NC State F Jerry Deng to redshirt remainder of 2025-26 campaign

NC State junior forward Jerry Deng will redshirt the remainder of the 2025-26 season, Wolfpack coach Will Wade announced Monday morning on the ACC coaches Zoom call. 

Deng, who dealt with a groin injury earlier this season, is working through several situations that both sides felt was best for him to sit the rest of the year, Wade said.

“He’s got some off the court things going on, he’s got some medical stuff going on,” Wade said. “We met with him and his camp, and we all felt like that would be the best course of action for him. He’s got a lot of things he’s working through.”

NC State now has three players redshirting this season. Freshman forward Mikey Wilkins and freshman guard Jayme Kontuniemi have not appeared in a game this season with their decisions being made before the campaign began.

Deng, a former Florida State transfer, played in eight games with the Pack this season, averaging 6.1 points and 2.1 rebounds on 34.8 percent shooting in 12.6 minutes in the process. He is set to have two seasons of eligibility to use moving forward.

The 6-foot-9, 230-pound forward arrived at NC State with the reputation of being a 3-and-D stretch four-man. He began the season in the rotation, playing at least 13 minutes in each of the first three games before his playing time dwindled to less than 10 in his next three appearances, which were sandwiched between three games in which he didn’t play at the Maui Invitational.

Deng’s last appearance was his most productive of the year with 14 points, paced by four made 3-pointers, in 22 minutes played during the Wolfpack’s 108-72 win over Texas Southern in the Heritage Game at Reynolds Coliseum on Dec. 17.

“I just trust the work,” Deng said after his standout effort in the Pack’s storied basketball venue. “I feel like I’ve been in the gym a lot, so just knowing that the repetition is going to work, that’s what I was telling myself.’

Deng, who started his career at Hampton, has not appeared in any of the last eight games, though he has dressed and been on the Wolfpack’s bench for most of them. He has not appeared on the ACC availability report since being listed out for the team’s 70-57 win over Wake Forest on Dec. 31. 

Now, however, Deng will not be available to see the floor the rest of the season.