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RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Big Dance comes back to Raleigh this week. Reynolds Coliseum will play host to Chattanooga, Tennessee and Green Bay alongside No. 3 seed NC State in the first two rounds of this year's tournament.

The action doesn't start up until Saturday, but we've got you covered for the scouting report on all three schools coming to town to try to nix the Pack's title aspirations. From Wes Moore's former program in the Mocs to a sneaky good 6-11 matchup between the Vols and Phoenix, here's everything you need to know about who's playing in the Old Barn.

Chattanooga

The Wolfpack knows all too well what it gets in a round one game against the Mocs. After all, Moore took Chattanooga to nine Southern Conference titles in 15 seasons before joining the Pack in 2013-14. After a five-year drought, the Mocs return to March Madness under the leadership of a strong coach of their own in former Virginia Tech assistant Shawn Poppie.

In his first two years at the helm, Poppie's led Chattanooga to back-to-back conference titles, notching the program's first 20-win seasons since 2016-17, the last time the Mocs went dancing. Poppie won SoCon Coach of the Year in both his seasons at Chattanooga, so round one will feature a veritable coaching chess match between him and Moore.

As for the players on the floor, the key to beating the Mocs is stopping their one-two punch of Jada Guinn and Raven Thompson. A grad transfer from Tennessee Tech, Guinn rocked with the Mocs to an All-SoCon First Team selection and Most Outstanding Player in the conference tournament this year. The 5-foot-8 guard leads the team with 19.7 points per game. Though not really a threat from three -- Guinn shoots only .273 from beyond the arc -- her ability to attack the rim makes her the driving force of the Moc offense.

Thompson anchors the frontcourt for Chattanooga, averaging 14.3 points and a team leading 7.1 rebounds per game. Though comparatively undersized at 5-foot-10, the sophomore forward provides some impressive oomph on the glass as a fellow First Team All-SoCon selection.

The Mocs have a couple other interesting names. Sigrun Olafsdottir, a junior guard from Iceland, earned All-Socon Defensive Team honors with 1.1 steals per game. Addie Porter, though standing all of 5-foot-4, crashes the boards well with 5.4 rebounds per game. She pulled down nine boards in a win over Mississippi State -- a top 50 NET team that just missed the tournament -- back in December. Hannah Kohn earned All-Socon Freshman team honors as the team's third-best scorer at 7.7 points per game.

But at the end of the day, the Mocs' success or failure runs through Guinn and Thompson. The duo accounts for over and at least near half of the team's points, rebounds and field goal attempts. NC State needs to limit Guinn's ability to drive to the lane and use its size advantage over Thompson to take care of business in round one.

Tennessee

The No. 6 seed in the Raleigh region, the Vols (19-12, 10-6 SEC) carry enough talent to give NC State a run for its money should the two meet in round two. Led by former Wolfpack skipper Kellie Harper, Tennessee boasts a battle-tested squad out of the SEC. The Vols have come as close as anybody in the country to knocking off undefeated South Carolina, only undone by a buzzer-beater three by Kamilla Cardoso to beat Tennessee in the conference tournament semifinal.

The Vols hold strong team depth with nine players averaging double-digit minutes in conference play, but hoists their share of star players as well. All-SEC First Team selection Rickea Jackson leads the charge for Tennessee, averaging 19.4 points and 8.0 rebounds per game. Despite missing eight games early in the year due to a leg injury, Jackson reached the 20-point watermark 11 times, including a season-high 31 against ACC foe Florida State. She also carries the banner in the paint, leading a strong group of Vols rebounders to 2.4 offensive boards per game.

Tamari Key serves as Tennessee's main interior defender. The 6-foot-6 center from Cary averages 1.6 blocks per game, which actually registers as a down year for Key. Her 344 career blocks rank sixth all-time in the SEC and first among active players. If NC State wants to score at all inside, it'll have to find a way past her.

In the backcourt, Jasmine Powell plays the facilitator role very well for Tennessee. The fifth-year guard ranks sixth in the SEC with 4.1 assists per game while contributing 9.4 points of her own. If NC State disrupts Powell's ability to move the ball around, the Pack will better limit the damage weapons like Jackson can cause.

