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Hello and welcome to WKNC official sports podcast in the den. Today, we'll be going over some of the top NFL draft prospects that NC State has. We'll be going over Boo Corrigan press conference and what that could mean for NC State's future. And we'll be celebrating the soon to be 21st anniversary of NC State's mini March Madness run in 2005
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so get your headphones on and get seated. Let's get straight to it. Well, I mean, wow. I say, let's get into it. I mean, let's get into NC State's women's soccer. Who last night as of time recording, played James Madison University. Um, despite having more opportunities to score, where it was six shot on goal for NC State, compared to five by James Madison, and about 10% more of the shots were shots on goals for NC State, in which it even includes, like corner shots, really, when I'm talking about opportunities, because NC State had five corner shots compared to James Madison's three,
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they were blown out three nothing. NC State was
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goalie Olivia Pratapas only saved two shots, and both of those were within the first 10 minutes of play, while James Madison saved six total shots
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and some of the scoring, there was one within that first 10 minutes, like after that first goal, practice, did not save a single other shot, which include a tragic own goal within 26 minutes, and then late in the game as well, just like within 75 minutes, just to secure the game, substitute Tierra Garniss attempted the most shots, while starter Jade Bordeleaux leads the team with two shots on goal. However, she does have three fouls, which makes up roughly
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a little more than half of the team's total fouls. Defenders, mana nataka and Mackenzie Smith both earned blocks, and Smith even had two shots as a defensive player, which is pretty impressive, especially since defenders don't really score as much.
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But ultimately, this was a
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really tough loss. I felt really preventable. There are plenty of opportunities to score, as I mentioned before, but you know, that's the thing with soccer. I feel like a lot of it is luck too. I mean, of course there's skill and getting it into the right area of the square, but sometimes the kicks just don't go in right. And that was what was happening today. The offense just kind of
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stagnated for a lot of the game, while James Madison is a moderately successful program, this lost really shouldn't have happened, and overall, it's a debut that leaves a lot to be desired, from Coach Gary Higgins, especially from defensive captains, Olivia Pretti pass and Brooklyn Holt and a Kuna, some of the newcomers, I mean, Mackenzie Smith, I think, played well. Some of the freshmen, like Daisy Duda, didn't really do too much.
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It's just, ultimately, there's
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just, there's a lot that needs to be done before we head into conference schedule. Do sort of roughing up around the edges
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offensively. I hope to see more shots go in for both low and garnis, but the spot for kind of being the offensive weapon of the team is wide open, especially since we haven't really seen any
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exhibition or scrimmage games, so we don't really know what we're getting out of this team, but we're hoping to
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this Sunday, no play against ECU at Greenville. It's Gary Higgins, this old team. Last time they played, which was last season, NC State lost 01 but they are four wins, three losses and two ties against them all the time, but the last one being in 2019,
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ECU played last night as well. They're blown out against celebrity three and one to those goals coming against them the first half hour, one of them actually within the first minute,
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and their only goal being with made within the last 10 minutes of the game off of a penalty for Isabella Gutierrez. Both teams are dealing with growing pains and adjustments. This is for ECUs first season without Gary Higgins, not a program history, but just in general, feel like losing a really good coach as a small program can really hurt and can really create an adjustment period, especially if the guy is.
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Up next isn't particularly great, either, not shame the ECU, head coach, I don't know enough about them, but that's kind of what we see with history. You know, trying to think of a example off the top of my head, I'm sure one will come to me
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eventually, I guess.
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I guess. I mean, just kind of a stretch example. Just look at the success of Oklahoma before Lincoln Riley left, and then after, if that makes sense. I mean, ECUs, USC is bigger than Oklahoma, so I think that tracks. I'm getting off topic here, but
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yeah, both teams are adjusting - NC State! They're trying to return to dominance after a really abysmal season and being ranked in early polls as being the second worst in the conference behind I think it was either Boston College or Syracuse, which is not great, um, being the second worse. But I think this game will be important to see what bright spot, what bright spots there are for each team heading into conference schedules.
