The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1000643
JULY 2018 ■ 33 Have you seen others noticing the prog- ress of NC State athletics? "There is a gentleman who is a very good booster from the western part of the state. About eight years ago we were talking, and he said, 'I just want you to know, the only thing I really care about is what we do in football and men's basketball.' "I said, 'Thanks for telling me, but you and I don't agree on that. We are trying to develop a culture of excellence. You can't do that if only two teams out of 23 are doing really well. It doesn't feel like a culture of excellence. We are around each other all the time and feed off each other's enthusiasm, energy and achievements. We are going about this differently, and all ships are going to get raised.' "Fast-forward eight years, and about a month ago around 10:30 at night I received an email from him. We had just won the two cheerleading national championships. "His question was, 'Do we get Directors' Cup points for cheerleading winning?' I said, 'No we don't because they are a support group, but I can't tell you how proud I am that you even noticed.' "He's into the Directors' Cup now. He un- derstands when you get into the stratosphere where you are getting compared to Michigan, Stanford or Cal, that's a good place to be for your brand." Five years ago you could go to a wres- tling match, and it was not a big event. Now it's different. Do you see that in other sports as well? "It's an incredible environment since we've renovated Reynolds and since Coach [Pat] Popolizio came on board. "He and coaches like Braden Holloway for swimming, Kim Landrus for gymnastics, Wes Moore for women's basketball — the list goes on of coaches who were the right fit for us and are doing great things and overachieving at this point." What stood out the most to you about Kevin Keatts and his men's basketball pro- gram in year one? "When we started the conference season 0-2 and were beaten badly in both games, for him to come back from that and beat five top- 25 teams is a reflection of his leadership and what we can anticipate in the future." Only three players are coming back, and there are 10 newcomers on his team next year. What are expectations for next season? "The first place I would share expectations for men's basketball would be with Coach Keatts, but he is pretty aggressive in his ex- pectations. "I know he's told me that he wants to play even faster, and he wants to have the players on his team to be interchangeable at least at more than one position, and that he wants us to be able to put in a new five and not be able to tell a difference. He wants to press. "That's the kind of basketball that players want to play and fans want to watch." An NCAA report showed that more than 13 percent of men's basketball play- ers transfer at the end of each year, and the same report also showed that 40 percent of players that sign with a four-year school will have departed that institution by the end of their sophomore year. Is this an irreversible reality in men's basketball or can steps be taken to reverse it? "I think it is the reality, and I don't think you will see people even attempting to take steps to reverse it unless it's at the graduate level. "There is a national dialogue right now on what requirement should be met if you are a graduate transfer. Depending on which direc- tion they go that might curtail that number, but the number of undergraduates that transfer I anticipate to remain either at the same or greater number." There's the ongoing FBI investigation that has involved NC State. What can you share about that and do you have any an- ticipation about what might happen down the road with the NCAA? "I don't have any new information on the FBI investigation. Insofar as the NCAA, we will always partner with them in the right way for all the right reasons, and defend ourselves and our program and our integrity. "We spent eight years talking about what we call ERA — it's our mantra. 'E' stands for establish the culture. The 'R' stands for reinforce the culture. The 'A' stands for act with integrity when the culture is threatened. "All of coaches and all of our staff under- Overall Standings 1. Florida State 2. NC State 3. Clemson 4. Duke 5. Louisville 6. Virginia 7. Miami 8. North Carolina 9. Wake Forest 10. Notre Dame 11. Virginia Tech 12. Georgia Tech 13. Syracuse 14. Pittsburgh 15. Boston College Men's Standings 1. Clemson 2. NC State 3. Florida State 4. Louisville 5. Wake Forest 6. Virginia 7. Duke 8 (tie). Miami 8 (tie). North Carolina 10. Virginia Tech 11. Georgia Tech 12. Notre Dame 13. Syracuse 14. Boston College 15. Pittsburgh Women's Standings 1. Florida State 2. NC State 3. Duke 4. Louisville 5. Virginia 6. Miami 7. North Carolina 8. Notre Dame 9. Georgia Tech 10. Syracuse 11. Clemson 12. Wake Forest 13. Pittsburgh 14. Virginia Tech 15. Boston College The Atlanta Journal Constitution's ACC All-Sports Final Standings EXPENDITURE RANKING VS. DIRECTORS' CUP RANKING