The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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MAY/JUNE 2022 ■ 49 Buckey, he said when he and Dave got together to recreate their cover photo just before NC State's 2022 spring foot- ball game. He was made to sound much more brash than he intended in his in- terview with Jenkins, a chain-smoking, whiskey-swilling sports writing legend who never let a good line go to waste in his writing. "We knew we'd have a chance to play early if we went to State," Don Buckey was quoted as saying in Jenkins' arti- cle. "We've got the best offense in the United States. We can move the ball on anybody. By the time we're seniors, State will be in the top 10." To this day, Buckey swears he was just explaining to Jenkins what Holtz had told the team. "They made me sound like a snotty, arrogant freshman," he said. "I never said that exactly. What Coach told us was that if we kept recruiting and build- ing the program, by the time we were seniors we could be a top-10 program. I was quoting Coach Holtz." After the Wolfpack played its final game of 1975, a narrow 13-10 loss to West Virginia in the Peach Bowl, the Pack finished No. 9 in the United Press International coaches' poll and No. 11 in the Associated Press writers' poll, the highest finish in either poll in program history. ■ Tim Peeler is a regular contributor to The Wolfpacker and can be reached at tmpeeler@ncsu.edu. State men's basketball player to win the league's Freshman of the Year award. He actually shared it with Duke center Mike Gminski, the only time in the 46-year history of the award that it has been split between two players. Whitney aver- aged 14.6 points and 5.8 rebounds. Matt Reiss, 167 pounds, wrestling (1980) An unseeded freshman at the NCAA Championships, Reiss pulled off one of the biggest surprises in school history when he beat Iowa State's Perry Hummel 4-2 to win the first individ- ual championship in head coach Bob Guzzo's coaching career. Suzie Tuffey, women's cross country (1985) Although she had never run a high school cross country race before she lined up for NC State's highly respected women's team just a few months after graduating high school in Peoria, Ill., Tuffey proved she didn't need it. She had won multiple Illinois state championships in distance events in track and field and was an immediate success when she tried cross country as a freshman at NC State, win - ning the 1985 NCAA championship. Ray Agnew, defensive tackle, football (1986) It's incredibly hard for a defensive lineman to win a major award against players from all positions. In fact, Agnew, a native of Winston-Salem, is the only defensive lineman ever named ACC Freshman of the Year. He recorded 20 solo tackles, 28 assists and two sacks after earning a starting job in the preseason. Andrea Stinson, women's basketball (1988-89) One of the nation's top recruits coming out of Huntersville, N.C., Stinson averaged a career-high 23.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 3.0 steals in her freshman season. She remains the only Wolfpack women's basketball player ever named ACC Freshman of the Year. Philip Rivers, quarterback, football (2000) The Wolfpack needed someone to succeed four-year starter Jamie Bar - nette, and for the next four years, Rivers owned the position, starting an NCAA-record 51 games and setting ACC passing yardage, completion and per- centage records that still stand. Julius Hodge, small forward, men's basketball (2001-02) The swingman from Harlem, N.Y., averaged 10.4 points per game and helped the Wolfpack end a 10-year NCAA Tournament drought. The ACC media voted Georgia Tech's Ed Nelson the league's top freshman that season, but Hodge got the last laugh. Three years later, he scored the winning basket over Nelson, who had transferred to Connecticut, to send the Wolfpack to the Sweet 16. Russell Wilson, quarterback, football (2008) Coach Tom O'Brien had five contenders for the starting quarterback posi- tion when preseason camp began in 2008. Wilson, a two-sport recruit from Richmond, Va., didn't win the job until the week before the opening game. He went on to become the first freshman quarterback to earn first-team All- ACC honors, doing so after a season in which he threw for 1,955 yards and 11 touchdowns, with only one interception. Carlos Rodon, pitcher, baseball (2012) The freshman left-hander's remarkable debut in 2012 included a 9-0 record in 16 games, with a pair of shutouts and a 1.57 ERA. He was the second NC State player, following Tom Sergio in 1996, to win ACC Rookie of the Year honors. Tommy White, slugger, baseball (2022) Will the standout Floridian become the next in a long line of super fresh- men? The start of his career was remarkable enough; he hit nine home runs, rapped out 20 hits and drove in 29 runs in the team's first eight games this season. — Tim Peeler In 1975, Ted Brown became the first player in league history to win the ACC Football Freshman of the Year award. Even though he only played in seven games, he finished with 913 yards rushing, a precursor to three straight 1,000-yard rushing seasons. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE ATHLETICS