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Hope that
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we'll be able to find those that star power, that we need offensively,
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and they just have to stay aggressive. They have to create those opportunities and take them as much as they can. That 46%
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shot on goal rate, I think, is good enough, as long as they take more opportunities to have
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kick to take shots, they have to be more aggressive offensively and capitalize off of the mistakes that we saw ECU have against Liberty in last night's game.
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And since ECU hasn't really shown much life and just one game granted this season,
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we're hoping that the defense just has to stay consistent. We just kind of have to see a little bit more from practice. We have to see a little bit more from Holt. If nataka and Smith can, you know, produce blocks like they did in the last night's game, they could win, and I think they will win. I won't be there for that one. Wasn't there for yesterday's either. But
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I think I'm gonna try to be there for the conference schedule home opener, which would be a little later
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next month, like, well, like mid next month. I don't know what that game is off the top my head, but I do plan on being there for that. I
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think that just about wraps up the
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early part the women's soccer preview now be going over some of the top NFL drafts prospects that NC State has on their roster. This is my first real attempt at trying to scout players. So
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again, try my best to portray kind of what I see and what the consensus is with these players I'm about to list, but I have three athletes who are currently playing with NC State who could have a shot getting drafted this year, or I guess one of them would be next year. So alright, so we're going to start with probably the most obvious player who could get drafted on this roster
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with Casey Concepcion. We even there is a lot of opportunities for some of the more athletic players with high potential to show up. And one of them is tight end Justin Joly.
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He's listed at six three, 235, pounds, which is a little bit smaller than the average NFL tight end.
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He averaged 15.4
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yards perception last year for a total of 661 yards and four touchdowns.
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A lot of draft boards kind of have them ranked between like the fifth and 14th best tight end, so we really don't know what we're getting out of him, walking wise, some noble things to mention. When he won holding penalty within the last season and he walks well against slightly bigger athletes, I remember looking at
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UNC footage, and he was able to block well against
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some of the bigger linebackers that they have on that roster,
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and with his
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his reception performances, he is trusted a little bit in the deeper and mid level route routes where he can get some.
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Separation. He can be seen left open and shower routes. I think that's just that could just be the way that the offense is schemed, where a lot of throws are kind of more further down. I don't think NC stay through a lot of short routes last season,
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but he can get shaken a bit um,
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when getting blocked on his route running. But he can't get big bursts as well
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catching the ball, or, you know, early in his route running, special, especially when he gets the ball. Because if he can get the ball, he can get a lot of Yak, you know, yards after catch, um, yards thinking, um, Stanford, he's this one catch, I think the second period where there was like, there's sort of like four defenders within a couple yards around him, but he was able to catch it about 10 yards Steve, and he got good like five extra yards off of that, um,
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his success in the NFL, um,
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I guess, let's go, I guess, into some of his other big performances. Um, ECU, that was another big one where he scored a touchdown being double covered maintain enough separation to gain 838, yards in that drive. So, I mean,
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maybe it is not too much. It wasn't really a crazy passing game for NC State. They definitely relied on Hollywood smothers and CJ Bailey's legs in that game, but there was a bright spot in the passing game at that point where they were able to
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get big passing yards on Justin
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Joly. I don't know why I spaced out there. Had a little brain fart, but um,
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in the NFL, he would probably succeed as a special teams to back up tight end for run heavy offense, think, Philadelphia, Green Bay. I mean, those are teams that could could draft tight ends, and if they don't get one early on, just enjoys a great consolation prize. His biggest question is route running, creating consistent separation. While you can't get it, there's a lot of times where he can be covered and the
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defenses can just make plays on him, like UNC. He didn't have a great game on in the air, where there was some,
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a couple of blocked passes on him, and then one, I
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think there was one interception that was given up that when it was targeted to him. I may be thinking of another receiver, but defensively, the cornerbacks and safety were able to take care of business against him, even when they're not really, hate to be blunt, but NFL caliber corners safeties,
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he needs to justify being a having a bigger role as the receiving tight end due to a smaller size, while He can block pretty well against people bigger than him, that's college. I don't know how it's going to work out for him in the NFL at that level,
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and I think he can probably, he can produce and he can handle himself well, but that's kind of what's holding him for being a dominant tight end is that size and just he's doing a lot, but is it enough? Essentially,
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um, a strong reception season, NC State would probably get rid of all doubts, and he could definitely find himself rising up draft boards. As long as he has a good season, I think he will be either
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the number two or number two or number one target for this team, and I think they'll give them plenty of opportunities to prove himself, both with
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his route running, his ability to create reception, to show off some of his talents with creating yards out there to catch and blocking Well for the running game and Hollywood smothers.
