The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1544864
8 ■ THE WOLFPACKER ■ WOLFPACK CLUB NEWS Where are you from? I moved to Raleigh when I was 9 years old. I lived in Raleigh from then until college. Where did you go to school? I went to the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. What are your current responsibilities at the Wolfpack Club? I've got the blessed opportunity to be able to discover and cultivate major gifts for the Wolfpack Club. What that entails is getting to know our Wolfpack fan base and tie in their passions toward projects or endowments that we have set up. What did you do before joining the Wolf- pack Club? I was the director of NIL at Pur- due. I worked at Purdue for five years, and the director of NIL was my last role. I was an annual gift officer, and before that I worked in their ticket sales department. But with NIL, I was able to help the student-athletes monetize their name, image and likeness. My favorite thing to claim is that we had the best NIL store in the country. It's a testa- ment to the student-athletes we had, but that was true NIL. I got a chance to be part of that, which was cool. What's your favorite part about working at the Wolfpack Club? The people. I want to thank the fans as well as my co-workers. Wolfpack people are hard-nosed workers. I also repay the people that poured into me, like Tim House, who hired me at Purdue, — he's a Wolfpack alum — as well as Dick Christy III, who gave me my first chance at UNCP to run the Braves Club. Outside of the fans, it's an opportunity for me to pay back to those that poured into my career. What are your hobbies? Running. I want to run a marathon eventually. I'm training for that, but I'm nowhere close. What's your favorite TV show? "Scrubs." What's your favorite movie? "The Nego- tiator." What's your favorite musical artist? J. Cole. What's your favorite restaurant? Carolina Ale House. Of my seven birthdays that I had in North Carolina, five of those were at Carolina Ale House, with or without friends. I love Carolina Ale House. What's your favorite NC State memory? For me, it was the 2012 Juston Burris interception against EJ Manuel. I believe NC State was los- ing 16-3 to Florida State. They were driving, and it was big for me because Burris played at Broughton High School. It was really fun to see a Broughton alum grab the interception. Once he got it, Florida State didn't score for the rest of the game, and NC State ended up winning. We drove onto cam- pus so we could celebrate like we went to school at NC State. This was my senior year of high school. That was my favorite memory ever because he got the pick and NC State got the win. WOLFPACK CLUB STAFF SPOTLIGHT: Jay Giddens, Major Gifts Officer Giddens grew up in Raleigh and has vivid memories of the Wolfpack's 17-16 comeback victory over third-ranked Florida State in 2012. PHOTO COURTESY THE WOLFPACK CLUB