Category Archives: N.C. State

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Pack NFL hopefuls anxious for start of tonight’s draft

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statefootballThe futures of a handful of former NC State football players will soon be decided, as the NFL Draft takes place this weekend. Since the Pack’s bowl game in late December, former members of the 2012 team have been working out and preparing for the next step in their lives, hoping to hear their name called during the draft.

GoPack.com spoke with three seniors from last year’s squad that attended the NFL Combine in February, and have been back in Raleigh a majority of the time training.

Question: Where will you be watching the draft?

Zach Allen: I’ll be watching the draft back home (in Georgia), just relaxing with my family and trying to treat the whole process as a normal day.

Mike Glennon: I’ll be at our beach house in Ocean City, Md., with family and my girlfriend. I just want to relax, try to take my mind off of everything.

Earl Wolff: I’ll be in Fayetteville watching with family and friends. I have family coming from as far away as Boston and Philadelphia to be with us.

Question: What kind of contact have you had with NFL teams during this process?

Allen: I’ve talked to about 20-25 teams. Everybody wants to know how my ankle has healed and that I will be ready for training camp. My situation is a bit different, teams are asking more about my ankle then my play on the field at this point.

Glennon: I’ve visited two teams, and have had three other teams come down here to watch me workout.

Wolff: I visited three teams, and had four teams come down here for a workout. I keep hearing I can play both safety positions, because of my range and how hard I play.

Question: An educated guess, where do you think you will be drafted?

Allen: I have no idea when I will get picked, I’m just hoping that some team pulls the trigger and gives me a chance.

Glennon: It’s hard to tell how the draft will go. Everybody is unsure how the QBs will be drafted. Best case scenario for me would be late first round, but you never know.

Wolff: As the weeks have gone on, I get more and more positive feedback about where I will be drafted. I think, right now, I would saying getting picked in the second or third round is my goal.

Question: Not long after the draft, you will go to your new team and take part in a rookie mini-camp. What will it feel like to strap on an NFL helmet?

Allen: Going to that first mini-camp will be a dream come true. Every little kid playing football wants to make it to the NFL. It’s a profession for me now, a dream job.

Glennon: It will be exciting to be in a different situation, it’s what I have been working so hard for.

Wolff: Strapping on a new helmet will be a great feeling, an exciting feeling. I have not always been the biggest or fastest player, but I have worked hard throughout my life and this weekend is the payoff.

Last season, the Pack set a school record with six former NC State players taken in the 2012 NFL Draft. T.J. Graham and Russell Wilson were both taken in the third round, Terrell Manning was a fifth round selection, and Audie Cole, Markus Kuhn and J.R. Sweezy were all picked in the seventh round of the draft.

The 2013 NFL Draft returns to primetime, with the first round taking place Thurs., April 25 at 8 p.m. ET, followed by the second and third rounds on Fri., April 26 at 6:30 p.m. ET. Rounds 4-7 will be held Sat., April 27 at 12 p.m. ET. Watch it live on both ESPN and the NFL Network.

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NC State baseball sweeps Georgia Tech to move into first in division

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statebaseballNo. 16 Georgia Tech took a 7-6 lead to the ninth inning, but No. 17 NC State rallied with a pair of runs to steal Sunday’s game, 8-7, at Russ Chandler Stadium. Grant Clyde hit a grand slam home run for the Wolfpack while Brett Williams had four hits including a key RBI and run in the ninth inning.

Trea Turner contributed a 3-for-4 effort with two runs and a walk.

It’s the first late-inning loss of the year for Tech, which was 24-0 when taking a lead to the ninth inning. The Jackets slipped to 27-13 overall and 11-10 in the ACC, while the Wolfpack improved to 32-10, 14-7 with the weekend sweep.

The Pack is now a game ahead of Florida State in the Atlantic Division of the ACC while rival North Carolina, the No. 1 team in the country, is tops in the Coastal Division with a 16-2 conference mark.

