The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/916614
JANUARY 2018 ■ 13 TRACKING THE PACK ough, N.C., had decommitted from UNC the day before Thanksgiving. He noted afterward that he didn't feel he "fit in" at Chapel Hill. "The home feeling NC State gave me and the way that I fit in with everybody, including the students and the fans, is what tipped the scales in favor of NC State," Wilson told Rivals.com. "I feel like the atmosphere compares to some of the best out there. "Coach [Dave] Huxtable and Coach [Dave] Doeren are really great people. They are more than coaches to me. All the other coaches are great people, and they have the best interests at heart for me, but I felt like I connected the best with Coach Hux and Coach Doeren." Wilson's senior season was cut short by a torn ACL after eight games. He accumulated 103 stops, 21 tackles for loss and 10 sacks. He also intercepted a pass, broke up two more and recovered a fumble. Rivals.com ranks Wilson as a four-star talent, the No. 8 senior in the state, and the No. 11 outside linebacker and No. 149 overall prospect nationally. He was invited to play in the Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas All-Star Game Dec. 16 in Spartanburg, S.C., and the U.S. Army All- American Bowl, but could not participate due to his injury. He will enroll early at NC State. Like Wilson, three-star defensive back Tanner Ingle was committed elsewhere before switching to the Wolfpack. The one-time Tennes- see pledge opened up his recruitment after the coaching change in Knoxville. The 5-10, 180-pounder helped Dr. Phillips High in Orlando, Fla., win the 8-A (largest classification) state title and finish the year 13-2. Ingle had 101 tackles, a sack, five passes broken up and a fumble recovery as a senior. Rivals.com ranks him as a three-star recruit and the No. 47 athlete in the country. The Orlando Sentinel listed Ingle as the No. 31 prospect in the Sunshine State. At the Nike Combine in Orlando in February, Ingle was laser-timed at 4.50 seconds in the 40, which tied for the eighth-fastest recorded time. He also had a 4.15-second shuttle time and 35.0-inch vertical leap. NC State did lose a pair of verbal commitments. Three-star offen- sive tackle Devin Hayes from Orlando (Fla.) Jones High switched to Florida Atlantic, and three-star tight end Daevon Robinson from Shawnee High in Medford, N.J., took official visits to Baylor (Dec. 8) and Rutgers (Dec. 15) after decommitting from NC State. NC State had 21 players in the class as of Dec. 15. Fall Sports Start Strong The Learfield Directors' Cup, which measures campus-wide success in athletics at each school, updated its standings Dec. 14 to include the first six sports to complete the season. NC State fielded teams in four of the six (the Pack does not have a women's field hockey or men's water polo squad) and scored in all four. The women's cross country team led the way with its eighth-place finish at the NCAA Championships. The men's cross country squad finished 17th at the national meet, so the two combined to bring in 127.5 points. The women's soccer team's run to the second round of the NCAA Tournament and the men's soccer squad's at-large NCAA bid added an additional 75 points. Overall, NC State stands in 11th place nationally and fourth highest among ACC teams. The Pack will receive additional points from the football team's bowl game and volleyball reaching the second round of the NCAA Tournament. All six of NC State's fall sports reached postseason play. Nationally, Stanford was the only other school to achieve that feat. A year ago at this time when the first six sports were scored, NC State was ranked higher (eighth) but had less points (196.0) than this year's 202.5. The final fall standings release, which will include football and volleyball, comes after the College Football Playoff title game Jan. 8. NCSU is guaranteed a minimum of 75 more points between volleyball and football, bringing its total to at least 277.5. A win in the Sun Bowl over Arizona State would net an additional minimum of 20 points, and a top-25 finish would add more, depending on how high they are listed in the final rankings. NC State stood 12th in those standings a year ago with 241.0 points.