At N.C. State, the Cat Barber era at point guard is over, and the Dennis Smith reign, as brief as it may be, begins.
The school announced Tuesday evening that Barber is staying in the NBA Draft. Barber had previously told the News and Observer’s Joe Giglio that he was going to, at a minimum, go through the draft process to get feedback before the May 25 deadline to pull out. Barber ends his career on a high note, making first-team All-ACC and garnering league player of the year consideration after averaging 23.5 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game for the Pack.
He makes it four straight years under head coach Mark Gottfried that a player has left early for the NBA Draft at N.C. State. Lorenzo Brown and C.J. Leslie departed in 2013, and Brown was drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second round. T.J. Warren went a year later and was picked in the first round by the Phoenix Suns. Trevor Lacey went undrafted a year ago. Early mock drafts this year have Barber as a potential second-round pick.
N.C. State though is in a much better position to absorb Barber’s departure than they were a year ago with Lacey… Get access to the rest of this article and unlimited access to the rest of ACCSports.com when you upgrade to Premium Access! Click on the button below to view all the benefits of becoming a Premium Access member.Get the rest of the story right now with Premium Access!
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