One Man’s Opinion — If I were a betting man, my money would be on Russell Wilson’s return to play football for the 2010 Wolfpack. Even though he’s playing baseball full-time this spring, this corner believes his professonal future’s upside is football…..He’s not a first-round baseball draft choice nominee. That’s not saying that he can’t play professional baseball someday. But even if he signs a pro baseball contract, it will take years of minor league training to have a legitimate shot at the majors. On the football side, he could get a lot more money from the get-go.

     As of this writing, the baseball Wolfpack is 6-1 in non-conference games and Wilson has batted only 6 times for one hit. On the mound he’s seen limited duty and has an earned run average of over 6…..None of the stats are worth much not until the weather warms up and conference games begin.

     Despite his absence from forthcoming spring football drills, Wilson should be fine come fall. And he’ll have a backup much better prepared to take his place in case of injury — Michael Glennon, who reminds Pack head coach Tom O’Brien of his pupil at Boston College — Matt Ryan.

     Glennon is a highly-rated passer also with a potential professional NFL future. But he’s a different kind of signal-caller — a drop-back passer who needs maximum protection from his offensive line. O’Brien’s offensive lineman he has recruited and honed will look much like the Boston College line that protected Ryan. That will also be a welcomed relief to Wilson, who has had to run for his life sometimes for two seasons.

     The Pack passing attack should be a dandy in 2010. It’s the running game which has lots of question marks.

     It’s high time that the baseball Wolfpack move into the national rankings permanently. Coach Elliot Avent’s long tenure in Raleigh has failed to produce a national presence which was predicted when he took the job. The Pack ought to go head-to-head with North Carolina on the baseball diamond.

Willie Young is a defensive lineman who attended N.C. State. He played many different spots on the defense, including tackle, end, and even some rush linebacker.

Young’s future in the NFL is mostly as a linebacker in the 3-4 defensive scheme—or maybe even a speed-rushing defensive end.

He has a great amount of athleticism and height, which make him a very versatile player.

Young has ideal arm length and hand quickness to get around blockers on the next level, and he also has a high ceiling for development.

His career at N.C. State was rather successful, as he totaled 195 tackles, 19 sacks, one forced fumble, three interceptions, and one defensive touchdown.

The consensus on Willie Young is that he will translate into an outside linebacker in a 3-4 defensive scheme, but he has little experience as a coverage defender.

He shows the ability to become a good coverage defender with his speed, agility, and balance.

Young was a top performer in the vertical jump at the NFL combine, where he is in a five-way tie for first with a height of 38 inches.

He lacks some natural strength, and he really needs to hit the weight room more to add some bulk. His lack of overall strength makes it difficult for him at times to hold up at the point of attack.

If he starts early on in his career, he would benefit best as a pure pass rusher in some pass-rush packages.

Another notch on Willie is that his natural instincts and reactions are not up to par for the NFL, along with his aggression.

He is ranked as the 14th-best defensive end in the draft, and his projected draft round is fourth—although he has topped as high as the third round.

Young shows he has the intelligence, effort, and raw physicality to be successful in the NFL.

He is the type of player who may take a year or two before he shows his worth. But overall, with some development, he could become a good contributor on a team’s defense.

Ted Larsen is an offensive lineman that attended NC State, where he played center after being converted from a defensive tackle. After his first year as the center he was added to the Rimington trophy watch list, the Rimington trophy is given to the top collegiate center.

Larsen is officially listed at 6′2″, 304 pounds, and the all important arm length at 32 inches. Many scouts have him listed as the fifth best center in the draft.

Like I mentioned above Larsen has only been playing center at the collegiate level for two years and he can improve but he has solid fundamentals and consistently stays low with his knees bent.

He also handles speed rushers with success and can redirect them very nicely, this makes him versatile and he can play both center and offensive guard.

Larsen recently participated in the NFL combine where his best performance was seventh in the 20-yard shuttle run, where he ran it in 4.66 seconds. He also did the 225 pound bench rep 26 times. His stock could see some potential rise on his pro day which will be on March 24th.

Many Scouts have Larsen going as early as the fourth round but the overall consensus is that he will be taken in the fifth round.

The need for centers in this years draft is very low which hurts his draft stock, but he is nicely built and is a hard-worker.

Larsen doesn’t stack up to the top center in this years draft class Maurkice Pouncey, but he has tons of potential and could help any team in need of some depth at the center position

It seems that our recent blog on the report from Bobby Purcell has reached other sites (forums)  like “Packpride.com” and “Statefansnation.com.”  That has caused a lot of debate and confusion from some folks who apparently can’t read and interpret sentences.

