The year 2020 will go down as one that most people will quickly try to put behind them as the clock hits midnight on Jan. 1, 2021.

For Wolfpack fans, however, 2020 hasn't been all that bad.

While NC State faithful would love to get back to Carter-Finley Stadium, PNC Arena and Reynolds Coliseum to cheer on the Pack, several of the university's athletic programs will be able to call this year a success based on their performances in competition.

The Wolfpacker decided to look back and rank the 10 biggest NC State athletics stories of 2020. Here is 6-10:

Ranking the 10 biggest NC State athletics stories of 2020, part two

T.J. Warren named to NBA All-Bubble Team

After nearly every competitive sport in the United States halted in early March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, NBA basketball was among the first of the country’s most beloved to return to action.

The league was able to resume and complete its 2019-20 season in a bubble format at Disney in Orlando, Fla. One of the biggest benefactors of the added attention to basketball’s fanless return was former NC State and current Indiana Pacers forward T.J. Warren.

Warren had already made a name for himself as an above-average starter in his first five years in the league with the Phoenix Suns franchise, but NBA fans across the country were introduced to the “Tony Buckets” Wolfpack fans had already known.

Warren made his presence known in his bubble debut with a career-high 53-point performance in a 127-121 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Aug. 1. In six seeding games, the former Wolfpack standout averaged 31.0 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.

He also ranked third in scoring average during that stretch behind only Damian Lillard of the Portland Trailblazers and James Harden of the Houston Rockets. Warren earned NBA first-team All-Seeding Games honors for his breakout performance in the bubble this summer.

Notebook: Strong start powers NC State past Duke

Wolfpack fans could not have dreamed up a better scenario than was the case the night of Wednesday, Feb. 19, when the sixth-ranked Blue Devils visited PNC Arena.

The Pack dominated Duke 88-66 in a game it led for 39:36.

NC State jumped out to a 15-point first-half lead that was left with a cherry on top: a buzzer-beating half-court heave from senior point guard Markell Johnson before the teams went to the locker room.

Johnson had a career-high 28 points and went 5-of-6 on his three-point attempts. He was one of three Wolfpack players with at least 20 points, including redshirt juniors Devon Daniels and DJ Funderburk.

Legendary Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski pulled Johnson over to the side after the game and told the former Wolfpack guard, “You played a great game. Not a good game, but a great game.”

On December 6, 2020, five former NC State quarterbacks played in the NFL on the same day.

Pack Pros: QBU takes center stage again

Indianapolis quarterback Philip Rivers has represented the Wolfpack in the pros for the better part of two decades now and has led the Colts to a 10-5 record entering the final week of the regular season as the team’s starter.

Backing him up this season has been another Pack Pro in Jacoby Brissett, who is the league’s second-highest-paid reserve quarterback behind only Andy Dalton on the Dallas Cowboys. Brissett has been used at times in goal-line situations and had three rushing touchdowns in 2020.

Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson was an early-season frontrunner for the league’s MVP award and has once again led the Seahawks to an NFC West divisional title.

Aside from Rivers and Wilson, two other Pack Pro quarterbacks have received starts in the latter half of the season.

Jacksonville signal caller Mike Glennon has started the last four contests for the tanking Jaguars and has thrown five touchdowns along with five interceptions.

Cincinnati quarterback Ryan Finley led the Bengals to a 27-17 upset over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night Football while starting in place of the injured starter Joe Burrow.

In the first two weeks of February, the NC State wrestling team flexed its muscles during the toughest stretch of its 2019-20 season.

The Wolfpack first defeated No. 10 Pittsburgh 21-12 on the road on Feb. 1. The Pack then returned to Raleigh and beat No. 8 North Carolina 19-14 followed by a 21-18 victory over No. 7 Virginia Tech a week later.

Friday night was a win in more ways than one for NC State wrestling

NC State went on to win the ACC Championship and finished the year 15-0 including a 5-0 record in conference play before the NCAA Championships were canceled in March due the COVID-19 pandemic.

The NC State women’s cross country and men’s swimming programs continued their dominance in 2020 with respective ACC titles.

Women’s cross country won its sixth ACC Championship under head coach Laurie Henes in October. Senior Dominique Clairmonte took the individual crown with a 6K time of 19:55.1 that led the field by 11 seconds.

NC State won its sixth straight men’s swimming and diving ACC Title in late February. The Pack totaled 1,250 points, 161 more than second-place Virginia. The Wolfpack earned 13 podium finishes, including seven gold medals.

Senior Coleman Stewart was voted Most Valuable Swimmer after winning co-Most Valuable Swimmer in 2019.

——

• Talk about it inside The Wolves' Den

• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes

• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolfpacker

• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolfpacker

• Like us on Facebook