Coach: Mark Gottfried (third season, 48-24 at N.C. State; 327-178 overall)

2012-13 record: 24-11 (11-7 ACC, fifth)

Postseason: NCAA tournament, 0-1 (lost to Temple)

Projected starting lineup: PG Cat Barber, G Desmond Lee, G Ralston Turner, F T.J. Warren, F Kyle Washington

Plus

• A fresh start. Mark Gottfried gets to start over in Year 3 at N.C. State and he does so with two NCAA tournament appearances under his belt and a trip to the Sweet 16.

Gottfried said after the NCAA tournament loss to Temple he could never get all the players to buy in last season. With a new season, new roster, he gets to push the reset button and try again with a group of players he recruited.

Mark Gottfried spent eight seasons at UCLA but apparently that's not enough to get him to leave N.C. State.

Gottfried, who has led N.C. State to the NCAA tournament in each of his first two seasons, confirmed his commitment to the Wolfpack on Wednesday night on Twitter.

"#WPN I am committed to being at @NCState for a long time Still as dedicated to rebuilding the program as I was 2 yrs ago when I arrived," Gottfried wrote on his account.

DAYTON, Ohio — Mark Gottfried was as honest about N.C. State's problems after Friday's loss to Temple in the NCAA tournament as a coach could be.

Gottfried explained the issues with the Wolfpack, who closed out the 2012-13 season on Friday with a 76-72 loss to Temple.

N.C. State finished 24-11 and Friday's loss was symbolic of many of the same, reoccurring problems that derailed a season full of promise for the Wolfpack.

Three Points from N.C. State's 81-66 win over Wake Forest:

1) A new approach

Basically, N.C. State spent the first 25 games of the season trying to out-score its opponents. Given the Wolfpack's scoring firepower, that wasn't a bad strategy (the Pack went 18-7 in those games) but it also wasn't the best.

N.C. State has been a different team on defense over the past five games. The Pack has been more active with more steals, which leads to easy points in transition, and has allowed fewer points.

N.C. State guard Lorenzo Brown is still not 100 percent and would need to make significant improvement to play on Thursday against Duke.

Brown missed last Saturday's 79-78 loss to Miami with an injured left ankle and has not been able to practice, as of Monday, since he suffered the injury on Jan. 29 at Virginia.

Brown's injury remains "day to day," Wolfpack coach Mark Gottfried said.

Three Points from N.C. State's 79-78 loss to Miami:

1) What it takes

N.C. State played with a palpable intensity and desperation on Saturday in a game, arguably for the first time all season, it wasn't supposed to win. These two points are obviously connected.

N.C. State should be, as coach Mark Gottfried put it, heartbroken after Reggie Johnson's tip-in with 0.8 seconds left gave Miami a 79-78 win but the Wolfpack should not be discouraged.

Junior guard Lorenzo Brown wore a walking boot on his left foot to class on Wednesday, N.C. State coach Mark Gottfried said on his weekly radio show, and his status for Saturday's game with Miami is still up in the air.

Brown, who sprained his left ankle in the first half of Tuesday's loss at Virginia, received treatment from team trainer Ryan Holleman on Wednesday, according to Gottfried, who sounded pessimistic about Brown's status for the Wolfpack's next game.

"He was limping pretty good today, which was not a good sign," Gottfried said on his radio show. "But we're just going to work with him around the clock."

In addition to being for a good cause, these Infiniti Coaches' Charity Challenge commercials are actually pretty funny.

This one stars N.C. State coach Mark Gottfried and UNC's Roy Williams, and the voiceover is done by Duke's Mike Krzyzewski.

And unless, there was some serious high-tech editing (which is possible), it also appears that Gottfried and Williams actually got together to film the commercial (unlike the old "Guitar Hero" ad with Krzyzewski and Williams.)

There's more information on the Coaches' Charity Challenge at this web site.

Three Points from N.C. State's 91-83 win over North Carolina:

1) Lorenzo Brown is the best player in the ACC

Brown put on a clinic with 20 points and 11 assists against the Tar Heels. Through seven ACC games, the junior point guard averages 14.7 points, 8.7 assists and has made 53.8 percent of his 3-pointers.

Brown's outside shot had been a weakness before conference play, making just 6 of his first 24 3-pointers this season, but he has made 7 of 13 in league play, including both of his 3s on Saturday.

N.C. State coach Mark Gottfried said he has talked to freshman forward T.J. Warren about the Twitter kerfuffle from earlier in the week and the two have moved on.

Former N.C. State player Thomas de Thaey was critical of Gottfried after Tuesday's 86-84 loss at Wake Forest.

"That's what happens when you're a great recruiter, but terrible coach!" de Thaey wrote on his Twitter account on Wednesday morning.