With only three returning scholarship players from last season the North Carolina State Wolfpack will need production from somewhere. Anthony Barber, incoming freshman and McDonald’s All-American alumnus, said he’s ready to go, according to the Associated Press.
N.C. State’s Anthony Barber hopes for early impact
Attrition was not kind to the Wolfpack this offseason, but recruiting was.
USA TODAY Sports
Barber was the fourth-ranked point guard in the Class of 2013 in Scout.com's rankings, but the task with which he and his fellow newcomers—four other freshmen and LSU transfer Ralston Turner—have been faced significantly exceeds resting on a player's high school laurels. The Wolfpack were an NCAA Tournament team last season, but lost C.J. Leslie and Lorenzo Brown to the NBA draft, Scott Wood and Richard Howell graduated, and Rodney Purvis transferred to the Connecticut Huskies.
Barber isn’t feeling any pressure, the AP said:
“I’m expecting to be a starter coming in as a top recruit,” Barber said. “Everybody else expects me to be a starter, but I’m just going to continue to work hard.”
One of N.C. State's top returning players is sophomore Tyler Lewis, who was primarily used as Brown's backup at point guard last season. But Wolfpack coach Mark Gottfried indicated the two point guards could share the floor this season, according to the AP:
“Even in the pickup games our guys have played, the word is he and Tyler feed off each other and like playing together. We’ll see how all that works out. We’re excited about both of them, both of those two guys.”
N.C. State's top returning scorer is T.J. Warren, who scored 12.1 points per game last season as a freshman.
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