The Vols don't emphasize the three ball all that much, shooting only .319 from beyond the arc, but their primary perimeter shooter takes the form of a familiar face for the Pack. Former Wake Forest Demon Deacon Jewel Spear shoots a .371 clip from three as part of her 13.3 points per game. Tennessee's leading scorer not named Rickea Jackson, Spear looks to finally come out on top against NC State with the Vols. In her four career matchups against the Pack, Spear has averaged 9.0 points and 3.7 rebounds per game and has made six three-pointers on 25 attempts. Tennessee boasts a lot of weapons, but limiting Spear's impact once more would go a long way towards a Wolfpack win.

If the Pack get the job done against Chattanooga and Tennessee does against Green Bay (more on them in a bit) then a Wolfpack-Vols matchup will feature a battle for the ages on the boards. NC State and Tennessee rank ninth and 12th in the country in rebounds per game, respectively, with plenty of height and length on both sides. If NC State wants to make it past the second round, it must win the rebounding war against the Vols.

Green Bay

The Horizon League champs lived up to their Phoenix moniker this season, returning to the dance for the first time since 2017-18 with the program's best offense in over a decade. Legendary head coach Kevin Borseth -- whose 794 career wins rank 20th all-time -- oversees a talented Green Bay squad which earned a top 50 spot in the NET, finishing right at 50th. In Borseth's 37th season with the program, the Phoenix boasts a veteran squad averaging over 70 points per game for the first time since 2011-12 and moving the ball extremely well.

Green Bay's attack starts with All-Horizon First Team member and conference tournament MVP Natalie McNeal. The junior guard leads the team with 13.4 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, making her living by attacking the rim often. She enters the NCAA Tournament fresh off a career high 32 points against Cleveland State -- last season's representative from the Horizon -- in the conference tournament championship game.

Bailey Butler joins McNeal in the backcourt as one of the nation's best pure passers. Her 5.5 assists per game rank first in the Horizon and her 181 total assists place 18th nationally. Butler also makes herself a problem for opposing passers, averaging 2.2 steals per game in her second straight second as an All-Horizon Defensive Team selection. If she disrupts passing lanes enough for Green Bay to upset Tennessee, NC State will need to dial in on taking care of the rock to avoid the same fate.

Factor more than 2.0 assists per game from Phoenix's other double-digit scorers -- Maddy Schreiber and Cassie Schiltz -- and you get the No. 7 team in the land in assists per game. Green Bay also performs well from the free throw line, ranking 12th in the country at a .784 clip. That efficiency from the charity could make a huge impact if the Phoenix draws enough calls against a physical Tennessee squad. Similar to accounting for Butler's elite passing, NC State will need to keep the Phoenix off the free throw line if they meet in round two.

The road to the Final Four in Cleveland begins Saturday, March 23 when the Wolfpack takes on Chattanooga. Tip off is slated for 2:30 p.m. in Reynolds Coliseum following the Tennessee-Green Bay game.

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A Raleigh developer wants to bring hundreds of homes and more than 100,000 square feet of commercial space to what he views as an untapped corridor to spur growth.

Darren Koons has received approvals from the Creedmoor Board of Commissioners to move forward with Creedmoor Village, a 50-acre mixed-use community with frontage on N.C. Highway 56 approximately one mile from Interstate 85 on the Creedmoor side of the Creedmoor-Butner border in Granville County.

Koons said the plan calls for a maximum of 575 housing units, consisting of a mix of multifamily townhomes and apartments, as well as a maximum of 140,000 square feet of commercial space. He told Triangle Business Journal that the project will be a phased approach and the total number of housing units will be determined by market demand for the housing.

Koons bought the land under the entity "Creedmoor Village LLC" in 2018 for $650,000. He said he and his collaborators have been "deliberate" in how they plan the project, unafraid to take their time. He said that the area north of Durham along I-85 "feels to me like the last corridor where there’s a chance to bring real growth," similar to the growth seen in Chatham, Moore, Lee and Johnston counties.

"This has been a long project," he said. "When we bought the land in 2018, we knew that nothing was going to be able to happen quickly. The reason we bought it was because there is a long-term vision."

Koons said the naming of the project as a "village" is intentional, as he hopes to create a work-live-play community with a pedestrian-friendly main street full of restaurants, shops, office space and housing. With the multifamily housing, Koons said, "It’s just an opportunity to provide a different kind of housing that hasn’t existed," citing the heavy presence of single-family homes in Creedmoor and Butner.

