Red Flag: Trouble ahead if Abu leaves Wolfpack

There has been a lot of transitioning at NC State, most of which resulted in curious-to-negative reactions. A lot of them, though, were explainable or justifiably written off.

It started when the Martin twins, sophomore wings Caleb and Cody, announced they were transferring. Caleb averaged 11.5 points per game while making 79 three-pointers, and Cody contributed an all-around game to the court with averages of 6.0 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.2 steals.

However, with the return of a healthy Terry Henderson, the addition of Charlotte-transfer Torin Dorn and emergence of rising sophomore shooter Maverick Rowan, the Pack was well-stocked at wing to handle their departures.

Then star junior point guard Cat Barber, a first-team All-ACC selection after averaging a league-high 23.5 points per game, firmly entered the NBA Draft a year early by hiring an agent. That decision was not a surprise, however. With five-star freshman Dennis Smith on campus already, head coach Mark Gottfried had his replacement lined up, too.

The coaching staff was retooled. Rob Moxley, presumably for health reasons, and Bobby Lutz were reassigned to administrative roles. They were replaced by Butch Pierre, a highly regarded recruiter, and Heath Schroyer, a head coach at Tennessee-Martin.

Junior center BeeJay Anya also entered his name into the draft, but the shot-blocker quickly made it clear he would likely return to NC State.

But when ESPN’s Jeff Goodman tweeted Monday morning that sophomore forward Abdul-Malik Abu is “seriously considering” all options that would involve him leaving (i.e. transferring or the NBA Draft), that is a red alarm.

Abu was…