Stuck like glue: Devyn Quigley embraces do-it-all role for NC State women’s basketball

N.C. State freshman Devyn Quigley has plenty of skills. She can score from any spot on the floor, rebound against larger players, make clean passes and defend. Those competencies are why she was a top 50 recruit in the 2024 class.

Her most important and most underrated skills, however, are adaptability, positive energy and perspective.

Whether you call her a glue player, role player or do-it-all athlete, Quigley is more than proud of the role she’s created for herself on the Wolfpack bench. She’s a lot like graduate student Madison Hayes, who switched from the small forward position to power forward after Mimi Collins’ graduation last season. That’s worked out well.

“I have always been a role player within the sense of, ‘What role do I fit in the team that I am in?’” Quigley said.

Some of her previous teams needed 30 or 40 points from her. Others needed Quigley to hit an open shot, then go rebound and make hustle plays.

In a game that can often be about individual stats, Quigley has always been a team-first player. She doesn’t mind doing the stuff that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet in order to help the team win.

For example, she poked the ball away from Michigan State’s Jocelyn Tate on Monday, leading to a steal and wide-open layup for Saniya Rivers, who was officially credited with the steal.

Later in the game, Rivers found Quigley for a 3-pointer that put N.C. State up 24 points.

“That’s just the fun part of basketball,” Quigley said. “You can’t focus on, ‘Dang, that could have been my steal. I got the tip.’ It ended up evening out. That’s team basketball. It’s just so fun.”

Head coach Wes Moore said he’s pleased with Quigley’s improvement this season. After the ACC Tournament, Moore said two weeks ago he was “embarrassed” of the team’s defensive performance. He told the team that if it’s not defending well, he’s not afraid to try the bench, including Quigley.

She played a combined 30 minutes in the Wolfpack’s two opening round NCAA Tournament games and provided a defensive spark.

“I felt more confident about Devyn and where she was,” Moore said on Thursday. “That’s the biggest thing, she gives us some depth there. She gives us some size, she can go get a rebound, she can score at all three levels.”

Quigley is also more than happy to simply be a teammate with a bright smile and encouraging words. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t want to be on the court. It just means she understands the value those intangibles can bring to a team’s success.

The rookie also knows she’s on a team with future professionals. She’s not bothered that her bench time outweighs her playing time.

“Look at who’s ahead of me,” Quigley said with a smile. “I get it. Honestly, I’m just as proud cheering for my teammates on the bench than I am going in the game and impacting the game in some way.”

Rivers called her “like a little sis,” and complimented the way Quigley carries herself. The freshman remains prepared if the team needs her and seeks constant growth, and she does it with a smile. Even when head coach Wes Moore gets onto her about something, Quigley usually responds with a nod and grin.

‘She’s a character person’

Dave Beauchemin, Quigley’s coach at Manchester Township in New Jersey, said Thursday that the young guard has always been this way; a happy, hardworking and team-oriented player. She’s never been someone who needs the spotlight nor is she afraid of it.

He recalled the way she stepped into a starting role as a high school freshman, shortly after COVID-19. That team was “pretty well established,” Beauchemin said, so Quigley was more of a ball handler and facilitator.

As Quigley aged and the teams changed, she stepped into more of a scoring role in the latter seasons.

He said her maturity and perspective about basketball allowed Quigley to have success early on and then carry it through her entire high school career. It’s relatively uncommon, Beauchemin said, to see a young player as willing as Quigley is to step into whatever role is needed but she did it.

“Her role for us evolved every single year based upon the players around her,” Beauchemin said. “That adaptability is going to come into play big time for her throughout her career in Raleigh.”

Beauchemin said Quigley’s character coupled with her natural talent is a gift. She set school and conference records during her prep career. Quigley was also an ambassador for the school, an exemplary student, kind teammate and skilled athlete.

“When she was here, and she was such a great role model to the to the other girls in the program,” Beauchemin said. “That was something that we had to deal with (after) her graduation. Forget just the immense talent and what she could do on the floor, but the person who she was; the energy and the way she commanded the room. We had to replace that, and that was almost harder to do than the basketball.”

Quigley and N.C. State will face No. 3 seed LSU in the Sweet 16 Friday in Spokane, Washington.

Quigley, who averages 2.6 points and 1.3 rebounds in 8.8 minutes per game this year, could play a lot or not at all. She’s OK with that. Her time is coming. It might be this weekend, it might be next weekend, it might be next season. Whenever that happens, Quigley will fit into whatever role her team needs. And, she will do it with joy.

“Her character has been top notch from day one, and she’s a character person,” Beauchemin said. “She’s going to be that wherever she goes and wherever the game of basketball takes her.”

This story was originally published March 28, 2025 at 5:45 AM with the headline "Stuck like glue: Devyn Quigley embraces do-it-all role for NC State women’s basketball."

Jadyn Watson-Fisher

The News & Observer