The Wolfpacker

18 ■ THE WOLFPACKER TRACKING THE PACK "Mark Gottfried has a young, long and athletic group. His freshmen gained valuable experience last season, and the addition of another talented class, along with Alabama transfer Trevor Lacey, will put the Wolfpack in the upper echelon of the ACC. Gottfried's teams can score. They push the ball hard in transition and attack. Despite the loss of prolific offensive talent T.J. Warren (24.9 points per game), I expect NC State to be one of the highest-scoring teams in the league." — Former college head coach and current ESPN analyst Seth Greenberg on NC State's outlook for the 2014-15 season (ESPN.com) "[T.J.] Warren does a great job of getting out in transition, as the biggest share of his offense comes in this fashion. While not exceptionally quick, a high flyer, or an amazing ball handler, his scoring instincts really shine through here, as he shoots 65 percent from the field in these situations, [which is] third best among Top-100 DX prospects." — Scouting report on former NC State small forward T.J. Warren for this June's NBA Draft (DraftExpress.com) "The kids know what we're striving for, what we're looking for. I think they understand the system better, they understand what we're trying to do. They're a year into it, they're going to be better. We have some different guys coming in and playing with some different skill sets we didn't have, and that helps us some, and I think like anybody else will tell you after a year, they're more comfortable with the terminology. And we're excited about [redshirt junior quarterback] Jacoby [Brissett] and what he brings to the table and his experience, talent and leadership — all those things." — NC State offensive coordinator Matt Canada on the improvement from year one to year two this spring (ESPN.com) "There is no greater selling point than players who retire and come back and raise their families at the place they went to school. That is a huge selling point. The highest-paid defensive lineman [Mario Williams] in the NFL is from here. He is the only ACC player to be picked first overall in the NFL Draft. You have a quarterback [Russell Wilson] who is a Super Bowl MVP. You have two others guys here from the Super Bowl [Nate Irving, J.R. Sweezy]. That says a lot." — NC State football coach Dave Do- eren on how the Wolfpack's past helps in recruiting (TheWolfpacker.com) "That was the best I've seen Carlos throw all year. He was getting ahead with his fastball and worked in more changeups. That was as good as he's ever been and he couldn't get any run support." — NC State junior catcher Brett Austin on Carlos Rodon striking out 15 during a 1-0 loss to Georgia Tech April 25. He surpassed 400 career strikeouts, becoming the fourth ACC pitcher to do so. (The Raleigh News & Observer) "Home base of the North Carolina State Wolfpack is one of America's fastest growing cities of recent years, with an economic base led by banking and finance that's pushed income levels into the upper third of America's largest metro areas. Area public schools are generally strong, and crime is low." — Forbes on ranking the city of Raleigh No. 1 for "America's best cities for raising a family" (Forbes.com) Simonas Bilis, Men's Swimming The Lithuanian sophomore collected four All-America honors during the NCAA Championships March 27-29 in Austin, Texas, helping NCSU finish 13th — its best showing since coming in 11th in 1979. Bilis was an honorable men- tion All-American in a pair of individual sprints, the 50- and 100-yard freestyles. His freestyle prowess helped both the 800- and 400-freestyle relay teams capture first-team All- America notice. Bilis' leadoff split of 42.19 seconds in the 400 is an ACC record for the 100 and propelled the Pack to a third-place finish in the event. Riki Bonnema, Women's Swimming The NC State women's swimming team finished 16th at the NCAA Championships March 21-23 in Minneapolis — its best showing since the 1983 team came in 13th. A major reason for the success was All-America finishes by three relay squads, and the one constant on those relay teams was sophomore Riki Bonnema from Orlando, Fla. Bonnema helped the 200- and 400-freestyle relay teams earn honorable mention All-America honors, with the 200 foursome setting an ACC record for the event in the process. The 200-medley relay finished in eighth place overall to earn first-team All-America notice. Joelle Kissell, Women's Tennis The departing senior from Hostetter, Pa., finished her col - legiate career the most decorated women's tennis player in school history. She defeated No. 80 Illinca Stoica of Virginia Tech in straight sets in the first round of the ACC Tourna- ment April 23 in Cary, N.C., in her final match. That brought her school-record career total of singles wins to 62. She also won her doubles match, giving her 45 such victories for her career, which is fourth most at State. That same day, Kissell learned that she was selected All-ACC, becoming the first ever three-time honoree for NCSU. Peter Renda, Wrestling Renda is a reason why the future of the wrestling pro - gram is bright. The freshman from Topton, Pa., captured the title at 174 pounds at the FILA Junior Championships April 21 in Las Vegas. Renda outscored his five opponents 54-2 en route to the title, including a 13-2 triumph in the championship match. Renda was an NCAA Championships qualifier after going 27-11 in 2014, recording the third-most wins in school history for a freshman. He was also named to the 2014 All-ACC Academic Team. Trea Turner, Baseball The star junior from Lake Worth, Fla., had already estab - lished himself as the top base-stealer in NC State baseball history during his sophomore year when he flew past Tom Sergio's 15-year-old record of 73 career swipes. Through 42 games this season, Turner had added 15 more stolen bases to give him 102 for his career, becoming the first NCSU player and seventh in ACC history to reach the milestone of 100 stolen bases. Turner's 42 runs scored through April 29 also moved him into eighth place in career runs in school history, four behind Dallas Poulk. Brittni Watkins, Gymnastics The National Association of College Gymnastics Coaches selected the NC State sophomore to its regular- season second-team All-America squad in the all-around competition. Watkins, a native of Albany, N.Y., joins Taylor Seaman from 2010 as NCSU gymnasts receiving an All- America nod. Watkins also was named the East Atlantic Gymnastics League Gymnast of the Year. She finished with an all-around score of 39.000 or better in nine of 13 meets, with four wins. Her 25 overall first-place finishes this season was eight more than the rest of the team combined. ■ PACK PEOPLE "I think he's in a really good place mentally and spiritually now. It's his team and that's the way he wanted it." ■ NC State head coach Dave Doeren on redshirt junior quarterback Jacoby Brissett (TheWolfpacker.com) QUOTING THE PACK PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN 14,16,18,20,22,24.TTP.indd 18 4/29/14 3:45 PM

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