The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1476803
22 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BY MATT CARTER ll NC State football fans needed to know about the work that strength and conditioning coordina- tor Dantonio "Thunder" Burnette was doing in the weight room was to watch the successes of former players at the NFL Combine. Recent players like defensive end Brad- ley Chubb, center Garrett Bradbury, de- fensive end James Smith-Williams and offensive tackle Ikem Ekwonu, among others, had commentators gushing over their athleticism. Now imagine what Burnette can do with modernized equipment in the weight room at the Murphy Center. NC State fans are about to find out. A $2.1 million renovation was under- taken to, as Wolfpack Club associate ex- ecutive director Buzzy Correll described the project, upgrade and make more ef- ficient use of the weight room space. And thus far, the $1.2 million already raised includes donations from former players who previously used that same weight room. "We really wanted a project that former players could participate in. And for the pro guys, the weight room is where they got better," Correll noted. "We've been fortunate to have several NFL and former NFL guys be donors for this project. We are over halfway to our goal. "We have been really pleased with some of the folks that have stepped up. For some of them, this is the first time they have made any kind of gift to the football program. We're excited about that." The most notable changes in the weight room are new platforms used for train- ing. Previously, Burnette had 14. Now he has 28 state-of-the-art platforms made by Sorinex Exercise Equipment, which is based near Columbia, S.C. "We doubled our training space," Bur- nette noted. During the season, Burnette previously had to split the travel roster's sessions on Sunday and Thursday, with the of- fense working on the turf adjacent to the weights and the defense lifting, and then switching. "Now we come in on Sunday, 70-some AN AN EXCITING EXCITING UPGRADE UPGRADE The NC State Football Weight Room Has Been Modernized A Having already raised $1.2 million for its renovation project, NC State has been able to double the number of weight training platforms that are available to players, going from 14 to 28. PHOTO BY MATT CARTER