The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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38 ■ THE WOLFPACKER enough spaces to fill those needs. They'll be spread out though. "We will protect every lot that we own. There won't be anything else built out there. There won't be anything sold that belongs to the university, to the best of my knowledge. We'll protect our parking, at least the part that we own." Has there been any progress on working with the state legislature to allow alcohol sales at football and basketball games? "It's talked about a lot. I do believe it will happen. However, I am not aware of any cur- rent legislation that includes that as part of a bill. "We believe it should occur, and we hope that it will." The halftime pass-outs for football games continue to be a hot-button topic. Have you studied what alcohol sales would do to help alleviate the issue of fans leaving the stadium at halftime? "The big question is if we sell alcohol, how many people stay in the stadium? There's no study that will tell you that. We know on aver- age 15,000 people will leave at halftime and 7,000 will return. "One of the interesting dynamics that should be considered is if we make a no pass- outs policy, how many of those 15,000 leave anyway and then can't return. Is there a pos- sibility that we could hurt attendance by doing that? We don't know the answers to those things. "In my mind, I have separated alcohol sales from pass-outs." The Supreme Court has now allowed states to legalize sports gambling. Do you see any impacts that you would need to monitor? "I am not aware of any legislation in this state to legalize collegiate gambling. When that is entered into discussion in the legisla- ture, then we'll start seriously considering the situation. "The framework for that would all have to be determined. There is revenue distribution that has to be determined. I don't have any information. "If I were talking to you now about it any- thing I would say would be pure conjecture." Condoleezza Rice's commission issued its report on college basketball. Were there any parts of that report that excited you and any parts that conversely you ques- tioned? "I was glad to see that they at least consid- ered name, image and likeness. They deferred any opinion on it, per se, because there are pending court cases. If you talk to most athlet- ics directors, the majority of us would say that is coming. There will be some type of a carve out to maintain the right to their own name, image and likeness. "That'll be very new, but for student-ath- letes who enter college and don't come from very wealthy backgrounds, that's a pretty im- portant change — to be able to continue to provide for their family. "If we had a freshman here who is a great violinist or who is a great theater major, we would applaud that theater major for making a big splash and applaud that violinist for being able to work with a symphony and be paid. "We would think that would be wonder- ful. We would advertise it, especially their work ethic in taking advantage of their skills that they have developed. I think that eventu- ally we will see the same things for college athletes. "It will bring concerns and different issues with it in terms of a team environment and it will be messy, but I do believe it will happen." Do you have any idea of how it would work? "I've said for 15 years that the money could be put in escrow until they either leave for the pros or until they graduate, but it might be more direct than that at this juncture. "Perhaps student-athletes could borrow money based on whatever is in that account. I'm not sure." On the issue of one-and-done, would you be in favor of getting rid of it? "We are all in favor of that. I just read that [NBA commissioner] Mr. [Adam] Silver is not even considering it right now. That's very, very disappointing that we can't get help from the NBA players' association to do the right thing for individuals that are 18 years old. "I would be very happy if it were the base- ball rule — go out of high school or stay in college for three years or some combination. But the one-and-done is very challenging to manage for everybody." The transfer rule is another hot topic issue. Should they be allowed to play right away with a one-time stipulation based on GPA and should restrictions on where to transfer be lifted? (Note: The NCAA decided to lift restrictions for transfers in mid-June after this interview was conducted. Student-athletes no longer need permission from their schools to leave and can go wher- ever they want.) "One of the things that I have noticed in that conversation publicly is that people con- tinue to insist that coaches can just go. That's not true. "Coaches can change jobs. They usually have massive pay buyouts that they owe if they don't honor the contracts. That's the fact versus the narrative that has played out na- tionally. "I'm not a proponent of free agency where players can just go one year and go to the next school and play immediately — I'm just not. You'd be hard-pressed to find ADs and coaches that want it that way. "Could there be something that is more lenient? Perhaps, and we will find out this summer." You are choosing to use the wolf head over the block S as the main logo for NC State. What was the thought process be- hind that? "The staff convinced me that we should do that, pointing out that it is the distinctive mark of NC State. I still love the block S, but it was confused with Stanford, which eventually put a tree in the block S. It's also confused with the block S from Syracuse. "It's nice not to have someone stop me in the airport, if I'm wearing the block S, and ask, 'Are you're from Stanford.' I have to say, 'No I'm from NC State.' "It is a distinctive mark for us, and it's an official mark approved by the university. I think we are enjoying it now." When is your contract up at NC State? "We've been talking about this for three years, and I am tired of talking about it, but it's up on July 15, 2019." Do you know what's in your future? "As far as I know, that's what is in the fu- ture." ■ Yow was impressed with men's basketball coach Kevin Keatts overcoming an 0-2 start in ACC play to make the NCAA Tournament. PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN