The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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TRACKING THE PACK QUOTING THE PACK "It's frustrating because I think this team is close. We're close, but until we learn, we'll be sitting here doing the same thing every game." ■ NC State men's basketball Mark Gottfried following the frustrating 76-72 loss at Stanford Dec. 4 (Raleigh News & Observer) "It is important that we establish some continuity in terms of going to bowls and winning bowls. I'm very pleased that we rebounded the second half of the season, and the way that we did it in winning five of our last seven, especially after the inju- ries early on. That said, if you ask Coach [Tom] O'Brien, if you ask me ... we'd both say that this is not the end-all. We want to become a championship football program. We have the pieces in place here — the facilities, the fan support, the support of the school, the budget. It's all there. And that's where we want to go." — NC State athletics director Debbie Yow on this year's football season (Raleigh News & Observer) "Track this past offseason helped im- prove my speed and quickness. Track is always something I have enjoyed, but I know that part of my life is over now and I "The big recruiting story in the ACC, and one of the biggest nationally, is the suc- cessful efforts of first-year North Carolina Rivals.com rates Walls as a three-star prospect. Cincinnati, Duke, Northwestern, Pittsburgh and Syracuse were among Walls' other of- fers. He was recruited to NC State by tight ends coach Don Horton. State went back to Fork Union to land another offensive lineman, this time going to the post-grad team to secure Quincy McKinney, a 6-4, 300-pound native of Columbus, Ga. McKinney signed with South Carolina last February out of Carver High School, but he enrolled at Fork Union to improve his transcripts. McKinney decommitted from South Carolina in October, took an official visit to NC State Nov. 19 and committed three days later. "Me and my mom were talk- ing, and I was just talking how much I enjoyed it. I kept bring- ing up my enjoyment at NC State and how I believe I could succeed there as a football player and a person," McKinney said. "It just feels right, and that's why I did it right now." McKinney had lined up trips in December for Mississippi State and Rutgers, which also offered after he opened up his recruit- ment. Willis and offensive line coach Jim Bridge were respon- sible for recruiting McKinney, who is rated by Rivals.com as a three-star prospect and the No. 9 prep school recruit in the country. He started at Fork Union at right tackle, but will likely play Deylan Buntyn* Marchez Coates Niles Clark Terry Davis Eddie Gordon Xavier Griffin David Grinnage Charlie Hegedus K'Hadree Hooker Jarnor Jones Tyler Knox Quincy McKinney^ M.J. Salahuddin Josh Sessoms Manny Stocker James Summers Shadrach Thornton John Tu'uta^ Lakeith Walls Joe Wright Pos. DT CB CB OL OL WR TE WR DT S DE OL LB S QB ATH RB OL ATH DE want to focus in the spring on training for a shot in the NFL." — NC State senior wide receiver T.J. Graham on his future plans (GoPack.com) "NC State will face Louisville in the Belk Bowl, but the question now is which NC State team will show up? The one that knocked off Clemson and rallied against Maryland? Or the one that was embar- rassed on national TV by Cincinnati and flopped against Boston College? NC State has worked too hard to get to this bowl game. It shouldn't let another opportu- nity slip by." — ACC blogger Heather Dinich on NC State's 2011 football season (ESPN.com) State coach Mark Gottfried and his staff. Both five-star prospects entering the ACC will be wearing NC State jerseys. With four-star point guard Tyler Lewis joining five-star prospects Rodney Purvis and T.J. Warren in the class, North Carolina State has the top recruiting class in the ACC and the No. 4 ranked class nationally." — Re- cruiting analyst Jerry Meyer on NC State for the ACC basketball recruiting roundup (Rivals.com) "I want to win. Since I've been at NC State, I've been to the NIT and watched my team play in the NCAA Tournament, but I haven't played. I'm looking forward to winning, and I'm doing whatever I can to contribute to my team." — NC State fifth- year senior women's basketball player Tia Bell, who is coming back from knee surgery (GoPack.com) guard at NC State. He is hoping to enroll in January. NC State's 20th commitment was safety Jarnor Jones, a 6-4, 190-pound two-sport star at Martin Luther King High in Lithonia, Ga. Jones, who had previously committed to Middle Tennessee State over the summer, officially visited NCSU Nov. 18 and then announced his commitment on Thanksgiving. Maryland and West Virginia had also offered the fast-rising pros- ■ 2012 Football Recruiting Commitments Name Ht. 6-4 5-11 5-10 6-4 6-2 6-2 6-5 6-2 6-2 6-4 6-4 6-4 6-2 6-3 6-3 6-2 6-1 6-3 6-3 6-6 Wt. 330 175 175 290 320 180 240 195 290 190 225 300 195 185 200 195 205 310 185 230 Hometown Havelock, N.C. Pomfret, Md. Marietta, Ga. Cincinnati Boiling Springs, S.C. Newark, Del. Newark, Del. Marietta, Ga. Deep Run, N.C. Lithonia, Ga. Myrtle Beach, S.C. Columbus, Ga. Fayetteville, N.C. Bailey, N.C. Coatesville, Pa. Greensboro, N.C. Hinesville, Ga. Fredericksburg, Va. Cleveland Greenville, N.C. * Plays at New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell, N.M.; ^ Plays at Fork Union (Va.) Military Academy pect, who switched his focus from basketball to football this year. "I wanted to commit when I was on my official visit," Jones admitted. "When I got up there, I had a great feeling. It felt like home, like I was 30 minutes from Georgia. It didn't even feel like I was in North Carolina. "The coaching staff treated me good. The players and the com- munity treated me like I was a commit already." The 6-4, 190-pound Jones hopes to play both hoops and football at NC State. He had 49 tackles, 33 solo hits, an in- terception, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery this year for King, leading them to the quar- terfinals of the Class AAAAA state playoffs. Rivals.com rates Jones as a three-star prospect. He reportedly runs the 40-yard dash in 4.49 sec- onds and has a 38-inch vertical leap. JANUARY 2012 ■ 13 PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN