The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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an All-American already as a freshman. This is going to be fun for people that care about wrestling, and I'm one of those people. "He's the real deal. He's the right person for NC State, and we're thrilled that he's here. "With softball, we are in the middle of a search right now. The kind of interest that we've had is gratifying. I wish Lisa Navas nothing but the best. We just can't have any sport that's fully funded miss going to the NCAA Tournament five consecutive years and be taken seriously. "There's a fairness issue as well. One of my administrators said, 'Are the rules go- ing to be different for women's coaches and men's coaches?' I said, 'Never has been with me and never will be.' Everybody is basically going to be treated fairly. "We should have a new coach hired some- idea come about? "I didn't realize we didn't have a North where around the 10th to the 14th of July." How did the NC State Sports Hall of Fame Carolina State athletics Hall of Fame. After about three months into the job, I knew at some point we would want to begin one. It was not part of our core focus, so it took some time to write the bylaws, select the committee and for them to meet. "I think they did their due diligence and the best they could. I appointed Chris Kings- ton chair. I wasn't there for the deliberations. I came only to thank the group for their ser- vice, and I encouraged them to do the best they could and quit worrying about whether or not they would be able to satisfy everyone. "On October 5, that evening at Reynolds Coliseum, we will have our first induction ceremony. It's going to be a magnificent night. We are expecting about 1,000 people. It should be a fun event. This is not a dinner where you sit for four hours. "We'll have a heavy hors d'oeuvres recep- tion. It's black-tie optional. In one area of the building there'll be a lot of movement from table-to-table and food station-to-food sta- tion, and meeting the inductees and getting autographs. "Then we'll move to another place to sit down for the induction ceremony, and when the induction ceremony is over we'll move to another place for the dessert reception where there will be a lot more mingling. "I've done this too many times myself where you sit down and you never move again for four hours. This will be designed to be interactive and engaging. Hopefully, at the end of the night people will feel like they hardly got started with the evening." of Fame? "We'll build something called the Walk Is the plan to build an actual, physical Hall 24 ■ THE WOLFPACKER NC State Academic Achievements In 2011-12 • A record 86 student-athletes gradu- ated in May • A record nine student-athletes were named Academic All-Americans, and NC State was the only Division I program with two women's basketball academic All-Americans in 2011-12. • A record 381 student-athletes were Dean's List honorees. • A record 69 student-athletes were named to an ACC All-Academic team. • Three student-athletes (gymnast Jess named scholar-athletes on campus (3.0 grade-point average or higher) in 2011-12. • A record 186 student-athletes were Panza, men's tennis player Akash Gujarati and women's soccer player Latanya Cain) received ACC postgraduate scholarships, and baseball pitcher Vance Williams was an ACC postgraduate honorary award winner. NC State has had more honorees than any other conference school in the history of the ACC postgraduate program. to receive an ACC postgraduate scholarship this year. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE MEDIA RELATIONS Gymnast Jess Panza was one of three NC State athletes of Fame and History in the front part of Reynolds Coliseum. The Reynolds renova- tions project is part of our vision whenever the university starts a new capital campaign. That will be one of our major projects, to renovate Reynolds and move a number of the offices that are in there and create a massive open space in the front third of the building. "The seating now is 8,000. This would move the seating to about 6,000. It would push the floor all the way to the south end of the building, which will create an incred- ibly intimate environment and home court advantage for our four teams that continue to compete in that building. "It will be a big project. There will be air conditioning and elevators as well." Any other facility upgrades? "An indoor practice facility for football and other teams is a must for us, and that'll be a part of the capital campaign. It's already been approved as a project by the campus, and we envision it being located by one of the football practice fields." What about the golf clubhouse? "I think they are breaking ground in Sep- tember. It looks magnificent. Originally we were not included in that particular building. The team space was going to be a side build- ing, and I asked that our teams be included in what I called the 'big boy building' because it's so lovely. "They did, and we have about 5,000 square feet in there for men's and women's golf. It will be just an incredible recruiting environment for them." Tell us about the 'This is our State' theme, the billboards that were developed and how it's been received? "It's just been fun for us, that's all. We have the sister billboards that contain 'Grad- uation … It's a State kind of thing' or 'Com- munity service … It's a State kind of thing.' It's really a message to the public that this is who we are. "It works in this local geographic region because when we say 'State,' we mean NC State. We wouldn't be doing this campaign in Illinois. We would be saying NC State to be clear." Any final thoughts? "I do want to say that I really appreci- ate the leadership of Dr. Woodson and his willingness to let me run with the program and do some things that I think we have to do to develop a culture in the department — Wolfpack Unlimited: Refuse to accept the status quo. "It's more than words to me, that's why I have it on my office wall. I look at it every single day. I believe in it, and that's why I said it on the day of the press conference. "We're a work in progress. Our fans are so much a part of that. I am bolstered by their encouragement and their passion. That's why when anyone says to me, 'Don't you get tired of how passionate they are?' I say, 'No, the alternative would be that they didn't care. Would we really want that? I don't think so.' "I love that they're passionate, and they have a right to expect us to do great things. That's the only reason that we should be here. We should be pushing the envelope and doing better and better for NC State. "We need to give our fans reasons to be proud of NC State." ■