He declined to provide estimates for future development costs, but he said he is hoping to break ground on the project in 2026. The timeline of the development is largely dependent on the availability of water and wastewater in the area, Koons said.

Like other counties, Granville County's municipalities are looking for infrastructure updates in order to promote future development. Fortunately for Koons, the South Granville Water and Sewer Authority (SGWASA) is working on meeting this demand to increase capacity through the I-85 Sanitary Sewer Improvement Master Plan Project. It's a $75 million plan that includes constructing new force mains and pump stations and extending wastewater collection lines. To help fund the plan, SGWASA has received a $35 million grant from the 2021 American Rescue Plant Act and a $35 million low-interest loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Koons said he has appreciated the City of Creedmoor's diligence with the project and that everyone wants to make sure this project is "done correctly."

"It may take a little bit longer, but you ultimately get something that is going to stand the test of time," he said.

Ben Tobin covers real estate and economic development in the Greater Triangle, focusing on the counties outside Wake and Durham. Have a tip? Reach him at [email protected] or (919) 327-1012.

Red and white confetti stuck to DJ Horne's face. Tears filled the Raleigh native's eyes. And when he searched for words Saturday to describe N.C. State's storybook ACC Tournament championship victory over UNC, Horne said, "This for the city, man. This for the 919."

Why it matters: N.C. State's five-wins-in-five-days run to its first ACC title in 37 years, led in part by a player in Horne who grew up 10 minutes from campus, served as a reminder that it's still possible to be romantic about college athletics, despite countless reports to the contrary.

(N.C.) State of play: The Wolfpack entered the tournament as the 10th seed and with their coach on the hot seat. They beat Louisville and Syracuse in the first two rounds, but it wasn't until a stunner over Duke in the third round that fans started to dream.

Between the lines: The storylines are countless. First, there's Horne, the 6-foot-1 guard who played for Cary High School and Trinity Christian in Fayetteville. Horne started his collegiate career at Arizona State but transferred home to N.C. State last year, and scored 29 points in Saturday's championship.

Flashback: State's run resurrected memories of the sport's most famous Cinderella performance — when the 1983 Wolfpack pulled off an ACC tournament title and continued on to a last-second victory over Houston in the national championship game that sent coach Jim Valvano sprinting around the court looking for someone to hug.

What they're saying: Reaction was widespread and deep (even a few UNC fans offered reluctant congrats to their rivals).

What's next: N.C. State awaits Sunday night's NCAA Tournament Selection Show to see where it will play next. UNC and Duke do, too.

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RALEIGH, N.C. -- NC State women's basketball will host in the first two rounds of the 2024 NCAA Tournament, earning the No. 3 seed in the Portland 4 section of the bracket.

Reynolds Coliseum will witness the Wolfpack face Chattanooga -- where Wes Moore was before he came to NC State -- in round one. The winner of Tennessee-Green Bay awaits in round two.

NC State enters the Big Dance a week removed from a solid showing at the ACC Tournament, narrowly falling to Notre Dame -- a No. 2 seed elsewhere in the bracket -- in the championship game. All in all, the red and white hopes to bolster an already bounce-back season for the program. Last season the Wolfpack got bounced in the first round by a last-minute collapse against Princeton. One year later, NC State's channeled the hardship of last season into a star-studded roster looking to wreak havoc in March.

The returning transfer trio of Saniya Rivers, Mimi Collins and River Baldwin has played a big role in the Pack's resurgance. Rivers boosted her production to an award-winning degree, going from 2022-23 ACC Sixth Player of the Year to First Team All-ACC honors in her second year with the program. Her 2.3 steals per game also landed her on the All-ACC Defensive Team. Baldwin and Collins spearhead the Wolfpack frontcourt by combining for 21.6 points and 13.4 rebounds per game.

Aziaha James also plays a big role in the Pack's postseason aspirations. The team's leading scorer averages 15.8 points joined Rivers among the First Team All-ACC selections, coming up clutch in big moments in her breakout junior season. Tack on All-ACC Frehsmen Team honoree Zoe Brooks, Madison Hayes leading the team in rebounds as a guard and critical role players like Laci Steele and Maddie Cox and this squad has the tools to make a run for the Final Four.

