The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1153250
28 ■ THE WOLFPACKER TRACKING THE PACK QUOTING THE PACK "Charlotte has been great to our program. High school coaches here, we've built great relationships with. Obviously this year's draft, last year's draft, you can see that when you see what happened with Garrett Bradbury, a national award winner, the careers that Jaylen Samuels and B.J. Hill are having from this area. "We've got a lot of good players from Charlotte. We'll continue to battle to do that. I think it's an important city for all the schools in this state. It's been one that's helped us quite a bit. It's been fun over the last six years to see this area grow." — Doeren on recruiting the Queen City (TheWolfpacker.com) "A fun story on the former third-round pick out of NC State. … Entering the combine, [Joe] Thuney was advised not to answer all 50 questions on the Wonderlic test for fear he'd scare off teams with his intellect. Instead, he was instructed to answer only 39 questions, ensuring his score remained below 40. Thuney listened. He answered all 39 questions correctly." — Writer Matt Verderame on New England Patriots left guard Joe Thuney, who graduated from NC State (Fansided.com) "I think Coach [Dave] Doeren has a standard, and that standard is raised every day. He set the bar high. He's shown us also what it's like to be a man, handle your business. I think that's reflected on the field as well." — NC State fifth-year senior defensive end James Smith-Williams (TheWolfpacker.com) "It would be a stamp on those days that I used to run outside of my house and running in the grass and pulling tobacco and doing drills late at night. That's why I was doing it — to be one of the best at my position and one of the best of my time. Being a Hall of Famer validates that. It's a mindset for me. If I get in, great. If I don't, in my mind the way I worked and the way I ap- proached [football], I'm a Hall of Famer. "But it's different obviously when you put that jacket on and the world now knows. I want the world to know that I was considered on that level." — Former NC State star wide receiver Torry Holt on campaigning to be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame (SI.com) "[I have the] ability to be able to score from three levels — midrange, fast- break and three. The ability to be that hard-nosed basketball player out there all the time, defend multiple positions, facilitate. The coaches know what I can do and they'll put me in a position to be able to do that." — Former NC State star men's basketball player T.J. Warren, who was traded to the Indiana Pacers and head coach Nate McMillan, also an ex-Wolfpack player (The Indianapolis Star) "I don't know of anybody better that will deal with this very effectively than Chancellor [Randy] Woodson and [director of athletics] Boo Corrigan. You couldn't have two better people to deal with it the right way, the most effective way on behalf of NC State. Hopefully it's over with and behind them as quickly as possible, with as little damage as possible. We won't comment on that ongoing process, as you know, from a league perspective. We're basi- cally here to assist, in this case, North Carolina State in any way they deem appropriate in terms of helping them with the process." — ACC commissioner John Swofford on NC State's notice of allegations at ACC Kickoff (ASAP Sports) PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN "In the last three years, every team in the ACC has been in a bowl game. We have more bowl victories than any conference over the last three years. I think it's a very underrated conference. I don't know if it matters what I think, when it comes to that, but I'll tell you we're playing some teams that are a lot better than people think." ■ NC State football coach Dave Doeren on the strength of the ACC (The News & Observer)