school-issued release.

“I had a great group of teammates the last two years, and they’ll always be like brothers to me. This has been the toughest decision of my life. But I feel like pursuing this new journey in my basketball career is what is best for me.”

Lacey played two years at Alabama before transferring to N.C. State, and he sat out the 2013-14 season per NCAA rules. His age, along with a skill level that made him the nation’s most efficient and effective isolation scorer, are factors in the decision to turn pro.

He doesn’t have elite athleticism or foot speed, though, one reason he is ranked No. 96 on ESPN analyst Chad Ford’s list of top-100 draft prospects. There are only two rounds and 60 picks in the NBA Draft.

Only two of the top 10 players from a 22-14 team in 2014-15 were seniors, but Lacey joins fellow wing Ralston Turner, the team’s second-leading scorer, and backup guard Desmond Lee in departing. It’s still unclear if point guard Cat Barber will return following a strong sophomore season, and post player Kyle Washington saw his minutes drop as he became the Wolfpack’s fourth interior option late in the season, although he did have a significant impact in two NCAA tournament games.

Without Lacey or Turner available, the Wolfpack could replace them in the starting lineup with 6-4 guard Terry Henderson, who sat out the 2014-15 season as a West Virginia transfer, and one of the Martin twins. Caleb Martin started one game and ranked sixth on the team with a 4.8 scoring average as a freshman, and Cody Martin made three starts as a defensive-minded wing.

N.C. State hasn’t signed any Class of 2015 recruits.

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Home › Forums › Trevor Lacey to turn pro – 2016 excitement deflated

Viewing 25 posts - 51 through 75 (of 284 total)
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  • 04/15/2015 at 9:07 PM #85079
    choppack1
    Participant

    Vawolf – Its packalum44. Hr makes you look like a raging optimist.

    Bjd – these days, its all how you build a program. Its definitely tough if you want to do what gott does – build your team around a handful of MCD aa’s, a few top 50 guys and talented transfers…you’ll be on the bubble each year.

    We don’t get the top 15 guys. We will be fine if gott can keep the guys he’s getting and build depth AND if we can be a decent defensive team. That’s a big “if”. He eventually lost his touch at bama. But I think he may be in a better position and has hopefully learned from past experience.

    It should give all of us an appreciation of the stress of this profession.

    04/15/2015 at 9:15 PM #85080
    BJD95
    Keymaster

    We were the ones who were going to move up BECAUSE people were gonna stay. Thus, the strategy of building in between the “one and done” and “system” models. I really, really liked where it looked to be headed.

    But hey, we are NC State. Stay lubed up at all times.

    04/15/2015 at 9:19 PM #85081
    Wulfpack
    Participant

    No reason to think we can’t make it 5 in a row.

    We’re going to be fine by that measure. But it would be nice to actually go into this thing as a contender for a change. Credit Gott for getting us to where we are. Can’t blame him for losing Lacey. But make no mistake it will be a brand new team with a new chemistry.

    04/15/2015 at 9:26 PM #85082
    MrPlywood
    Participant
    VaWolf82 wrote:

    packalum44 wrote:
    Color me surprised losing two kids early. Who would have ever ever ever thought this could happen.
    I trust that this is sarcasm.

    This turn of events actually makes 44 happy.

    04/15/2015 at 9:41 PM #85083
    WTNY
    Participant

    Oh, to return to the days when players stayed 4 years. When you knew everyone on all the teams in the league. Now we don’t even know all the players on NC State they change so much.

    But it’s a result of the way the kids are brought up. They start playing earlier, play year-round, and are told they are the MAN by the time they hit 10 years old.

    Everyone expects to play all the time from Nov of their freshman year.

    College basketball is less and less enjoyable each year. Yuck.

    04/15/2015 at 9:50 PM #85084
    BJD95
    Keymaster

    It’s making me despair as to whether we can ever really compete again. Fucking depressing is what it is.

    04/15/2015 at 9:57 PM #85085
    WTNY
    Participant

    Maybe Doeren can build something.

    04/15/2015 at 10:14 PM #85086
    choppack1
    Participant

    But see bjd – you thought they were going to stay. The bottom line is that most kids are going to leave when its best for them to do so. For both lacy and Washington – it made more sense for them to leave. (Probably more so for kw thank lacy.)

    It’s a business these days. These guys are being sold on this being their training ground for pro ball – and they are going to try and make that $$ when they can. Hell, I will be thrilled if this is all we lose.

    And let’s face it – were it not for the transitive nature of the game, we wouldn’t have had lacy, Turner or Henderson.

    In his first 4 years, gott has been a poor man’s tom izzo. Molding talented and competitive teams under trying circumstances. If he’s going to do better than the sweet 16 and ACC semifinals he needs to have better teams defensively – without sacrificing much offense. That’s all – because the players ain’t gonna change.

    04/15/2015 at 10:17 PM #85087
    VaWolf82
    Keymaster

    Since no one has been the smart*** yet, I guess it’s up to me…..

    Would someone like to explain again why it is OK that we have no incoming freshmen?

    04/15/2015 at 10:21 PM #85088
    wufpup76
    Keymaster

    I just am seeing that Kyle is leaving, too. Damn. I really hate to lose him, but best of luck to him.

    I think he’s got a lot of potential for the future. Plus, he seems like a great ‘team’ and ‘glue’ guy.

    04/15/2015 at 10:25 PM #85089
    backthebackagain
    Participant

    I am really really starting to outright hate Gott. Between his questionable off the court behavior, his lack of recruiting, his inconsistency during the season, his lack of maintaining a team or building positive chemistry or his lackadaisical approach to defense I am finding it hard to support this retard. I wonder when our fans and alums will wake up and see this cat for what he is? Is it going to take Cat or Anya leaving this year to wake people up? You can bet your butt that Abu is gone next year as well. The chemistry on this team is piss poor.

    04/15/2015 at 10:39 PM #85090
    Tau837
    Participant
    VaWolf82 wrote:

    Would someone like to explain again why it is OK that we have no incoming freshmen?

    It was okay but a bit worrisome for scholarship spacing when we expected Lacey and Washington back. Now that we know they are gone, it isn’t okay.

    When we expected them back, it would have been difficult for Gott to sign quality recruits because said recruits would have had too much obvious competition for minutes. (That is still true at the 1/4/5 positions.) So Gott could have signed some lesser players who would have been happy without minutes, but he didn’t want to do that, and I agree with that approach.

    Would you feel better about the situation if Gott had a couple Jaqawn Raymond level players coming in? In other words, warm bodies? I wouldn’t.

    However, now that the situation has changed and opened up more scholarships, roles, and minutes, the opportunity is there for Gott to bring in a top recruit like Malik Newman and/or one or more juco/grad transfers. I assume Newman is still a long shot (but less so than before), but I think there is a good chance Gott will land at least one transfer who can play guard next season.

    Let’s face it, Washington was rarely a factor when the team played well to close the season. Assuming no further departures and no major injuries, although I wish he had stayed, his departure probably won’t hurt much. The Lacey loss will hurt plenty, but that is the position where Gott is most likely to bring in someone, so we’ll have to see what happens there before fully assessing the damage.

    Now, if someone else leaves, the sky could be falling…

    04/15/2015 at 11:01 PM #85091
    PoppaJohn
    Participant

    So, SO, discouraging

    04/16/2015 at 12:22 AM #85093
    rtpack24
    Participant

    This is not news to the staff as they have been aware for awhile about this as well as Kyle transferring. BJD95 can verify this was known but hopes were with other players declaring that Trevor might change his mind. Being an NCSU fan is never easy. Henerson is a nice replacement at the #2 spot but now we have no back up at point and a Martin twin has to step up their shooting to replace Turner.

    04/16/2015 at 1:11 AM #85094
    PackerInRussia
    Participant

    Just like the rule, there is no continuation in college basketball (although, regarding the rule, there might as well be). Every year is a blank slate. The landscape is completely changed each year – coaches shuffling to different teams, players transferring or leaving early. Last year means nothing. There’s no real building upon each year; just gathering the pieces and trying to put something back together. I think Gottfried has done a good job of that actually. Unfortunately it means that each year we have to wait for the team to develop throughout the year and hope they are battle-tested by the ACCT rather than going into a season with high expectations (except year 2 of course). The preseason Top 25 is a crapshoot with the exception, maybe, of a few top teams (and UNC being in the top 10 or 15 no matter what the circumstances). Open opportunities and great unknowns. This is college basketball, for better or worse.

    And for those needing to express their feelings in sound effect:

    04/16/2015 at 2:36 AM #85095
    fullmoon1
    Participant

    I’m shooting from the hip. Let’s be honest. Lacey had a great season. I understand what people mean when they say, “if he stays another year his draft stock may drop”. Despite the good season there is nothing about Lacey at this point in his career that screams nba. If your draft stock drops after another year of development either their system of evaluating is wrong or you were never that good to begin with. I find it sad that somehow this kid has been made to think he’s the next nba star. He will possibly languish in obscurity. The nba dangling unattainable carrots in front of these kids faces has driven the sport into the ground. It’s a shame gott either agrees or enables these actions.

    04/16/2015 at 5:33 AM #85096
    Wulfpack
    Participant

    Let’s face it, Washington was rarely a factor when the team played well to close the season.

    He sure gave us the much needed lift against LSU. He was good in spurts. He is a talented offensive player that can force his man out. The shot selection could certainly have been improved, as well as his defense. The loss won’t “hurt” considering what we have down low, but you don’t want to keep losing productive guys. Seems we can expect to lose 1 each year.

    Lacey likely won’t be drafted. But as others have said there are other ways to make a living playing basketball. It is a personal decision, and he is an older dude. Sad we only got to see him for 1 year.

    We still have the nuts and bolts to be a good, not great, team. And Gott will be looking to piece it together, again. But you have to start to wonder about the future.

    04/16/2015 at 6:30 AM #85097
    BJD95
    Keymaster

    This certainly does reinforce the worldview of “tomorrow never comes” no matter what your program status/building stage is. Better play each tourney as if it’s your last before you get hit with the death penalty.

    I have no idea what to make of all this. Just hoping and praying that our core 7 (which was 9) doesn’t become 6. If it does, then I freaking give up already.

    We had better be loudly protesting against closing the grad school transfer rule. It’s really our last lifeline at this point.

    04/16/2015 at 7:18 AM #85098
    PackofMac
    Participant

    teams will routinely have certain players make personal decisions to attempt a career at basketball earlier than fans or “experts” think they should. What isn’t routine is NC State “routinely” losing players to transfer. I think…well for me it’s obvious why Kyle is leaving but even my dumb ass can gather a speech to keep the kid around another year, especially one that seemed to continue to play his ass off even if disappointed with decreased playing time.

    For those urging everyone to relax…good advise however as a life long state fan relaxation is something I’ve yet to enjoy when following our athletics. We’re set up perfectly for the atomic bomb to drop on us somehow in football.

    04/16/2015 at 7:48 AM #85099
    BJD95
    Keymaster

    Oh well, at least I can finally bury the notion there might be a ghost of a chance of seeing another national championship before I shed this mortal coil. Like they say, wish in one hand, shit in the other, see which gets full first.

    On the bright side, time to queue up the DVR. Margo Martindale returns to The Americans! Huzzah!!

    04/16/2015 at 8:14 AM #85100
    backthebackagain
    Participant

    At this point I just want to see another ACC title in my lifetime. We had a good shot with this team a week ago.

    Next year looks bubblelicious and then 2016 looks like a friggin nightmare. I hope those rumors from PP and the tweets are not real or we could be in real trouble next year. I guess we will find out today or tomorrow.

    04/16/2015 at 8:51 AM #85102
    packbackr04
    Participant

    is Cat talking about going as well?

    04/16/2015 at 8:59 AM #85103
    ncsu12engr
    Participant

    Other than the big 5 star recruits that we likely don’t have a shot at are there any decent recruits left? I feel like Gott went all in on recruiting a big 5 star name this year thinking he would only lose Lee and Turner and it has backfired big time. A one and done might help us in 2016, but where does that leave us in 2017? Cat probably leaves after next year and possibly Abu as well. 2017 is looking pretty bleak right now.

    04/16/2015 at 9:21 AM #85104
    redisgood
    Participant

    I’m seriously hoping we don’t lose another player. It could happen.

    04/16/2015 at 9:21 AM #85105
    TheCOWDOG
    Moderator

    Another, overall, perfect example of why this:

    1. Teammates
    2. Coaches
    3. Chicks

    (Even if it is only a few trying to set a tone.)

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