The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1215393
18 ■ THE WOLFPACKER TRACKING THE PACK BY THE NUMBERS "He shouldn't be called sneaky good, because he's just darn good. He has started an incredible 74 games through four seasons, playing more than 5,000 snaps as one of the better left guards in football. He's tough, strong, technical and incredibly durable. A team looking for a line anchor for the next five years will make him quite rich." — NFL insider Field Yates on New England Patriots free agent left guard and NC State alum Joe Thuney (ESPN.com) Sponsored by Colony Tire & Service www.colonytire.com 1 Starting lineup all season for the NC State women's basketball team: Junior guard Kai Crutchfield, senior guard Aislinn Konig, freshman wing Jakia Brown-Turner, junior forward Kayla Jones and sophomore center Elissa Cunane started the first 27 games together and helped the No. 8 Wolfpack go 23-4. 15 Games it took for NC State redshirt freshman center Manny Bates to break the school record for most blocked shots in a season by a rookie. He recorded 76 rejections while playing in 26 of the Wolfpack's first 28 contests, easily topping the previous mark of 47 set by J.J. Hickson in 2007-08. As of Feb. 25, Bates led the ACC and ranked sixth nationally with an average of 2.92 blocks per game. 73 Consecutive weeks the NC State wrestling team has been ranked top 10 in the Na- tional Wrestling Coaches Association poll through Feb. 25. The Wolf- pack wrapped up the regular season No. 3 in the country, its second-best finish ever. NC State football players — defensive end JAMES SMITH-WILLIAMS and defensive tackle Larrell Murchison — invited to the NFL Combine Feb. 23-March 2 in Indianapolis. 2 "They knew they needed it, and they got it. That was our worst game, but they made us play that way. They were at a different level. It wasn't a matter of them taking us out. In order to be taken out, we would've had to be in. So we weren't in to be taken out." — Duke men's basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski on NC State whipping the Blue Devils 88-66 Feb. 19 (The Greensboro News-Record) "I JUST WANT THE RULES TO BE UNIFORM ACROSS THE BOARD. IF YOU ARE GOING TO LET SOME OF THE OLYMPICS SPORTS DO IT, THEN LET US DO IT. I DON'T WANT TWO DIFFERENT RULES BECAUSE IT SENDS TWO DIFFERENT MESSAGES TO EVERYBODY." — NCSU men's basketball coach KEVIN KEATTS on if college sports should allow one-time transfers to be immediately eligible without sitting out a year (TheWolfpacker.com) "It was just a wild atmosphere. The culture that has been created here with the fan base and what the guys have been doing, and the staff. This is what the vision was to make NC State — a program that could compete at a high level. We have repli- cated [what a match is like at powerhouse Oklahoma State]. Obviously, winning is big, but … this made a statement — that college wres- tling, high school wrestling, wrestling is growing. It's just good for our sport." — Wrestling coach PAT POPOLIZIO on drawing a record 4,383 fans to Reynolds Coliseum for the Wolfpack's 19-14 win over North Carolina Feb. 7 (TheWolfpacker.com) PHOTO BY LARRY BLANKENSHIP PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN