NC State ahead Darrion Williams — a five-star switch and the No. 5 general participant within the 2026 portal cycle — already appears to be becoming into the Wolfpack tradition. He made his disdain for rival North Carolina clear forward of his first season within the Triangle and pointed it towards Tar Heels coach Hubert Davis for what he mentioned was unfair therapy of two former UNC gamers.
Williams, beforehand of Texas Tech stardom, joins forces this season with UNC switch Ven-Allen Lubin, who left his former program to leap onto the opposite aspect of the heated rivalry. He additionally performed final season with one other ex-Tar Heel in Kerwin Walton, who spent two years at UNC earlier than closing out his profession at Texas Tech.
“I feel their coach did Ven improper, after which he did Kerwin Walton improper — my previous teammate at Tech — when he was there,” Williams mentioned of UNC’s Davis. “So, yeah, I simply do not just like the man.”
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Williams shouldn’t be the one individual within the NC State program to query Davis’ dealing with of Lubin, who spent one yr with the Tar Heels. Coach Will Wade mentioned UNC was “too dumb to play him,” calling into query his position as a part-time starter.
Lubin led all Tar Heel forwards in minutes and scoring but began simply 20 video games and was out and in of the lineup all season. He averaged 8.7 factors and 5.5 rebounds and shot 68.4% from the sphere in a task that arguably didn’t match his manufacturing.
“The opposite faculty was too dumb to play him,” Wade mentioned this summer season. “When [Lubin] performs 28-plus minutes — he is finished that in 23 video games — he averages 15 (factors) and eight (rebounds). I do not know why the hell they did not play him, however we’re gonna play him. So he is gonna common 15 and eight. We’re very enthusiastic about Ven.”
Disdain towards the Tar Heels is a trademark of NC State athletics because the rivalry between the close by faculties runs deep. It didn’t take lengthy for Williams to take discover of that actuality upon his arrival from Texas Tech, and due to his ideas about Davis, he may need discovered a super touchdown spot within the portal.
“The followers are loopy,” Williams mentioned of his new faculty. “We hate UNC, which I haven’t got an issue with. I hate UNC, as effectively.”
Williams was a colossal early recruiting pickup for Wade forward of his first season on the helm. The previous Pink Raiders star enters his senior yr on the heels of back-to-back All-Massive 12 campaigns and final season guided his previous squad to the Elite Eight. He averaged 15.1 factors on the yr and was terrific within the postseason, scoring 21.0 factors throughout 4 NCAA Match outings.
