The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/672211
18 ■ THE WOLFPACKER TRACKING THE PACK "He [NC State quarterback Jacoby Brissett] has a chance to be a starter. I think he's better than Teddy Bridgewater [of the Minnesota Vikings]. He's bigger, got a better arm and better pocket presence, and is a great kid. People will want to work with him. He's got this huge lower body. Guys just have a hard time bringing him down. He's not a speed guy, but he's not a slug." — Anonymous NFL scout to writer Bob McGinn on the pro prospects of NCSU quarterback Jacoby Brissett (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) "I felt really good about what we got done. We even stopped after one of our practices and started over reinstalling again because we just felt we need to get the base in and be very good at it. It's going to be very simple for us. Once you get the base in, our offense can expand in a lot of different ways. And that's going to be a matter of what you do that week in the game plan." — New NC State offensive coordinator Eli Drinkwitz after the Kay Yow Spring on April 9 (The Associated Press) "I want to be a family man. I want to be able to take my son to the park on the weekends and be able to play basketball or football with him." — NC State redshirt junior middle linebacker M.J. Salahuddin of Fayetteville, N.C., on accepting a medical scholarship after suffering his second serious knee injury in three years (Technician) "It's great to come back to Raleigh. I love the community, love the area, love the school. And it's great to be able to spend some time with Jim [Ritcher], who was one of my idols when I played here." — Arizona Cardinals general manager and former NCSU guard Steve Keim on being back at his alma mater for NFL Draft workouts. Former NC State legend Jim Ritcher was also in attendance (The Raleigh News & Observer) "[Anthony] Barber was the engine of the NC State offense, having the ball in his hands a majority of the time and always looking to create shots. Most of his offensive possessions ended with him creating offense for himself off the dribble, with almost 75 percent of his shots coming from isolation, pick-and-roll or transition opportunities as logged by Synergy Sports Technology." — NBA Draft writer Josh Riddell on NC State point guard Anthony Barber's pro potential (DraftExpress.com) "That was something that the older guys talked about before the season started. We wanted to get off to a good start and play for a good seed in the NCAA Tournament. We didn't want to have to scrape into the ACC Tournament and hope we got into the NCAAs." — NC State junior catcher Andrew Knizner on the Wolfpack starting strong on the baseball diamond (The Raleigh News & Observer) "The chemistry and the lead- ership on our team right now is as good as it's been since I've been here. We had a great meeting with the guys about that and what we need to do to continue making the right steps moving forward at the end of the summer." ■ NC State football coach Dave Doeren on the outlook going into the summer (TheWolfpacker.com) PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN QUOTING THE PACK Meredith Burroughs, Softball Building off her freshman campaign during which she hit nine homers and drove in 33 runs, Burroughs has established herself as one of the best sluggers in the ACC. Through 50 games, the sophomore from Pikeville, N.C., was hitting .304 at the plate with 12 homers — second most on the team and tied for fifth in the league — and 35 runs batted in. Her power is not a surprise. She set a state record while at C.B. Aycock High for home runs in one season with 19 and batted better than .500 her last three seasons there. David Cooke, Men's Golf The Bolingbrook, Ill., senior blistered his home course — NC State's Lon- nie Poole Golf Course on Centennial Campus — en route to a career-best and course-record 15-under-par three-round score to win the Wolfpack Spring Inter- collegiate April 16-17. Cooke's third career tourna- ment triumph also helped State win the event by eight strokes over South Florida in the 17-team field. His win was the 89th time in school history a Wolfpack golfer claimed top honors at an event, and the team victory was the 53rd all time for the program. Quashawn Cunningham, Men's Track & Field In his sophomore season, the Charlotte native is emerging as one of the top sprinters in the ACC. At the Virginia Challenge April 22 in Charlottesville, Va., he ran the 100-meter dash in a wind-legal 10.33 seconds, which was the second fastest in the ACC and 21st best nationally at the time. He also ran anchor on the meet-winning 4x100-meter relay team that won in 39.42 seconds, also second fastest in the conference and 10th quick- est in the country. His time of 20.72 seconds in the 200-meter dash was 25th best nationally. Will Gilbert, Baseball In his final season for NC State, Gilbert — a senior lefty from nearby Green Hope High in Morrisville, N.C. — is giving head coach Elliott Avent a reliable multi-inning closer out of the bullpen. Through April 15, when he was pulled in the ninth with an apparent minor arm injury, Gil- bert had pitched in 17 games, still most on the squad through April 24. His 35 innings pitched were third behind only two regular starters, and Gilbert had four saves, second most behind sophomore righty Tommy DeJuneas. Gilbert has struck out 45 batters while allowing only 32 hits, including just one homer. Alexis Perry, Women's Track & Field At the same Virginia Challenge where Cunningham was posting blazing times, Perry set a new school record while winning the long jump with a leap of 21-6.75, which was also the longest leap in the country at the time. Perry addition- ally raced the 100-meter hurdles in 13.15 seconds, which was the 14th best time nationally. The senior from Durham, N.C., was a second-team All-American in both events as a junior, with the long jump honor coming during indoor season and the hurdles distinc- tion during outdoor season. Brittni Watkins, Gymnastics The senior from Albany, N.Y., was one of three gym- nasts invited to the NCAA Regionals April 2 in Athens, Ga., and she performed her best meet of the season with an all-around score of 39.175 — which tied her for seventh and was just 0.10 off advancing to nationals. She concluded her final season with first-team All-East Atlantic Gymnastics League honors in the vault, bars, floor and all-around for the third straight year. ■ PACK PERFORMERS