NC State heads into fall camp at the end of the month with a lot of familiar names back in the mix, but the biggest question for the Wolfpack still sits up front. After an 8-5 season and a convincing bowl win over Memphis, State is trying to turn that momentum into something bigger in 2026, even as the roster keeps shifting around it.
The Pack does have some important pieces returning. Quarterback CJ Bailey, right tackle Teague Andersen, center Spike Sowells Jr. and running back Duke Scott are back on offense.
On the other side, NC State has to replace its front six, but the secondary brings back key contributors like Jackson Vick and Brian Nelson II. The portal also brought in some notable additions, including Tulane transfer Edge Harvey Dyson, Penn State safety King Mack, Miami transfer linebacker Popo Aguirre and left tackle Jimarion McCrimon.
One of the most important names in the middle of all that turnover is senior right guard Kamen Smith.
Smith was part of NC State’s 2023 recruiting class and first landed an offer from the Wolfpack in April 2022. At that point, it was his only Power Four scholarship.
Once NC State made its move, though, the interest picked up fast. Virginia Tech, Duke, UNC and Wake Forest were among the programs that followed with offers.
Smith took official visits to Virginia Tech, NC State and UNC in June of that year, and then committed to the Wolfpack on July 10. He stuck with that decision and signed in December even after offensive line coach John Garrison left for the same job at Ole Miss.
His first year in Raleigh was a redshirt season in 2023, and he added 40-plus pounds to his frame during that time. In 2024, he appeared in 10 of State’s 13 games, mostly on special teams, but he also earned his first career start and played 62 snaps against ECU in the Military Bowl.
The 2025 season started slowly for Smith, but he got better as the year went on before a season-ending injury against Miami cut things short.
Now, he’s back and, according to the buzz around the program, looks like a different player. Smith is fully recovered and had an impressive offseason. The word coming out of the program is that he made major strides, and barring something unexpected, he should open 2026 as the starting right guard.
That matters because NC State’s path to being a surprise contender in the ACC starts with the offensive line. The tackles look encouraging with Teague Andersen and Jimarion McCrimon, and Spike Sowells Jr. gives the Pack a proven center after earning freshman All-American honors last fall.
But right guard is still a spot that has to prove itself, and Smith’s development is central to that. The same goes for the other guard battle, where Yousef Mugharbil and Rico Jackson are fighting for the job. If NC State is going to take a real step forward, those two positions can’t just be passable - they have to play at a high level this fall.
In Other News...
Virginia Just Resolved A Major Week 1 Question For NC State
Virginia has taken one of the bigger unknowns off the board for NC States 2026 opener, and it comes with a familiar kind of ACC headache. The Cavaliers will bring in a quarterback with real starting experience and the kind of dual-threat profile that can stress a defense in more ways than one, giving the Wolfpack an early test before conference play even settles in.
For NC State, the matchup now has a clearer shape: a seasoned transfer under center, a mobile playmaker who has already logged meaningful snaps in two major programs, and a defense that will have to be ready from the first series. The rest of Virginias offense still has to come together, but the quarterback spot is no longer a mystery, and that alone changes how the Wolfpack can spend the next few months preparing. [Read more 🡒]
Louisville Is Taking Another Swing At The ACC Before NC State Sees Them
Louisville is spending another offseason trying to turn roster churn into a real ACC push, and Jeff Brohm has leaned into the transfer portal again as he rebuilds the offense around a new quarterback. The Cardinals still have plenty of pieces that make them dangerous, from Heisman hopeful Isaac Brown in the backfield to receiver Tre Richardson and a defense anchored by pass-rush threat Clev Lubin, which is why the internal expectation around the program is already set fairly high for the fall.
The problem for anyone lining up against Louisville, including NC State, is that the schedule does not leave much time for a warmup. The Cardinals are being talked about as a nine-win team before the season even starts, and the early stretch includes a road trip to Raleigh plus a key matchup with SMU that could end up shaping the whole year. If Brohm has found another quarterback answer, the rest of the league may be dealing with a team that looks a lot more settled than it did a few months ago. [Read more 🡒]
Former NC State Guard Ends Summer League With Real NBA Momentum
Quadir Copeland spent the week in Las Vegas doing exactly what a player on the edge of the league needs to do: make himself impossible to ignore. The former NC State guard was one of Houstons more productive summer pieces, finishing with a strong all-around stretch that showed why the Rockets were willing to bring him in after he went undrafted in June and put him on a two-way contract.
Copeland saved his best for the semifinal, scoring a team-high 24 points in Houstons 101-90 loss to Memphis, and he did it while continuing to flash the kind of efficiency and activity that can carry over to camp. Over five games, he looked like more than a Summer League scorer, and now the question is whether that momentum can translate into the next phase of his climb toward a standard NBA deal. [Read more 🡒]