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Optimism expressed at State of the Wolfpack

Last week, the Wolfpack Club held a “State of the Wolfpack” video call for members.

Hosted by Jeff Gravley, executive director of the Wolfpack Club Ben Broussard was joined by NC State director of athletics Boo Corrigan and some of the Pack’s most successful and prominent coaches, including football’s Dave Doeren, women’s basketball Wes Moore, women’s cross country and track’s Laurie Henes, wrestling’s Pat Popolizio and swimming’s Braden Holloway.

Here are some highlights from the conversation:

NC State Wolfpack athletics Chris Combs family
Raina Perez helped NC State win a second straight ACC title. (Ethan Hyman/News & Observer)
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• Economics has been a big topic of discussion in collegiate athletics. Through a combination of belt-tightening and increased support from NC State fans, the Pack was able to cut a projected deficit of $22.8 million down to about $3 million, per Corrigan.

“It really is to a large degree because of the passion of our fans,” Corrigan noted. He added that payroll cuts also saved “north of $5 million.”

Corrigan’s pandemic-related concerns extended beyond the finances however. He was also worried about how well the student-athletes would do in a virtual classroom setting.

Turns out, just fine.

“Proud to report we had a 3.21 GPA in the fall, which is the highest we ever had,” Corrigan said.

The AD added that NC State has a chance, depending on the outcomes of the spring sports, to have its most top-25 teams it ever had.

• Doeren talked about his football squad. The event was held prior to last Saturday’s spring game. He was asked by Gravley about some of the highlights among the younger players.

“The young receiving group is very talented — Jalen Coit and Chris Scott, Anthony Smith— those guys have done really impressive things this spring," Doeren said. "That’s a group that you may not hear a ton about just because what is coming back in the receiver room, but they’re getting themselves ready to be that next very good group of receivers. They’ve been impressive.

“I think our freshman center Lyndon Cooper and our freshman defensive end Travali Price have stood out in practice quite a bit.”

• Moore was still trying to get over the unexpected Sweet 16 loss to Indiana, and in particular the unluckiness of losing senior All-ACC forward Kayla Jones to an injury in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

"She was our glue that held us together, senior, first-team All-ACC … to have her go out was a big blow,” Moore said. ”I feel like we could have still gone further than we did.

“Got a lot of stuff I felt like I could have done a better job than I did in the last game and down the stretch of that game.”

This offseason priority was simple for Moore.

“We got to develop more depth … to be able to handle an injury or whatever setback we may have,” he explained.

Moore noted that the potential season opener next year may be in Raleigh against Final Four participant South Carolina, whom NC State defeated in Columbia last season. They are also hoping to finalize a home game against another SEC opponent and host the preseason NIT, which they were going to do in 2020 before the pandemic altered the schedule.

• Popolizio noted that, “Reynolds would have been rocking,” had fans been allowed to view the ACC Wrestling Championship, won for the third year in a row by the Wolfpack.

He continues to like the progress of his program, which finished sixth in the NCAA Championships, noting in recruiting that, “I think we’re one of those programs now where everyone is looking at.”

• Holloway admitted that seeing the women’s swimming and diving team win its first individual and relay swimming national titles was emotional.

“When I first took this job there was a lot of history on the men’s side, … but the history on the women wasn’t there,” Holloway said. “I didn’t come here just to lead the men’s team. I came here to lead the men’s and the women’s team. I told the ladies it was probably the biggest moment in the new era since I got here.

“Not just that first night when we broke the national record but it was the second night when we caught fire.”

The women’s team would eventually finish in second place.

“We captivated the swimming world,” Holloway noted. “We took the cake that night even though we weren’t winning the meet.”

• Henes’ cross country team also finished second at the NCAA Championship meet, and both her program and Holloway’s women’s team return almost every part of their rosters that contributed to the postseason success.

Popolizio noted that elusive national title in a team sport for NC State is coming.

“We’re all in this together. Somebody is going to do it,” he said. “… It’s been a while. We all know that. We are going to continue to work really hard to make this happen.”

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