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Triangle to host 2014 ACC track, tennis and women’s soccer championships

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Atlantic Coast Conference Championship events will be held at 19 sites throughout the conference’s 15-team footprint during the 2013-14 academic year, ACC Commissioner John Swofford announced Wednesday. The Outdoor Track & Field championships will be held on the University of North Carolina campus, while the tennis championship will be held at the Cary Tennis Park and the women’s soccer championships will be held at Cary’s WakeMed Soccer Park.

“This is an exciting time for the ACC and we look forward to the 2013-14 lineup of ACC Championships which for the first time will feature Notre Dame, Pitt and Syracuse,” said ACC Commissioner John Swofford. “We have terrific programs that continue to compete at the highest level and we are looking forward to a bright future as a 15-member league.”

The ACC will return to Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C., for the 2013 ACC Football Championship game on Dec. 7, while both the 2014 Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments will be back at the Greensboro Coliseum the first two weeks of March

The 2013 Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championships at Beeson Park in Kernersville, N.C., will kick off the ACC Championships season on Nov. 1 and will be hosted by Wake Forest. Five other schools will host fall, winter or spring Olympic sports championships.

Boston College will be the host school for both the 2013 ACC Field Hockey Championship (Nov. 7-10) and the 2014 Women’s Lacrosse Championship (April 24-27).

Clemson University will welcome the 2014 Men’s and Women’s Indoor Track and Field Championships (Feb. 27-March 1) and will again be the host school for the 2014 ACC Rowing Championships on Lake Hartwell on May 17.

Defending ACC champion Virginia Tech will host the 2014 ACC Wrestling Championship on March 8.

ACC Softball will travel to the University of Maryland from May 8-10 in 2014.

The University of North Carolina will be the site of the 2014 ACC Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships (April 17-19).

The remainder of the 2013-2014 ACC Championships will be played at off-campus sites.

The 2013 ACC Women’s Soccer Championship semifinals and final will again take place at Cary, N.C.’s WakeMed Soccer Park (Nov. 8 and 10), and the Maryland SoccerPlex in Germantown, Md., will host the 2013 Men’s Soccer semifinals and final for the second straight year (Nov. 15 and 17).

ACC Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving will return to the Greensboro Aquatic Center in 2014 for a second consecutive year (Feb. 19-22 and Feb. 26-March 1). In addition to swimming and basketball, Greensboro will also be the site of the 2014 ACC Women’s Golf Championship (April 18-20 at Sedgefield Country Club) and the 2014 ACC Baseball Championship (May 20-25 at NewBridge Bank Park).

The 2014 ACC Men’s Lacrosse Championship will get a taste of a new venue, as Philadelphia’s PPL Park is set to host from April 25-27.

Meanwhile, the Cary (N.C.) Tennis Park will host both the 2014 ACC Men’s and Women’s Championships for the seventh straight year (April 23-27), and the ACC Men’s Golf Championship will return to the Old North State Club at New London, N.C. for the 14th consecutive year in 2014 (April 25-27).

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Coming off a near perfect game, State baseball enters important stretch

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Ethan Ogburn.
Ethan Ogburn.
No. 15 NC State’s win streak grew to 11 games thanks to a dramatic 2-1 victory over Charlotte on Tuesday night.

But now the Wolfpack, 11-7 in the ACC and two games behind Atlantic Division-leading Florida State, steps back into ACC play for a three-game set at Georgia Tech starting Friday before returning home April 26 for three games against No. 1 North Carolina.

Against Charlotte, the Pack (29-10 overall) scratched out a run in the first and another in the second to take a 2-0 lead. That was enough for starter Ethan Ogburn (3-2), who retired the 49ers’ (22-14) first 18 batters to take a perfect game into the seventh. A base hit from the first batter of the seventh broke it up, but Ogburn cruised for another 1 1/3 before leaving with just two hits allowed.