First and foremost, the renovation of the east side of Carter-Finley Stadium will be —  as we said, “cosmetic”. There will be no Vaughn Towers. As stated in our blog, the construction will duplicate the west side AT THE BASE of Vaughn Towers.  Ever notice the entrance to the West side and how it looks?  That’s what the east side will duplicate — the nice entrance gates, the statue of the Wolf, etc. And the new bathroooms will be an added amenity.

The multi-purpose Indoor Practice Facility is projected to cost $20 million.  It will be nice to see the plans and purpose of the facility. How the funds will be obtained is up to the Wolfpack Club and Bobby Purcell.  We do anticipate a major donation by a former player. An educated guess of somewhere in the $5 million dollar range.  I speculate the facility will be used by many of the Pack sports teams.

As for expansion of the stadium,  the design is anybody’s guess. Originally during the Chuck Amato era, another Vaughn Towers was projected on the East side of the stadium. However, with the economy so bad, I doubt that another Tower is feasible. Probably more end zone seats and a third deck on the east side would be more practical in the future.

The stadium has sold out nine consecutive seasons. When there are enough fans on the waiting list, expansion would then become a priority. I do believe the students and recent graduates need more seating and that should be a major consideration.  The question would then become, do recent alums and new patrons have to purchase lifetime rights for the new additions?

There seems to be a major complaint by some that before any of these amenities, the team should begin winning.

That’s a legitimate concern.  It’s my conviction that it’s only a matter of a short time before Tom O’Brien’s hard work begins paying huge dividends.

He inherited more of a mess than many anticipated.  If Philip Rivers had not almost singlehandedly carried the Wolfpack in Amato’s first few seasons, Amato would have been gone long before he was fired.

True, Amato recruited some excellent players, but he didn’t recruit a whole team each season. When O’Brien arrived there were no legitimate first-class offensive linemen. TOB had to take what was left, move people  around, and hopefully be competitive until he could recruit a base of players for the long haul.

TOB has built the program from the inside out. Consequently, he started recruiting linemen whom he redshirted, and it took two full years to get them on the field.  In addition, many players left because they couldn’t work under TOB’s strict rules and regulations policy and there was a big lack of depth.

Add the injury fiasco to the mix and it has been an uphill battle to year four.

Now, I say this: the worm should begin turning in 2010. The base has been built. Now, if the injury bug can be deleted and the defense can begin performing with the addition of assistant coach Jon Tenuta’s expertise and guidance, progress should be immediate.

It may take one more year to get everything in line. However, 2010 should produce a winning season and a bowl team.

TOB has recruited a potential NFL offensive line for future seasons.  Let’s hope the defensive side of the pigskin can look just as bright.

The Wolfpack has the potential to have the most prolific passing game in the Atlantic Coast Conference with receivers Owen Spencer, Jarvis Williams and tight end George Bryan. Can the running game be potent enough for the passing game to flourish?

Patience is a virtue and let’s hope that it finally pays dividends in 2010.  Let’s hope the new Chancellor brings a new culture to NC State athletics.

One Man’s Opinion — ACC basketball was the nation’s premier basketball conference from 1957 through the early years of 2000. However, the landscape of college basketball has changed so drastically, it is doubtful whether the conference will ever reach that pinnacle again.

Just think about it. The Pack’s Everett Case era started the band wagon in 1954.  Then Frank McGuire arrived at UNC and won the national championship with an unbeaten, 32-0, record in 1957.  That’s what propelled the ACC into its leadership role as Wake Forest and Duke then got into the mix.

Horace Albert “Bones” McKinney took Wake to the national level in the 1961-62 with All-Americans Lynn Chappell and Billy Packer.  Vic Bubas, a former player and assistant under Case, took the Duke job. His words: “I wanted to establish my own identity.”  And that he did, leading the Blue Devils to national promience and to three Final Fours in the decade behind a whole host of All-Americans (Art Heyman, Jeff Mullins, Bob Verga, etc.)

Dean Smith emerged when the recruit that turned his tide — Larry Miller — chose Carolina over Duke and the Tar Heels won three straight regular-season and ACC Tournament titles in 1967-69.  From that point, Smith won more games than anyone in the history of college basketball until Bobby Knight broke his record.  Smith, of course won two national championships.

NC State, under the leadership of Norm Sloan, won the 1970 ACC title after surprising the league in 1965.  Sloan then recruited a national powerhouse to contend with perennial national champion UCLA and did what no one else could do — beat the Bruins and destroyed their seven-year victory train in 1974 after a 27-0 run the previous year (on probation).  That two-year 57-1 mark will always be remembered in the David Thompson era. Thompson, of course, was the best player to ever don an ACC uniform.

And remember, Maryland, under Charles G. “Lefty” Driesell, produced nationally-ranked teams along the way.  His 1974 Maryland team could have won the national championship had they got by the Wolfpack in the ACC championship game which the Pack won 103-100 in two overtimes. Lefty kept the Terps among the nation’s elite until a scandal did him in when his All-America Len Bias died of an overdose of cocaine. The Terps didn’t emerge as a national player again until Gary Williams took over the Maryland reins.

