The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1502339
22 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BY MATT CARTER ummer may be the offsea- son for collegiate athletics, but the Wolfpack Club is busy taking advantage of this period to connect with donors on a personal level. For example, one of the staples of the Wolfpack Club has been the annual Coaches Car- avan, which this year included in-state stops in Charlotte, Greensboro, Fayette- ville, Rocky Mount, Wilmington and Winston-Salem. Wolfpack Club members had a chance to ask questions and hear updates from basketball coaches Kevin Keatts and Wes Moore, as well as football coach Dave Do- eren and director of athletics Boo Cor- rigan. The opportunity to hear Moore's co- medic quips is worth admission alone, but as Wolfpack Club executive director Ben Broussard added, so is the chance to hear honest testimony from the various coaches. "Kevin keeps talking about how hard he's working on the transfer portal," Broussard noted. "He told the story of how last year about this time everybody was upset because we had lost our big man [Manny Bates]. At that point in time, nobody knew what he had coming in with DJ Burns Jr. and Jarkel Joiner. They really made a big difference. "What Kevin was saying was, 'You need to understand, give us some patience and let us throw these players into the mix.'" For the second straight year, the Wolf- pack Club also hosted an invitation-only golf retreat with the coaches in Pinehurst. About 45 of the most impactful donors in the organization were in attendance. The experience included lunches on Monday and Tuesday, as well as break- fast Tuesday and two rounds of golf with coaches from the basketball and football teams, plus the head golf coaches for the men's and women's programs. Broussard said the retreat offered a re- laxed environment in which attendees were able to connect with the coaches on a more personal level. "It's a well done, high-class event that sold out this year," he noted. "Moving for- ward, I think it will be one of our signature events. "Now that people have seen it for a couple of years, they have said, 'I'm not missing this.'" The Wolfpack Club is also embarking on a 13-stop "Pints With The Pack" tour to get to have more face-to-face time be- tween its staff and donors at breweries across the state, plus the Tidewater region in Virginia and Greenville, S.C. The first 50 attendees at each stop leave with a commemorative pint glass, and Broussard's hope is that Wolfpack Club S ENGAGING THE BASE The Wolfpack Club Goes The Extra Mile To Reach Its Donors (Left to right) Jeff Gravley led a fun panel with Dave Doeren, Kevin Keatts and Wes Moore during the annual Coaches Caravan. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE ATHLETICS