ATLANTIC DIVISION
School Conference
Florida State 13-5
Clemson 12-6
NC State 11-7
Maryland 5-13
Wake Forest 4-14
Boston College 0-17

COASTAL DIVISION
School Conference
North Carolina 15-2
Virginia 13-5
Georgia Tech 11-7
Miami 8-10
Duke 8-10
Virginia Tech 7-11

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ACC Outdoor Track & Field Championships begin Thursday in Raleigh

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The 2013 Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Championships are set to begin Thursday, April 18, and will continue through Saturday, April 20. The three-day event will be held in Raleigh, N.C., on the NC State campus.

Fans can follow the action on all three days via live video streaming on theACC.com. Coverage is scheduled for 6-9 p.m. on Thursday, 5-8:30 p.m. on Friday, and 4-8 p.m. on Saturday. Viewers can access the webcasts directly at http://theacc.co/OTFWatchLive.

Live results will be available throughout the event on the championship website: http://theacc.co/OTFliveresults

Competition begins Thursday at 10 a.m. with the women’s javelin. Other highlights include the heptathlon and decathlon events, plus field events, including the women’s pole vault. The women’s 10,000-meter finals are set for 7:45 p.m., followed by the men’s 10,000 meters at 8:30 p.m.

NC State will host the ACC Championship for the ninth yea and the first time since 2003, when the Florida State men and North Carolina women won the title. The Virginia Tech men are the defending ACC champions, while the Clemson women will be seeking their fourth straight conference title.

North Carolina has won a conference-best 14 ACC Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Championships, ahead of Virginia’s and Clemson’s five. On the men’s side, Maryland leads with 26 titles, followed by Clemson with 11.

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What they’re saying after NC State’s season-ending loss

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Khalif Wyatt scored 31 points and led Temple to a 76-72 win over North Carolina State in the NCAA Tournament to end a disappointing season for the Wolfpack, which started the year as the preseason No. 1 team in the ACC.

“The N.C. State guys were talking a bit. Just had to block it out and come through for my teammates.”
– Khalif Wyatt

“We’ve played against really good guards this year. Khalif Wyatt is as good or better than all of them.”
– Wolfpack coach Mark Gottfried

“We just weren’t motivated. There’s nothing else to be said.”
– N.C. State forward C.J. Leslie

“There’s no reason that it’s the NCAA championship and we should come out sluggish.”
– NC State forward Scott Wood

“The whole year became this struggle to reach higher than we were, and we just kept reaching and couldn’t get there, and you just seemed to always be falling short. And today’s disappointing. No question, disappointing. I take full responsibility. You guys can put it all on me. But I also kind of look at the big picture here, and I see the picture of winning 48 games in two years and going back-to-back NCAA Tournaments, getting back in the top 25 here and there. So there are good things happening. But we wanted to play a lot longer than one game in this tournament this year. We wanted to play a lot longer. We didn’t. So that’s disappointing, no question.”
– N.C. State coach Mark Gottfried

“N.C. State found out that it can’t gives teams like Temple comfortable first-half cushions. The Pack also learned that Wyatt is as good as any guard it faced in the season.”
– Keith Pompey, Philadelphia Inquirer

“This is where the season ends for N.C. State, on the corner of disappointment and despair in Dayton.”
– Joe Giglio, The News & Observer

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Whittenburg discusses 1983 championship NC State team

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Dereck Whittenburg, one of the stars of the 1983 NCAA champion NC State Wolfpack basketball team, spoke on the radio today discussing the ESPN 30 for 30 special on the team and a variety of basketball-related topics.

“Thirty years later, it was still a pass,” Whittenburg said with a laugh in reference to the ‘missed shot’ that resulted in a Lorenzo Charles dunk at the buzzer for a title victory over Houston.

Whittenburg, who is an analyst for ESPN, said a touched Charles Barkley called him after watching the 30 for 30 show on the Wolfpack’s Cinderella run in ’83 under legendary coach Jim Valvano.

To listen to the interview, please click here.

