As Wolfpack’s unlikely run came to an end, one last unexpected hero nearly emerged
So much of N.C. State’s run through the postseason defied the imaginable, so it’s fair to say that no one three weeks ago would have expected a Breon Pass heat-check 3-point attempt in the Final Four.
Not even Pass, in his wildest dreams.
“No sir,” Pass said Saturday night, a rare moment of levity in the Wolfpack’s downcast locker room.
After playing a total of one minute in four NCAA Tournament games, N.C. State’s fourth option at guard was pressed into action because of Michael O’Connell’s hamstring injury. And it looked, for more than a mere moment, that the Wolfpack’s revolving wheel of heroes had landed for the second time on the former high school football star from Reidsville.
Pass also happens to be beloved by his teammates for his work ethic, commitment to practice and attitude whether he plays 22 minutes — as he did in a bacon-saving performance in the ACC Tournament with D.J. Horne injured — or none at all.
“I can’t put into words how much I love him,” N.C. State’s Jayden Taylor said. “Nobody knows how ready he always is. He might not get that much time or whatever, but he’s the best. He has the best attitude, the best personality.
“You know how some players can not really be engaged or have a bad attitude if they’re not playing? That’s not this guy. I love him and I appreciate everything he did for this team. Every time he came in, he gave us a lift. No matter if it was one minute, two minutes, 20 minutes.”
It seemed possible, as Pass came in and hit two big shots and twice ripped the ball away from Zach Edey, that instead of this game being decided by the biggest players on the court — the 7-foot-4 Edey and 275-pound D.J. Burns — it might be decided by one of the smallest, the 6-foot Pass.
That’s not how it turned out, as Pass had one of many misses during the second-half dry spell that doomed N.C. State to a 63-50 defeat, but even in the loss his sudden emergence from the depths of the bench evoked in many ways the spirit that got the Wolfpack this far.
“I’ve been waiting for that moment my whole life,” Pass said. “When I got the opportunity, I just took advantage of it and made the best of it.”
As N.C. State upended expectations and confounded predictions, it seemed like a different player emerged at the right time, every time, because it wasn’t always the D.J.s, Burns and Horne. The strength of these wolves truly was in the pack. Everyone had a turn. Ben Middlebrooks. Mohamed Diarra. O’Connell. Casey Morsell. Taylor.
And even, and finally, Pass, who rose to his moment when the time came again, no matter how long he had to wait for it.
Never miss a Luke DeCock column. Sign up at tinyurl.com/lukeslatest to have them delivered directly to your email inbox as soon as they post.
Luke DeCock’s Latest: Never miss a column on the Canes, ACC or other Triangle sports