Wolfpack athletic director Willis Casey, let his monetary conservative philosophy lead him to a fatal mistake when Sloan bolted to Florida for money money prior to the hiring of Iona’s up-and-coming Jimmy Valvano in 1980. Valvano then took Sloan’s recruits and won the national title in 1983 in the most Cinderella run in the history of the NCAA tournament. And he kept the Pack in the national picture and won another ACC title to boot.

Duke, meanwhile, made a comeback to national prominence under Bill Foster in the late 70s — a prelude to the arrival of Coach K.  Coach K,  a disciple of Bobby Knight at Army, almost got canned after three seasons but the learning curve finally registered as the Duke coach went on to win three national titles and became a Final Four fixture in the late 1980s and 1990s. Coach K is the best college mentor in America today and his coaching job this season has been one of his better performances. He now prepares to become the winningst collegiate coach ever in a couple of seasons.  In addition, Coach K and Dean Smith also led the USA to gold medals in international competition.

Wake Forest re- emerged as a national player under coaches Carl Tacy (gentleman Carl) and Dave Odom. The Deacons could have been king-pins in other leagues as could have other ACC teams like Virginia (Bill Gibson, Terry Holland). Virginia was a national player under Holland’s leadership and recruitment of national player of the year, Ralph Sampson. But Sampson never could get the Cavs to the national title, especially when Jimmy V’s express derailed Virginia in the 1983 ACC and NCAA tournaments.

After Smith retired and Carolina ran through two coaches, Roy Williams brought the
Tar Heels back to two national titles and their position among the nation’s elite.

Maryland went on to national rankings under Gary Williams and won a national title — something Lefty could not accomplish after stating early in his career that his program was going to become the UCLA of the East. And Wake
Forest made a lot of noise under the Late Skip Prosser.

When Jimmy V left the Wolfpack, the school never returned to become a national player under Les Robinson, Herb Sendek and now Sidney Lowe. That’s 20 years of being off the radar.

In the final analysis, the ACC , during its dominance,  had the very best coaches in the business and the national reputation of the best conference. The landscape changed with the opportunity for player movement to the NBA and with the nation producing many more quality players at the high school and AAU levels.  Also,  the quality of coaching improved immensely across the board.

The ACC no longer has the best array of coaches.  Of course, Coach K is at the top of the profession as is Roy Williams. But both gentlemen are coming to the end of their terms along with Maryland’s Williams. The future of those schools is up-in-the-air  and the other teams in the league do not have the quality of coaching the league used to offer.

Now, the ACC is probably the third or fourth best conference in America. The question:  will it ever move back into the dominating position  it once enjoyed?

Tom Gugliotta

The N.C. State Wolfpack have in-state rival Wake Forest coming to town—and the Demon Deacons are looking to add another victory to their resume.

Wake is coming off a tough loss against a very good Virginia Tech team, and they will be looking to vault back into the top of the ACC to gain a first-round bye in the ACC tournament.

N.C. State is also coming off a disappointing loss against another good ACC team in Maryland. The Wolfpack once again played a very good and efficient first half of basketball, but they failed to finish the game.

In the first game of this series, the Wolfpack failed to shoot the ball effectually—not only from the field, but also from the free-throw line. The Wolfpack as a team shoot 33.9 percent from the field and 57 percent from the free-throw line.

Tracy Smith was in foul trouble the majority of the game until he fouled out—and once he did, the Demon Deacons pulled away. It is going to be very important that he stays out of foul trouble and attacks the basket and scores.

I know that I might sound like a broken record, but somebody is going to have to step up and score on a consistent basis. I would really like to see Scott Wood get hot again and score similar to how he did at Florida State.

Although it was nice to see Dennis Horner get more involved, it was a little disheartening to see Smith get complacent against Maryland.

Obviously, Wake Forest is a team with a lot of height, and it is going to be difficult to defend them unless players like Jordan Vandenburg and DeShawn Painter see more playing time on Saturday.

Sticking with the topic of Wake’s big men, limiting Al-Faroug Aminu’s touches will be vital in pulling off this upset. Unfortunately, Wake isn’t as one-dimensional as N.C. State is, and Wake’s point guard Ishmael Smith is another weapon in its arsenal.

“Ish,” as he is commonly referred to by Wake Forest fans, is arguably the fastest player in the ACC. He can not only slash his way to the basket, but he can also on occasion step back and make some threes.

With saying all of this, Wake is not an invincible team and could be beaten for the upset. The Wolfpack did only lose by eight the first time around, and they played very poorly.

This will be another interesting ACC game. Despite N.C. State being in the cellar of the ACC, it is a talented team—and any team the Wolfpack plays should be on full upset alert.