NC State Newsstand: Wolfpack to play in Rady Children’s Invitational

When it is time to cut the turkey on Thanksgiving, NC State could have the sweet taste of revenge in its mouth on the basketball court. The Wolfpack will have an opportunity to settle the score from three losses it suffered during the 2023-24 season during its annual trip to a multi-team event.

NC State will take part in the 2024 Rady Children’s Invitational in San Diego, which was announced Thursday. The field also includes BYU, Purdue and Ole Miss — all three teams that handed NC State a loss a year ago.

This will be the second annual playing of the tournament in California. It is set to be played at LionTree Arena on the campus of UC San Diego on Nov. 28 and 29 with each team playing two games each. All games will be televised on FOX or FS1.

The opening round pairings will be released at a later date, but Kevin Keatts’ squad will be familiar with whichever team it sees. It lost to BYU 95-86 in the Vegas Showdown last November, while Ole Miss won 72-52 in the ACC-SEC Challenge. Purdue, meanwhile, handed the Wolfpack a 63-50 loss at the Final Four in Phoenix.

Tweets of the day

The Pack9 will kick off its NCAA Tournament run with a matchup against Bryant tonight.

NC State football released three more game times and television details for the 2024 season.

The Wolfpack won’t play at App State in 2025, but the two sides are working to make that contest happen in the future.

Quote of the day

NC State will start right-handed pitcher Sam Highfill in its Raleigh Regional opener against Bryant. Wolfpack coach Elliott Avent explained why.

“You get to this point, you hear about a lot of people do this and do that, pitch off and all this stuff,” Avent said. “We think everybody here is equal. We don’t treat South Carolina differently than James Madison or James Madison different than Bryant. They’re our next opponent. Everybody is here for a reason. … We’re going to do what we’ve done to get to this point.”