RALEIGH, N.C. — During a team dinner ahead of the start of the 2024-25 season, NC State men’s basketball got its first look at its 2024 ACC Championship rings last night.
While the dinner was limited to the current team, seven players from last year’s squad — Michael O’Connell, Jayden Taylor, Ben Middlebrooks, Jayden Taylor, Breon Pass, KJ Keatts and Jordan Snell — were present to get their rings for the first time.
Watch the full video here:
Champions has a nice ring to it ? pic.twitter.com/eiYK26KoIm
— NC State Men’s Basketball (@PackMensBball) September 20, 2024
The rings prominently feature the Tuffy head on the front, surrounded by “ACC Champions” splitting the top and bottom margins and “2024” splitting left and right. One side honors Kevin Keatts by displaying his last name in red lettering quickly followed by five ice cream cones, a silhouette of the championship trophy and “HC” going top to bottom.
The ice cream cones each bear the respective color of the five teams NC State beat in its ACC Tournament run, a neat detail to make this ring unique to the Wolfpack. Speaking of, the other side reads “Wolfpack” in red lettering with the NCAA Tournament Final Four logo below that and the team’s iconic slogan “Why not us?” at the bottom.
Smiles and excitement abounded as the team donned the program’s first championship ring in 37 years. Jayden Taylor, who dropped 18 points in each of the Pack’s first two games of that run, even joked “I might not take it off.”
Dennis Parker Jr. did not play in the postseason due to an illness but gave a glimpse of his impactful talent early in the season. He emphasized the importance of celebrating this moment as well as working to create more of them.
“We’re still going,” Parker said. “We’re still pushing. We’re stilling striving, thriving. But we’re still blessed at the end of the day. Thank God for everything.”
After admiring the attention to detail of the ice cream and color design, Ben Middlebrooks simply threw up the Wolfy hand sign which arguably says more than words ever could. Breon Pass capped off the video with a promise echoing Parker’s call to keep pushing.
“Better on the way,” Pass said. “Let’s get to it.”
NC State plans to do exactly that when it starts training camp on Monday.
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