The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1506671
BY MATT CARTER n the summer of 2021, NC State defensive coordinator Tony Gib- son was reflecting on his cor- nerbacks for the upcoming sea- son when he stopped, almost as an aside, to note that then-rising sophomore Aydan White was a name to watch. According to Gibson, the sky was the limit for White. At that point, White was not a com- plete unknown, but rather a pleasant late-season surprise in 2020. His div- ing fourth-quarter interception against Liberty quarterback Malik Willis, who in 2022 was a third-round NFL Draft pick by the Tennessee Titans, set up the win- ning touchdown in a 15-14 home victory for the Pack. That would be Liberty's lone loss dur- ing a 10-win season, which included victories at ACC rivals Syracuse and Virginia Tech and eventually saw the Flames end the year ranked No. 17 in the Associated Press poll. But while fans may have remembered White for that crucial play, few had an inkling that it was just a glimpse of the potential that Gibson and his defen- sive assistants were seeing from White in practices. Now a fourth-year junior, White has proven the defensive coordinator pro- phetic. White was a first-team All-ACC per- former during a breakout 2022 campaign that saw him lead all league cornerbacks with 4 interceptions. ESPN.com recently released a list of its top 100 college foot- ball players that did not include White, but suffice to say one of the site's con- tributors, David Hale, made his name known in deliberations. Hale has noted that White was one of only six returning defensive backs at the Power Five level who was targeted at least 25 times in 2022 and allowed zero touchdowns while simultaneously giv- ing up less than a 40 percent completion rate, less than 5 yards per target and no more than 2 completions of at least 20 yards. "I argued for Aydan White in our top 100 roundtable," Hale stated. "He should've made the list, easily." White has put himself on NFL radar screens, landing on the Senior Bowl watch list despite technically having a year of eligibility remaining. SHUTDOWN CORNER Fourth-Year Junior Aydan White Is One Of The Nation's Elite A first-team All-ACC choice in 2022, White didn't allow a single touchdown catch all season. PHOTO BY LARRY BLANKENSHIP I SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2023 ■ 27