Justin Gainey’s first game as NC State’s head coach arrives with a familiar face and a very different roster.
The Wolfpack open the season Monday at home against Campbell, with Gainey stepping onto the sideline for the first time after taking over as NC State’s third head coach in as many seasons. It comes three seasons after Kevin Keatts led the program to the 2024 Final Four and one year after Will Wade left for LSU following a First Four loss to Texas.
Gainey isn’t new to Raleigh. He played point guard at NC State from 1996-2000, during the stretch when those teams made four straight NIT appearances. He later returned to the program as an intern and then as director of basketball operations.
At Atlantic Coast Conference media day, he made his stance plain.
"I am NC State," Gainey said at the Atlantic Coast Conference media day, and his resume makes it hard to argue.
Now he brings in a Wolfpack team that was picked to finish eighth in the 18-team ACC preseason media poll. The group will lean on returning starters Paul McNeil Jr. and Ven-Allen Lubin, plus a transfer class that includes point guard Preston Edmead, rim protector Kyle Evans and guard Christian Hammond.
McNeil, a 6-foot-6 guard, averaged 13.8 points and 3.1 made 3-pointers per game last season, and he led the ACC with a 42.7 shooting percentage from beyond the arc. Lubin, a 6-9 forward, put up 13.6 points and a team-best 7.1 rebounds per game.
Both showed up in NC State’s exhibition win over Lenoir-Rhyne on Oct. 24.
McNeil scored 23 points and buried seven threes, while Lubin delivered 22 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots. McNeil also had 16 points in the Wolfpack’s 77-73 exhibition victory over Mississippi State on Oct.
The newcomers could give NC State a different kind of edge. Evans, a 6-foot-10 big man, was the Big West Defensive Player of the Year at UC Irvine and averaged 12.1 points, 8.7 rebounds and 3.3 blocks. Edmead, a 6-1 guard, averaged 16.1 points and 4.4 assists at Hofstra.
"We want to be the most connected team in the country," Gainey said,
Campbell arrives in Raleigh with a roster that has been completely rebuilt under first-year coach Jimmie Williams, who won 29 games at NCAA Division II Anderson (S.C.) University last season.
Williams brought four players with him to Buies Creek, N.C., including Rashawn Inglemon and AJ Wright Jr. Inglemon, a 6-foot guard, averaged 16.7 points and was the D-II South Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year. Wright, a 5-9 guard, averaged 9.4 points, 5.3 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 2.6 steals.
No player from Campbell’s 2025-26 roster is back.
"We're all going through this together," said Williams, "which in a very unique way has bonded our group. We knew it wasn't going to be an overnight fix. It has been an absolute adventure."
Campbell was picked to finish 12th in the 13-team CAA.
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