NC State's Beejay Anya Wants to Fight Wake Forest Fan, Wolfpack Continue to be a Dumpster Fire

So this all happened yesterday as NC State got flat out embarrassed by an average Wake Forest team. Dennis Smith taking himself out of the game, yelling at coaches and getting feisty with reporters after the game telling them it was ‘fatigue’ and that’s it when it came to taking himself out and yelling at coaches. Then you have Beejay Anya, who has struggled with weight control and staying reliable telling a Wake Forest fan to meet him after the game. Maybe just worry about not weighing 350 lbs and pretending to not be Malik Dime.

This season has been nothing but an unmitigated disaster for NC State. They entered the season with decently high expectations, thanks to Mark Gottfried convincing Dennis Smith to commit to State over Kentucky. He’s a top-10 and possible top-5 NBA pick. He surrounded him with Omer Yurtseven (another likely NBA first round pick) and with decent role players like Maverick Rowan, Terry Henderson, Torin Dorn and Abdul Malik-Abu.

Smith has lived up to the hype from a talent perspective as he’s put up a couple triple-doubles and has looked like the best player on the court multiple times, no matter the opponent. But, there has been questions about his effort and yesterday didn’t help. Early in the season some wondered if it was his knee (coming off a torn ACL) and that caused a lack of effort defensively. Now, it’s logical to think it’s because he’s simply fed up with NC State and rightfully so.

Mark Gottfried should be fired. Actually, he needs to be fired. NC State isn’t getting better with him at the helm and the guy they need to replace him is the going to be the most sought after coach this offseason. That man is Archie Miller, who would be returning home with his wife to State, where they both attended school. The problem is Athletic Director Debbie Yow is under contract through next year and she’s too stubborn to fire Gottfried. It’s a complete joke and can be blamed squarely on Yow followed by Gottfried. If State misses out on Miller and let him go to, say, I don’t know, an Ohio State, Yow will have some explaining to do to boosters.

Unless the Wolfpack win the ACC Tournament, they won’t make the NCAA Tournament. They currently sit 14-12 and 3-10 in the ACC, just one game ahead of Boston College. A team that has this sort of talent should never be this bad, no matter how tough the conference is.

While the Anya thing is a joke and obviously shouldn’t be too worried about fans, the Smith thing shows more about this team. Having your star freak out on coaches and completely shut down, shows that there’s more going behind closed doors (as it has been said all year) than what’s being let on. There’s a split between players and coaches on this team and it’s clear no one is listening to Gottfried – as evident by him yelling at his guys it took them 31 minutes to run a certain play yesterday.

This is one of those programs that consistently should be good. They have a history with Jim Valvano, the title game and some decent names that have gone on to the NBA. They recently were in a Sweet 16 and they are right in the heart of college basketball on Tobacco Road.