Wolfpack Weekly v26: Media Day

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In this edition:

• Devin Leary's Accolades
• More Awards
• NC State in the WWE
• Men's vs Women's Basketball
• Diamond's Time
• Alpha Wolf
• Baseball's new lights
• Tarheel True Colors

Football season is upon us but first we have to go through the awards silly season and our boys are racking them up.

Devin Leary has been named ACC Preseason PoY, added to the Maxwell Watch List and the Davey O'brien Watch List.

And boy did this all anger some media members and Wake Forest homers

I tried to help our friend out but you know the media and facts these days.

More Awards

It was more than just Devin Leary racking up pre-season hype. Dave Doeren, Drake Thomas, Chris Toudle, Grant Gibson, Coey Durden, Payton Wilson, Isaiah Moore and Tanner Ingle all got in on it.

Side note, the images from @PackFootball are fantastic.

My first thought with all of the awards and recognition goes back to when Dave was first hired in 2013. I remember him making a comment about the roster and how we had no players on any of the All-ACC awards list before the season started. We've come a long way with 5 (second most behind Clemson's 6) and you can argue for a few more (Isaiah Moore, Corey Durden etc).

The time is now.

NC State in the WWE

Safe to say Hank Walker is my new favorite WWE star.

Men's vs Women's Basketball

No secret that the two basketball programs couldn't be in more opposite positions and that can be clearly seen in the state of their basketball schedules.

The women take to the road to face UCONN, Iowa, and Georgia while adding Vandy and WVA at home. These girls will be tested by the time March comes around.

Meanwhile, the men have schedule the powerhouses of Austin Peay, Campbell, FIU, Elon, Bill & Mary, Coppin St and Furman.  Now we get Vandy and another potential p5 match-up in the Atlantis tourney but that home slate is not pretty.

Now I get it, Keatts' team was DFL last year and he's coaching for his job with a bunch of new guys he's got to break-in but I'm just glad it's not my job to sell season tickets. Woof!

Diamond's Time.

This women's team will go as far as Diamond Johnson takes them.  There is no doubt she can score at will but the question remains can she facilitate and lead this team. She's got to step into that floor general role replacing Raina Perez and Ace before her. Can she do it or will NC State need that leadership from somewhere else?

Alpha Wolf

There is no doubt that this is the biggest weekend of the off-season for Dave and his staff with the Alpha Wolf event.  This event brings in all the top recruits, commits and potential targets in the area.  It's the event Dave and Co need to leverage and gain some momentum on the recruiting trail.

That sounds odd to say given NC State has landed several 4-stars already in this class but they really need some success on the offensive side.  There was a lot of momentum with the local stars but that seems to have slowed a bit after Smothers picked Oklahoma, Leacock picked Tenn, the two OL picked ND and Noah Rogers committed to Ohio St.

Speaking of Noah Rogers, the Ohio St boards keep mentioning NC State as a team to watch with Noah despite his commitment to the Buckeyes.

"Florida is continuing to work hard to flip Dijon Johnson and there is some smoke around Noah Rogers too. Rogers is being pursued still by NC State and NC State QB commit Lex Thomas is Rogers' best friend and the two and some other NC State guys went to the beach recently with Rogers though it is not unusual for Rogers and Thomas to go to the beach. NC State and Rogers have been in communication though I don't see that one as far along as Johnson and Florida. Those are two to keep an eye on. The Ohio State staff is on top of things and of course is working everything they can on their side."

While this really isn't any new information, it's a glimpse of hope. If you can flip Rogers from Ohio St, that could bring the momentum back but in the end NC State needs to win and be exciting this season.

Speaking of being exciting, I do have one minor gripe with what Dave said at ACC Media Day and I fully understand that this is filed away under the 'over analyzing shit' column.

I don't have the context but this quote is bleh.  You've always got to be recruiting.  Kid's don't want to hear "we'll take what we can get" they want to hear "we're going to be aggressive and score a damn truckload of points."  It's silly but it all factors in.  I guarantee there is some coach in Rogers' ear saying "do you really want to play for that offense or come here where we are going to light it up?"

Always be crootin' Dave.

Baseball's New Lights!

Tarheel True Colors

UNC Coaches lose a kid to another school (Jarrett to UGA) and takes to Twitter to bash him but doesnt know the difference in a tweet and a DM apparently.