The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1343401
18 ■ THE WOLFPACKER TRACKING THE PACK BY THE NUMBERS Sponsored by Colony Tire & Service www.colonytire.com PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN 39th Was the overall pick with which NC State men's soccer senior mid- fielder George Asomani was selected by the San Jose Earthquakes in the 2021 Major League Soccer Draft. Asomani spent two seasons with the Wolfpack after transferring from Mon - roe College. He played and started in 25 matches for the Pack and scored one goal on 14 shot attempts. The native of Accra, Ghana, was named to the 2020 ACC Preseason Watch List and played in all seven of the Wolfpack's fall matches. He will also play with the team during its spring season before moving on to the pros. "Our staff is very, very excited for George," NC State head coach George Kiefer said in a release. "San Jose is getting an excellent young man and an excellent player." 13.7 Is NC State's average ranking in the six major preseason college base- ball polls, which all list the Wolfpack among the top 20 in the land. The Pack comes in at No. 11 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Poll and No. 12 on USA Today's Baseball Coaches Poll, while it is ranked No. 13 by DI Baseball and Collegiate Baseball, No. 16 by Perfect Game and No. 17 per Baseball America. 2021 is the 19th consecutive year that the program has either started or finished the season nationally ranked. 1 Athlete in NC State history has been named to the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 50 Watch List: fifth-year senior outfielder TATYANA FORBES, who was named to the presti- gious list in January for the second time in her career. The first time she was selected to the watch list was in 2017 during her sophomore campaign at Coastal Carolina. In the shortened 2020 season — her first at NC State — Forbes had the second-most hits in the NCAA (43). She also ranked fifth in batting aver - age (.538) and eighth in on-base percentage (.593), pacing the ACC in all three categories. The Redmond, Wash., native started all 25 games in right field for the Wolfpack in 2020 and was named No. 97 in Softball America's Shortened Season Top-100 Players List. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE MEDIA RELATIONS " I've never been a coach that wants to use the words 'unfinished business' or 'chip on your shoul- der.' I don't think you play for things like that. Those things just sound good. You might be able to practice with a chip on your shoulder or unfinished business if you want to. "When it gets down to it, you play the game for the right reasons. You play it for your teammates, you play it for the fun of the game, and you play it to see who you can be personally and who your team can be as a unit. "I know one thing, we haven't talked about unfinished business. I just know they haven't played in about a year. They love this game, and they're 18- to 22-year- old guys that can't wait to play the game and get back out there." — NC State baseball coach ELLIOTT AVENT on his team returning to the field after the 2020 spring season was cut short due to COVID-19