The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1249704
38 ■ THE WOLFPACKER find internships and ways to help the com- munity; the ability to compete on the field or court or pool or whatever else it is, to be able to win championships and not be afraid to do that. "The last thing is to find a way to strengthen the entire Pack and find a way to create greater pride in who we are and what we are as an institution. "We've spent a lot of time in the past comparing ourselves to others, and I think we need to focus more on ourselves and how we can be great. When we are great, we're going to be a formidable opponent, and we're all going in one direction. "We're going to be better and it's going to be a more enjoyable environment from our students, to our coaches, to our fans, to ev- eryone to come and be a part of NC State." What are your thoughts on the ACC Net- work after the first year of its existence? "I think it was really good, the goodness comes in the opportunity for us to show off our coaches and our students, whether it's competing or being interviewed — or show- ing old games, which is a lot of what we're seeing right now. "Takeovers where it's NC State day on the ACC Network are, again, an opportunity for us to get our information out there — to get who we are in front of as many people as possible and the greatness of NC State, being able to share that with more people. "From a financial standpoint, I think it's been really good. A lot of carriers have picked us up maybe earlier than what we thought and we are excited about the future of it going forward in the pandemic-new horizon that we're looking at." On the basketball side, several top- tier recruits have recently elected to go straight to the NBA's G League develop- mental program instead of coming to col- lege, including Josh Hall who had singed with NC State. What are your thoughts on the impact of that from a big picture and NC State perspective? "These young people are making what they believe to be the best decision for them. Some kids want to go to college; they want to have that college experience. Some don't. I'm a firm believer in the value of education and the value of learning on a campus. I re- ally believe that's a really good option. "There are other young people that want to get into the pros and pursue that option as fast as they can. I think it's great that they have that opportunity. "I don't know, long term, what effect that's going to have on college basketball, but I know that we've had 10,000-plus bas- ketball season-ticket holders for 20-plus years. I know we've had 30,000 football season-ticket holders for 19 straight years. There's still a pride in wearing the red and white of NC State. "If they want to be a part of that, we'd love to have them on campus. If they don't, I wish them luck as they pursue their goals." How are season-ticket renewals going? "We've had a great response from our fans on the renewal basis. People really want to get a sense of normalcy. They want to get back to something that they've done for years and with the people they've done it with. They really want to be a part of what we're doing and how we're doing it. "We are giving them flexibility. We want to provide our season-ticket holders a good experience — those who have purchased tickets and those who are thinking of pur- chasing tickets." ■ Corrigan is pleased with the ACC Network in its first year of existence, noting it has been a great opportunity "to get who we are in front of as many people as possible and the greatness of NC State, being able to share that with more people." PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN " The passion of our fans, the pride and connection they have to this great institution has really been the driver for me. … That keeps me motivated every day to make us the best NC State we can be. Corrigan on what stood out to him about his first year on the job before coronavirus derailed athletics this spring