The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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26 ■ THE WOLFPACKER TRACKING THE PACK "We've had so many great catchers here, but as a true freshman catcher, he's been sensational." ■ NC State baseball coach Elliott Avent on freshman catcher Patrick Bailey (TheWolfpacker.com) "NC State has a reputation because of our coaching staff that we develop play- ers and we treat players right. We don't over-recruit in the age of over-recruiting and signing everybody. "All kids want to be developed, they want to play at the next level, they want to play in a program that isn't just going to just roll them out there." — Avent on building his program (The Greensboro News & Record) "First day in the locker room, everybody just clicked. Everybody just came along, and we had a good time in the fall. It just carried on this way. I knew we had a good shot. We have a lot of great players on the team." — Junior college transfer Evan Edwards on adjusting to NC State baseball and the team's 31-11 start this year (The Greensboro News & Record) "We just felt that where we were and with Bradley staring at us, we couldn't pass him up. As I said, he can rush the pass as well as what he can do defensively. He's a great fit, he's a hard worker and he plays 120 percent all the time. He's a great addition to the Broncos." — Denver Broncos president of football operations/general manager John Elway on drafting NC State defensive end Bradley Chubb with the No. 5 overall pick (ESPN.com) "I loved him all year. I had him highly rated from the get-go. When Dave Doeren came on with us on the radio, he said, 'He sprints on the practice field every day. He's a tone-setter for our defense.' He tested great, everybody said he's got to run under 4.65, he did. So he fits everybody, every scheme that you want he would fit." — ESPN NFL Draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. on Chubb (TheWolfpacker.com) "I would say running back and tight end, if you look at our offensive unit, they're the most wide open because of what we lost at running back with Nyheim [Hines] obvi- ously not coming back, then losing Cole Cook and Jaylen Samuels [at tight end]. "Those are three guys that played a lot of snaps that we need to replace, and there are a lot of bodies there. It's just too early to say. There is good competition, and we're go- ing to let that play out for a while." — NCSU football coach Dave Doeren on offseason priorities (TheWolfpacker.com) "To see it [Greensboro] like this, to see the damage it's caused — people can't really move out of their houses. If they want to drive, they can't really drive. It's a crazy feel- ing to actually see it and be here in the midst of it." — Former NC State shooting guard and Greensboro, N.C., native Sam Hunt on helping his community following a tornado April 15 (wfmynews2.com) "The future is bright. I think the mentality and the attitude of the kids we have in our room, the new guys coming in and kids that are going to be coming in are moving the program in the right direction. "The culture's starting to get created, and the expectations are out there of competing to win a national title. We preach it, we talk about it, we live the lifestyle for it — now we've got to go out and execute and do it. We've got guys now that are willing and able to do it." — NC State wrestling coach Pat Popolizio on the future of his program after claiming its first NCAA team trophy with a fourth-place finish (TheWolfpacker.com) PHOTO BY LARRY BLANKENSHIP QUOTING THE PACK Cravont Charleston, Track And Field At the Mt. SAC Relays April 21 in Walnut, Calif., Charles- ton finished 10th in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.22 seconds — fourth fastest among collegians com- peting at the event and a personal best that tied for the fifth-best wind- legal time in the country through May 1 (tied for 13th fastest when including wind-aided times). That was also the third-fastest time in school history behind Alvis Whitted's 10.02 seconds in 1996 and Harvey McSwain's 10.18 sec - onds in 1985. Gabriele Cunningham, Track And Field The junior from Charlotte is becoming one of the nation's premier sprint hurdlers. On April 28, she won the 100-meter hurdles at the prestigious Penn Relays in Philadel- phia with a time of 13.20 seconds — third fastest in school history and tied for the 10th-fastest wind-legal time in the country at the time. Cunningham also finished fourth in the 100-meter dash finals, held shortly after the 100 hurdles, in a time of 11.45 seconds. During the indoor season, she set school records in the 60-meter dash and 60-meter hurdles. Kim Landrus, Gymnastics The first-year head coach guided NC State to its first East Atlantic Gymnastics League title since 2013 and finished the year ranked as the nation's No. 20 squad. Seven dif - ferent Wolfpack gymnasts combined to win 17 All-EAGL honors — the most since 2012 — and the school hosted an NCAA Regional, placing third with a school-record regional score (196.050). For her efforts, Landrus was named the South - east Region Coach of the Year by the National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches/Women. Will Wilson, Baseball Through April 30, Wilson was hitting .307 with 12 hom- ers and 36 runs batted in. He was tied for the team lead in runs scored (39), was second in both homers and slug- ging percentage (.596), and was tied for second in RBI. The two-time ACC Player of the Week and native of Kings Mountain, N.C., has been nominated to the Brooks Wallace Award List, which is given by the College Baseball Foundation for the nation's top shortstop. Tariq Wilson, Wrestling The native of Steubenville, Ohio, was the national break- out star in his return home for the NCAA Championships, held in Cleve- land March 15-17. Entering unseeded, the redshirt freshman 133-pounder dominated his first three opponents — two of whom were seeded among the top five — before giving the even- tual national champion his best match in an overtime loss during the semifinals. In the consola- tion bracket, he posted two more bonus-point victories to place third nationally. In his six NCAA matches, he tallied 24 takedowns while giving up just two. ■ PACK PERFORMERS