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NCAA Tournament: NC State-Temple game notes

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Temple, seeded ninth in the East Region, will face eight-seeded North Carolina State in the second round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at UD Arena in Dayton, Ohio, on Friday, March 22. The game will tip-off at 1:40 pm and be televised live by TBS.

The Owls, who are one of eight teams (Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, Louisville, Marquette, Michigan State and Wisconsin) making their sixth straight appearance in the field, are making their 31st NCAA Tournament appearance.

The Cherry and White (23-9) are under the direction of seventh-year head coach Fran Dunphy, who is making his 15th NCAA Tournament trip (6 at Temple). The Owls, led by senior and A-10 Player of the Year Khalif Wyatt, enter the tournament winners of 10 out of their last 12 contests.

Wyatt, the A-10 Player of the Year, leads the A-10 in scoring with a 19.8 average while ranking seventh in the conference in assists (4.1 apg.). Wyatt also ranks ninth in the A-10 in steals (1.6 spg) and seventh in free-throw percentage (.832).

Wyatt is one of five players in their final season of eligibility on a veteran Owl team. Seniors Scootie Randall (11.8 ppg., 6.1 rpg.) and Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson (8.9ppg., 6.2 rpg., 3.5 apg., 1.8 spg.) are staples in the Cherry and White starting five while graduate students Jake O’Brien (9.3 ppg., .429 three-point percentage) and T.J. DiLeo (3.0 ppg., 1.9 rpg.) are the top reserves.

Sophomores Anthony Lee (10.0 ppg., 7.0 rpg.) and Will Cummings (6.1 ppg., 1.4 spg.) fill out the starting rotation.

The NC State Wolfpack (24-10) are coming off an 81-71 loss to #9 Miami in the ACC Tournament semifinals. Second-year head coach Mark Gotfried is the first coach in NC State history, and only the third coach in ACC history, to take each of his first two squads to the NCAA Tournament. The Wolfpack, who were 11-7 in the conference to tie for fourth, is led by junior forward C.J. Leslie with 14.9 ppg. Four other players average more than 12 points per game in an extremely balanced offense, including ACC First Team All-Conference selection senior Richard Howell at 12.7 ppg as well as a team-best 10.7 rebounds per game.

NC State holds a 6-1 edge in the all-time series with Temple. The Owls won the last time the teams went toe-to-toe back on Feb. 15, 2003 when they defeated the Wolfpack, 76-54 at The Liacouras Center.

The NCAA Tournament selection extends a season of accomplishments for the Wolfpack that includes the following:

• NC State has tied its highest win total for a single season in the past 30 years. The last Wolfpack squad to post more victories than the 2012-13 squad’s total of 24 was the 1983 National Championship squad, which posted a 26-10 mark.

• Mark Gottfried is the first coach in NC State history, and only the third coach in ACC history, to take each of his first two squads to the NCAA Tournament.

• The Wolfpack posted an 11-7 mark in ACC play, marking its highest number of league wins since 2003-04. Three of those seven losses came when starting point guard Lorenzo Brown was out with an injury.

• NC State’s 48 combined wins over the last two seasons are the most in back-to-back campaigns since 1981-82 and 1982-83 (48 wins).

• Mark Gottfried has now won more games in his first two seasons with the Pack (48) than any coach in school history with the exception of Everett Case(55) in 1947 and 1948.

• NC State checks in at No. 32 in the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), and No. 39 in strength of schedule. NC State is 22nd in the Basketball Power Index (BPI), and has the No. 20 schedule in that rating.

• The Wolfpack spent 14 weeks in the national top-25 polls this season, marking the longest stretch that the Pack had been ranked by the Associated Press since 2005-06.

• NC State is the only team in the nation to have five players each average over 12 points per game.

• NC State advanced to the ACC Tournament semifinals in back-to-back years for the first time since 2004 and 2005.

• NC State defeated Duke, North Carolina and Wake Forest for the first time since 1989.

• NC State downed both Duke and North Carolina at home for the first time since 2002-03 – Duke was ranked No. 1 in the nation at the time of the victory.

