The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1389905
12 ■ THE WOLFPACKER TRACKING THE PACK Ten Wolfpack Football Players Earn Preseason All-ACC Honors From Athlon Sports NC State had 10 players earn preseason All-ACC honors in Athlon Sports 2021 College Football Preview, which tied for the third-most selections in the conference. The Wolfpack accounted for six first-team selections, which was good for second in the league. Sophomore running back Zonovan Knight was the only player from the conference to earn first-team honors at two different positions, running back and kick returner. The other first-team selections included sophomore Ikem Ekwonu (of- fensive line), redshirt sophomore Payton Wilson (linebacker), redshirt junior Isaiah Moore (linebacker) and redshirt junior wide receiver Thayer Thomas (punt returner). Ekwonu also earned third-team preseason All-America honors from the magazine. Senior wide receiver Emeka Emezie and redshirt junior center Grant Gibson earned second-team honors, junior placekicker Christopher Dunn and redshirt junior punter Trenton Gill were selected to the third team, and junior running back Ricky Person Jr. appeared on the fourth team. Men's Basketball Announces Multiple Non-Conference Games For 2021-22 The Wolfpack's 2021-22 schedule is already taking shape with three non-confer- ence games confirmed for later this year. NC State is first set to host Nebraska in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge Dec. 1. The contest will mark the first-ever meeting between the schools and will have intrigue considering Wolfpack redshirt junior guard Thomas Allen was a Cornhusker before he transferred to NC State in 2019. Later that month, the Pack will play two more non-conference contests on neutral floors. The first will be against Purdue Dec. 12 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. The Boilermakers were a No. 4 seed in the 2021 NCAA Tournament and are ranked sixth nationally in ESPN's latest way-too-early Top 25, which was released in early June. NC State will also face Richmond Dec. 17 in the Spectrum Center in Charlotte. The Spiders are coming off of a 14-9 season in which they earned a No. 2 seed in the National Invitational Tournament. Two Wolfpackers Win AmeriCup Gold With Team USA Two NC State women's basketball players, junior center Elissa Cunane and soph- omore wing Jakia Brown-Turner, won gold medals with Team USA this summer in the 2021 AmeriCup. With the top-four finish at the event, Team USA advanced to the 2022 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers, where it will compete for one of 12 spots in the World Cup field. Team USA defeated Puerto Rico 74-59 in the AmeriCup final, and Cunane was one of three players on the team to post double-digit points, with 12, while also pulling down six rebounds. The All-American Wolfpack center averaged 12.8 points and 8.0 rebounds per game in the event, which earned her a spot of the FIBA AmeriCup All-Star Team. Brown-Turner averaged 3.8 points and 3.0 rebounds in 10.9 minutes per game for the tournament. Former Pack guard Aislinn Konig also competed in the event for Team Canada, which finished in fourth place and also advanced to the World Cup qualifiers next summer. Konig led Team Canada with 23 points and went 7-of-9 from three-point range in the quarterfinals. NC State's involvement with Team USA will continue later this summer. Fresh- man guard Diamond Johnson, who transferred in from Rutgers this offseason, will represent America in the 2021 FIBA U19 World Cup, which begins Aug. 7 in Debre- cen, Hungary. — Justin H. Williams ■ RED AND WHITE NOTEBOOK PACK PERFORMERS George Asomani, Soccer After completing his eligibility for NC State this year, Asomani was drafted in the second round by Ma- jor League Soccer's San Jose Earth- quakes and signed a multi-year contract June 4. He played the last two seasons for NC State, starting 32 matches in the midfield. The native of Accra, Ghana, had an assist and was fourth on the team with 10 shots taken while playing in 14 out of 15 games this past season. Ross Dant, Swimming In the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials, the sophomore from Hickory, N.C., nearly made the Summer Games in Tokyo in two separate events. He finished third in both the 400- and 800-meter free- style swims, clocking personal bests of 3:48.30 and 7:50.66, respectively, in the two events. The top two swimmers in the races moved on to Tokyo. At the NCAA Cham- pionships in March, Dant placed third in the mile and eighth in the 500-yard free, making him the only men's swimmer at NC State to earn All-America accolades in multiple races this year. Anna Rogers, Tennis The senior from Stamford, Conn., was highly recognized fol- lowing NC State's first-ever trip to the Final Four. She became the first quarterfinalist in program history at the NCAA Singles Championship, and she reached the semifinals in doubles with junior Alana Smith, another NC State-best perfor- mance. She concluded the year ranked No. 9 in singles and No. 10 in doubles with Smith, and was named an Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-American in both. The ITA also rec- ognized Rogers with its Most Improved Senior award. Pat Popolizio, Wrestling NC State's head coach is continuing to pile up talent for his wrestling program, bringing in a consensus top-five recruiting class in 2021. InterMat and FloW- restling each ranked the 10-mem- ber group No. 4 nationally while MatScouts listed it at No. 5. NCSU was the only program to sign four top-50 recruits from FloWrestling's big board: 125-pounder Stevo Pou- lin from Shenendehowa, N.Y. (No. 20); 165/174-pounder Jacob Null from Dolgeville, N.Y. (No. 27); 174/184-pounder Joey Mi- lano from Schwenksville, Pa. (No. 42); and 165/174-pounder Derek Fields from Brunswick, Ohio (No. 46). They also tied for first nationally by signing five of the outlet's top 100.