The road to Cleveland begins when the Pack tips off against the Lady Mocs in Reynolds Coliseum.

Not a VIP subscriber to Pack Pride? Sign up nowto get access to everything R. Cory Smith, Michael Clark and the entire Pack Pride team have to offer on all things NC State and access to the No. 1 site covering the Wolfpack.

Sign up for FREE text alerts to get breaking news on commitments, decommitments, transfers, injuries, coaching changes and much more with our NEW text alert system available to all registered users and VIP subscribers. Click Here to become a FREE registered user and Click Here if you are already a VIP subscriber.

Want the latest news on NC State delivered right to your email? Subscribe to the Pack Pride newsletter here.It is free and a great way to get daily updates on NC State football, basketball, baseball, recruiting and more delivered straight to your inbox.

The wristwatch, first worn by women, became a fashion trend for men during World War I when soldiers began wearing them on the battlefield.

For most of their history, wristwatch dials have displayed mainly Arabic or Roman numerals. Now, a new watch using another old numeral system has entered the market.

Sunny Bhathela, an N.C. State graduate with degrees in biochemistry and genetics, started the VIANI Watch Co. to pay homage to the oldest numerical system still used today and to diversify the watch market by honoring people of South Asia.

“I saw a lot of watches where, if you had this watch, really all it represented was that you made a little bit of money,” the 31-year-old Raleigh native said. “I was like, where are the South Asian-owned watches? Where are the U.S.-based watches? So, I did the research.”

The Hindi numeral system can be traced back 5,000 years to the areas of present-day Pakistan and India.

In the Triangle area, South Asians are a growing demographic, especially in western Wake County. About 1 in 3 people in Morrisville speak Hindi as a first language, and the town has become a hub for cricket, a popular sport in India.

Bhathela started wearing a prototype of one of his watches around friends and family, and their interest inspired him to keep going.

Although the numerals on his watches are Hindi, Bhathela said you don’t have to speak or understand the language to wear one. Over 30% of his customers are non-South Asian.

“I always like to say, you don’t have to be from Rome to wear a Roman numeral watch,” he said. “So it’s similar to the Hindi numerals. It’s still a historically important numeral system.”

After graduating from N.C. State in 2014, Bhathela went to New York to earn a doctorate in optometry to work with people in the South Bronx.

But becoming an Indian business owner was important for him. He was inspired to pivot careers by N.C. State’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Hub, which encourages students to pursue passions outside of traditional careers like those in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

In second grade, Bhathela made a calendar in Photoshop that is still at his parents’ house.

“I never really realized that you can make a career out of,” he said. “It always felt like a hobby to me. And I guess a big thing about this is now that I’m a bit older, a bit wiser, I realized, hey, you can make a career out of the things you’ve found interesting since you were a child and utilize all the knowledge that you’ve accumulated.”

Bhathela was also inspired by his entrepreneurial father, an Indian immigrant who owns a paint store in South Raleigh, and his creative mother, who comes from a long line of tailors. .

“So I believe those two aspects came together to create and pursue what was kind of written for me,” he said.

Ahmed Ali, a director in the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Hub, said many South Asian and Southeast Asian students focus on STEM careers but have interests in other areas.

“That’s why I really liked [Sunny’s] story and sharing it with students because I think it kind of puts that battery in their back to say it’s OK for me to try something outside of the norm,” Ali said. “I think a lot of our Southeast Asian students, if they hear his story, they’ll be inspired.”

VIANI launched on Black Friday in 2023 and is currently direct-to-consumer and online only.

Its eight watches, made in Switzerland, are priced from $300 to $340, compared to luxury brands like Rolex, whose watches can start at $7,000. They vary in style, color, and dial, with stainless steel, leather, and buckle differences.

“It’s not an entry-level price, of course, but it’s still a watch that you can be proud to wear,” Bhathela said.

The watches are powered by indoor fluorescent light and outdoor sunlight, with two minutes of sun exposure enough to power the watch for a full day. A singe battery charge, if the watch is left in the dark, lasts six months.

“VIANI watches are not just timepieces,” customer Johnathan Davis wrote in a review on the company’s website. “They’re a statement of my refined taste and commitment to a sustainable lifestyle.”

This story was originally published March 19, 2024, 1:43 PM.

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