NC State basketball coach Mark Gottfried stopped by The David Glenn Show during ACC Operation Basketball last week to discuss the Wolfpack fanbase, this year’s team and what he thinks would be the ideal scholarship limit. During the conversation, he was also asked about Trevor Lacey’s decision to declare for the NBA Draft after last season.
“Trevor was turning 24 years old this year, and he was convinced in his mind that the age factor was going to somehow be a negative for him,” the head coach said. “Now, he and I disagreed about that, and I told him that.”
One pitch Gottfried used was the opportunity to compete for an ACC championship this season.
“He made a great decision, I thought, to come to NC State, and then my message was, ‘let’s make another good decision,’ which would have been to stay,” Gottfried said. “He didn’t want to, and that’s fine. He’s making money, and he’s started his professional career.”
Gottfried stated that he believes a lot of underclassmen don’t factor the “college experience” into the equation when weighing their options of whether to stay in school or leave early for the pros.
“There’s not a monetary value you can put on how fun it was to play in the Sweet 16 or the Final Four,” Gottfried said. “That’s the one thing I think young kids miss out on, is understanding how much fun the experience really could be for them for the rest of their life.”
Click below to hear the full interview: