Arceneaux’s Steady Climb Into NC State’s Trusted Rotation
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RALEIGH — After a Dec. 21 victory over Ole Miss just before his team separated for a holiday break, NC State head coach Will Wade was asked what redshirt junior guard Terrance Arceneaux needed to do to be a larger part of the Wolfpack rotation moving forward. Wade's answer was short and simple.
"Be more consistent and practice better."
Arceneaux didn't play in the team's opening win of the ACC slate over Wake Forest, but he did get 11 minutes of work in the loss to Virginia. He was one of the team's only sparks in that dismal performance. Since then, he's been a totally different player.
A complete turnaround
Since the Virginia loss, Arceneaux is averaging 19.9 minutes per game, while the Wolfpack rides a 7-1 heater up the ACC standings. When the guard was brought in after a three-season run with Houston, including a trip to the 2025 National Championship game, Wade hoped he would be the missing piece of athleticism for the roster.
An early Achilles injury forced Arceneaux to sit out a handful of games, while also hurting his ability to develop chemistry with the rest of the roster. He fell behind, but showed flashes of the player he could be for the Wolfpack if given the proper opportunities and time to get comfortable. Months later, that time has arrived.
For Wade, the resiliency of Arceneaux gained him some serious credit with his coach. The injury, as well as other off-court battles the guard was dealing with, which Wade did not reveal publicly, led to some of the early struggles. But Arceneaux stayed the course and continued to battle his way back into the rotation, proving he was the player Wade hoped for when he brought him in.
"He's been awesome. Look, he was going through a lot of stuff... He just had a lot of things going on early on," Wade said on Monday. "It's not easy to come back from two DNPs and start back playing and then to come in and make an impact."
The combination of Arceneaux and freshman guard Matt Able offers Wade a potent pair of options off the bench, especially when the Wolfpack needs strong defense. Both players are comfortable with the physicality of ACC play and also add serious athleticism for the Pack, something the starting lineup lacks an abundance of.
"(Arceneaux) is our most athletic guy. There's two or three plays defensively that he's the only guy on either team who can make them," Wade said. "Having him out there, when you're in conference play, over 70% of your conference games are going to come down to three possessions or less. When you have a guy who can help manipulate two or three of those possessions in your favor, he's very valuable."
Arceneaux's offensive improvement helped him fight back into the rotation as well, particularly on the road. He's averaging 7.5 points in the Pack's last six games away from the Lenovo Center, knocking down threes at a 72.7% clip. His efficient offense allows NC State to play him without the offense sinking during his time in the game. Still, Wade doesn't want Arceneaux getting comfortable.
"He's doing everything that we ask him to do and that's led to him playing well and it's led to our team playing well too," Wade said. "But, there's more in there. We're not settling with Terrance... And we're going to keep working and try to bring that out."
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Tucker Sennett graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in Sports Journalism from the esteemed Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. A former basketball player, he has gained valuable experience working at Cronkite News and brings a deep passion for sports and reporting to his role as the NC State Wolfpack Beat Writer On SI.
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