Assessing Tre Holloman's Start with NC State

RALEIGH — With the non-conference portion of the 2025-26 schedule finished, NC State and coach Will Wade have a better idea of where things stand with the roster and how the rest of the season will go. Some players have outperformed expectations, particularly Quadir Copeland and Ven-Allen Lubin, while others haven't met Wade's lofty standards yet.

Coming into the season, Michigan State transfer Tre Holloman looked like a surefire top point guard option for the Wolfpack. However, things changed as Copeland's play was elite and Holloman showed vastly improved scoring ability after being more of a traditional point guard with the Spartans over his first three years in college. That changed the outlook for the veteran guard's season in Raleigh.

Assessing Holloman's start with the Wolfpack

When Wade and the NC State staff decided to bring Holloman to the program for the 2025-26 season, there was hope that the Wolfpack would be able to tap into the guard's shooting numbers from his sophomore season at Michigan State. In that year, he shot 42.5% from 3-point range, but dropped to 32.9% in his junior year.

In 13 games with the Wolfpack, Holloman is shooting 44.8% from beyond the arc and 47% from the field. At times, he's been the best shooter on the Wolfpack not named Paul McNeil and has been a reliable second option for Darrion Williams. However, his lack of true point guard play and the emergence of Copeland changed the role and makes Holloman's role more dependent on his shooting efficiency.

"His shooting has kind of been propping him up in terms of being an efficient player for us," Wade said. "That's why it's so detrimental when he has inefficient games like he did against Kansas because the shooting is really the separator for him and for our team... Taking him out of the starting lineup and coming off the bench. It's allowed our flow and some of our stuff to be a little bit better in terms of the subs."

As Wade said after the Ole Miss win, Holloman was pulled from the starting five in the Texas Southern game and the victory over the Rebels after starting the first 11 games. He made just four of 16 shot attempts against Kansas and with Copeland and Darrion Williams operating as higher usage players, Holloman's play was not helping the Wolfpack.

Dec 6, 2025; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; NC State Wolfpack guard Tre Holloman (5) with the ball goaded by Liberty Flames guard JJ Harper (9) during the first half of the game at Lenovo Center. Mandatory Credit: Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images | Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images

Assuming Holloman can be a consistent shooter in ACC play, he will continue to be a valuable member of NC State's seven-man rotation. If Copeland's distribution play slips, he'll be a quality option either off the bench or alongside the other lead guard for the Pack.

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