Quadir Copeland Shines Under ACC Tournament Lights
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CHARLOTTE — Quadir Copeland is no stranger to the ACC Tournament. He started his career with Syracuse and his final season with the Orange ended with a loss to none other than NC State, which went on to win the ACC Tournament. After a detour at McNeese State, he's back with a vengeance, this time as a member of the Wolfpack.
The senior guard led NC State to a win in the second round of the 2026 ACC Tournament, beating the Pittsburgh Panthers 96-86. Without the energy of the savvy Copeland, it's hard to say whether the Wolfpack would've had the edge or the ability to get over the recent cold stretch, which saw the group lose six of its final seven games in the regular season. Now, Copeland and the group are flipping a switch.
A changing mindset
Copeland took it upon himself to be the voice of the Wolfpack when he arrived alongside his coach from McNeese. For better or for worse, Wade trusted the fiery guard to act as the heartbeat of his first team at NC State, guiding the emotions of the group throughout the trials and tribulations of the ACC and Power Conference basketball.
The team struggled down the stretch, so Copeland felt as though it was his job to flip things. Even against Pittsburgh on Wednesday, the Wolfpack failed to pull away during the first half in a sleepy noon start time, but the guard drove the team to the point where it held the one-point lead at the half. He came out hunting in the second half, ultimately finishing with 24 points and eight assists.
"I had to because our back is against the wall at the end of the day," Copeland said after the win. "We know that. We're not oblivious to what's going on. ... We know that we have to win. We know that we went through a little issue. We've been through things. That's my job. That's been my job all season. I feel like me as the teammate and the loud guy with the team, building confidence, I was taking a backseat ... So I wanted to get back to being that energy guy."
Before Wednesday, Copeland played in two ACC Tournaments without earning a victory. His approach the rest of the way is less about punching a ticket to March by improving the résumé with a win over Pitt, but finding a way to make a run through the bracket in Charlotte, before the NCAA Tournament is even a thought in his mind.
"I don't even think it's all the way in our hands yet," Copeland said. "I don't want to think like that and I don't want the guys to think like that. We're focusing on the moment now. We want to be ACC champs before we want to be national champs. That's the goal. That's the focus and we're still hungry. ... We want to get wins more than just locking in the bid."
Copeland and the Wolfpack will try to exorcise some of those demons in the quarterfinal matchup against Virginia, a team that beat it handily twice during the regular season.
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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