• The Pack leads the ACC and ranks fourth nationally in field goal percentage (.494). Gottfried’s squad led the nation in that category for several weeks this season and its current mark would rank sixth in school history as of today.

• Senior forward Richard Howell was a first-team All-ACC performer after leading the league in rebounding, and ranking fifth nationally. He was the first Pack player to be named to the league’s first-team since Julius Hodge in 2004.

• Howell became only the fifth player in school history to record both 1,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds.

• The current Wolfpack squad is only the ninth in ACC history to have four 1,000-point scorers on the same squad.

• A Pack player currently leads the ACC in rebounding (Richard Howell, 10.7), Offensive rebounding (Howell, 3.8), assists (Lorenzo Brown, 7.2), steals (Brown, 2.0), field goal percentage (T.J. Warren, .626), three-point field goal percentage (Scott Wood, .443), and three-point field goals made per game (Wood, 3.0).

• Scott Wood became NC State’s all-time leader in three-point field goals made with 332 and counting. Wood also set a new school mark in career starts, with 135 entering NCAA Tournament play.

• The Wolfpack posts a 34-22 overall in the NCAA Tournament and is one of only 17 teams that has won two national titles, as the Pack took the title in 1974 and in 1983.

Last season, NC State also received an at-large bid as a No. 11 seed, advancing to the Sweet 16 before falling to eventual national runner-up Kansas, 60-57, in the Midwest Regional in St. Louis.

Gottfried has made 18 postseason appearances as a coach and a player, including 15 trips to the NCAA Tournament. He helped lead UCLA to seven NCAA trips and an 11-6 mark in the tournament, and was an assistant coach when the Bruins captured the 1995 national championship.

For the third time in Gottfried’s tenure as a head coach, he has led to a program to multiple NCAA berths. In his previous head coaching stops, Gottfried led his alma mater Alabama to five consecutive NCAA Tournaments (2002-06), including a trip the Elite Eight in 2004. At Murray State, Gottfried guided the Racers to NCAA Tournament berths in 1997 and 1998.

As a player at Alabama, he helped lead the Crimson Tide to three straight Sweet 16 appearances from 1985-87, posting a 6-3 record.

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After beating Wake, Gottfried says State is headed in the right direction

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Here are the post-game remarks from NC State head coach Mark Gottfried after the Wolfpack’s 81-66 victory at home against Wake Forest.

On the start of the game
“We had a slow start and they had a quick start offensively, but once we got our feet and hands moving, we picked up our defensive pressure a little more. For the last 16 minutes of the first half, we really defended well. It’s a good win for us and something we can build on, but we just need to keep improving on some things, whether it’s our defensive pressure, our rebounding or our offense. We just have to keep working.”

On the rebounding numbers
“We rebounded pretty well and Richard Howell only had five [rebounds], which is unusual, but a lot of different guys did a pretty good job. Our perimeter defense and our ball pressure helped us keep the ball out of the post. They couldn’t get the ball inside. Defensively, I think it was a good thing for our team.”

On C.J. Leslie’s performance
“He used his quickness four or five times to get to the rim. When he has some space, he’s a hard guy to contain one on one. I thought he had a matchup we could take advantage of.”

On the senior ceremonies for Scott Wood and Richard Howell
“One of the joys of coaching is to watch guys improve and watch them grow up. Even though I joined those guys when they were midway through their college careers, I think both of those guys have taken big steps in the last two years. When you’re coaching, we all love to win and that’s what you’re hired to do, but that relationship you build with your guys and watching them develop – it’s great to watch them have phenomenal senior years.”

On the team’s 11 ACC wins this season
“We’re taking some steps in the right direction. We have big goals. I came to this program with dreams of one day winning a national championship, and you’ve got to make progress toward that, and we’ve been able to do some of that. Hopefully this year we can continue to win and put ourselves in position to get into the NCAA tournament. It’s the greatest show on earth and once you’re in that tournament, anything can happen. Everything that has happened along the way is good, but I know what our goal is.”