The Wolfpacker

22 ■ THE WOLFPACKER TRACKING THE PACK T.J. WARREN ENTERS NBA DRAFT NC State star sophomore small forward T.J. Warren gave up his last two years of eligibility to enter the 2014 NBA Draft. Warren follows recent NC State players such as Cedric Simmons, J.J. Hickson, Lorenzo Brown and C.J. Leslie in entering the NBA Draft early. DraftExpress.com entered May with the 6-8, 215-pound Warren projected to the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls have the No. 16 and No. 19 picks in the first round, and Warren is projected to go with the earlier pick. Warren was the ACC Player of the Year in 2013-14 after breaking NCSU's school record for most points in a single season (871). He averaged 24.9 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, and led the squad with 63 steals in 35 games. Warren became the first conference player since 1957 to score at least 40 points in back-to-back ACC games when he poured in 41 at Pittsburgh March 3 and 42 at home versus Boston College six days later, in what turned out to be his final home game. The Durham, N.C., native was selected by both the league's media and coaches as the ACC Player of the Year, the first Wolfpack performer to win the award since Julius Hodge in 2004. DAVE DOEREN IS EXCITED ABOUT FUTURE INDOOR PRACTICE FACILITY Over the years, NC State football coaches have clamored for an indoor practice facility. Now that dream will become a reality. The Wolfpack Club, the athletic booster organization for NC State, is raising the money, and construction is on the horizon at the southeast parking lot adjacent to Carter- Finley Stadium. NCSU head coach Dave Doeren knows what kind of impact the facility will have in the future. "Having a place to practice regardless of the weather is a big deal," Doeren said. "The Wolfpack Club and the admin - istration are really working hard on getting us that project. We hope to have it for next spring or earlier." Doeren said the Wolfpack won't have to worry about missing spring practices in the future. "We wouldn't have been able to go [on first day of spring practice due to the weather]," Doeren said. "We would have had to make alternative plans. If you had that building, you wouldn't bat an eye. We would be in that building." The indoor practice facility will also be useful in August, and not because the temps are typically in the 90s. "For fall camp, with the lightening that comes in here in the afternoons, that building will help us a lot as well," Doeren said. SOPHOMORE POINT GUARD TYLER LEWIS TRANSFERS TO BUTLER Former McDonald's All-American point guard Tyler Lewis has left NC State after two years to attend Butler. The sophomore from Statesville, N.C., announced March 29 that he was transferring from NC State after splitting time with freshman point guard Anthony Barber this past season. Lewis officially visited Butler April 1-2, and picked the Bulldogs April 4, over interest from Xavier, Gonzaga, Pur- due, Minnesota, UAB, Charlotte and Dayton, among others. Butler went 14-17 overall and 4-14 in its first season in the Big East under first-year head coach Brandon Miller. Lewis gave his verbal commitment to former NC State head coach Sidney Lowe on Oct. 28, 2010, and remained steadfast with his decision under new head coach Mark Gottfried. Lewis departed Forsyth Country Day in Lew - isville, N.C., to attend Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va., and led the Warriors to a 44-0 record and No. 1 national ranking. Last year, Lewis backed up starting point guard Lorenzo Brown and averaged 3.5 points and 1.4 assists in 12.4 minutes per game during his freshman campaign at NC State. He pondered transferring last spring, but elected to stick with NCSU. Lewis opened this most recent season as the starting point guard for NC State, but Barber then took over the starting spot. Lewis regained the starting job and snapped out of a deep shooting slump down the stretch for the Wolfpack, who went 22-14 and lost to Saint Louis in the round of 64 in the NCAA Tournament. Lewis averaged 4.4 points and 3.8 assists per game, while shooting 34.6 percent from the field and 23.4 percent from three-point land in 2013-14. He averaged just 1.1 turnovers in 19.9 minutes per contest. "I'd like to thank NC State, my teammates and coaches, and the Wolfpack Nation for the past two years," Lewis said in a statement. "While I will be finishing my career at another school, I will always be grateful for the opportunity I had at NC State." "I wish Tyler the best," Gottfried said. FUTURE FOOTBALL, BASKETBALL SCHEDULES UPDATED The NC State football team has signed a home-and- home series with Troy, starting with a home game at Carter-Finley Stadium for the 2015 season opener and then a return road trip in 2017. NC State currently has road games at Old Dominion and South Alabama for the 2015 season. However, the Wolfpack also had its future 2017 game with LSU cancelled, with the Tigers paying $100,000. Future football schedules are also being complicated with the ACC pondering going from eight conference games to nine, starting no earlier than 2016. The NC State men's basketball team entered May closing in on playing West Virginia at Madison Square Garden in New York City next year. NC State's Future Non-Conference Football Schedules 2014: Georgia Southern, Old Dominion, at South Florida, Presbyterian 2015: Troy, at Old Dominion, at South Alabama 2016: Notre Dame, at East Carolina 2017: At Troy, at Notre Dame ■ Red And White Notebook Wolfpack Football Lands Two In-State Commitments NC State added two verbal commitments to its 2015 football recruiting class in the spring: offensive tackle Philip Walton from Charlotte Christian and receiver Brian Sessoms from Winston-Salem Carver. Until about three years ago, football was not Wal- ton's sport. He was a competitive freestyle sprint swimmer, and a good one, in part because of his size. He was approaching 6-4 by the time he was in high school. Walton's days as a swim - mer are over, and his frame looks totally different. He is up to 6-7 and has gained about 100 pounds to tip the scales at 260. And he's found a new love in football, and NC State thinks he has a future in this sport. The Pack offered Walton in February, and he verbally committed April 1, continuing a budding pipeline from Charlotte Christian to NC State. In February, the Wolfpack signed receiver Bo Hines and tight end Garrett Bradbury from the Inde - pendent Schools 3-A state-title-winning squad. Ad- ditionally, class of 2010 Charlotte Christian grad and linebacker Ty Linton is walking on at State after a three-year stint in the Arizona Diamondbacks farm system. "Basically there really isn't a better fit for me than NC State with the agricultural program and the great whole atmosphere of the football team," Walton explained. "I already have a few other guys from my high school team going to play there. I just love it up there." Walton also had an offer from Marshall. Sessoms, 5-8, 165 pounds, made his commitment during the spring game April 12, finalizing a choice he had made quietly over a month prior. "I was just waiting and waiting and waiting," Ses - soms confirmed. "I can't explain it, but I just wanted to make sure it was the right thing to do." Sessoms said that he chose NC State over an offer from Wake Forest because, "Every time I go down there it felt like home." Sessoms thinks there are many positives about NC State. "I love the environment, and the education is great there. I felt the interest the coaching staff was showing me every time I met them," Sessoms said. "We communicated a lot, and I think the opportuni- ties I have there as a football player are good." Sessoms is one of the fastest players in the state. As a sophomore, he finished second in the 200-me- ter dash with a time of 21.86 seconds at the 2-A state title meet. He had run 10.69 seconds in the 100 meters at his regional meet and was one of the favorites in that event, but he false started in the finals. During the indoor track season this year, Ses- soms was second in the 55-meter dash finals for the 1A/2A classifications with a run of 6.52 seconds. Sessoms and Walton joined athlete Malik Douglas from Southport (N.C.) South Brunswick High in State's 2015 football recruiting class. — Matt Carter PHILIP WALTON In his sophomore season at NC State, point guard Tyler Lewis averaged 4.4 points and 3.8 assists per game. PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN 14,16,18,20,22,24.TTP.indd 22 4/29/14 3:45 PM

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