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And I think that
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just about does it.
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So that is our first prospect, Justin Joey, this next one is the other receiving prospect who might not go into the draft this year, but I could definitely see 27 him and CJ Bailey, ladies and gentlemen, wide receiver Noah Rogers,
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yeah, Noah Rogers transfer from Ohio State in 2024
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he's another receiver who could see a big, productive jump in 2526 he's
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bigger than the average NFL wide receiver was six foot two and 205 pounds, about 13.7 yards per session for 478 yards and a touchdown. Just not great, but not terrible either, considering how small his role was and he.
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I got about one or two catches every game.
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So he's not, he's not a terrible athlete. There just hasn't been much of an opportunity for him to play. But with KC Concepcion being gone,
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maybe, maybe there's a spot for him.
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Let's see pure athlete, playmaker, offense.
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Think of like in Syracuse, where he was able to get some really good plays, where there's like, a large 75 yard reception that had 50 yards after the catch, where he was going down the sideline and
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creating he,
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I don't think he scored a touch that was his touchdown. I believe in that game It enters that diving reception that that was pretty shallow, and catching, um,
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off a deflected pass in that Syracuse game, that was really the game where you could kind of see the potential in him as a, not even a draft prospect necessarily, but a receiving star for this team, because he
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he can get things done. He
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had some he's a good, speedy route runner. Think of Wake Forest he was able to
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just get his um.
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I mean, there were sort of like smaller medium routes, but he was able to complete them really quickly, and he was able to get the ball, he was able to extend himself, um,
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and he was able to get a couple first sounds in that Wake Forest game. For instance,
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he's a pure athlete. I think he played track as well. Play Maker on offense.
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I mean, he can create yards off the catch just like jolly can. And he's really good at stretching himself and showing off his athletic system for receptions. However, he doesn't have much for him in block packages. They don't really use him in the run game too much. So there's a small, simple size there. I mean, to be fair, I don't think that
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your wide receivers are a priority in the run game. I don't think that. I
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don't think that whoever those top receiving prospects coming into 2026
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like Jakobi lane or Nyck Harbor, I don't think they're gonna have to worry necessarily about their ability to block the cornerback when it's like that far away from the line of scrimmage, like hashes and beyond, but I think it will. It's not a nuisance to be a good Walker. It would definitely help him,
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and while he because with small synthesize and the lack of, like, real production, he had an offense. He just is not a game changer. He hasn't really shown that extra
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pizzazz, extra thing that proves that he can be a star. I mean, he didn't really get much in Ohio State, and he doesn't really get much now, and well, I think that he will be able to head in into
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this year, we need to see something if we want to truly
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believe that he can be a draft process. I think it's something where his upside is so high. Think he was a five star too. That is just it's hard to ignore what it can become.
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And now the last prospect a defensive guy. I'm sure you probably recognize him with the long hair,
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Sean Brown, who started at safety, but then moved down to linebacker. He's the lead in tackle on team, with 96
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in 12 games. He's six foot, 215 pounds, which is a bit small for linebacker, but good size for his safety. He was fifth in con in the country with three recovered fumbles.
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Some of his notable performances I mentioned was, um, Clemson, where he was a biggest sack. I mean, it was the backup quarterback, and it was late in the game with a big blowout, but he was able to,
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uh, burst through the, I
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think it was the a block, and was able to loop back around to get the sack. In that one,
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he forced his way through another wide open gap in the NIU game where he was able to get a sack and shift the ball from the full back in the end zone.
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In separate place. That was another notable sack that he got. He is just,
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he can really just burst through the what
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was I gonna say? He's really good at just bursting through the defensive line, especially on blitz plays. Think about Wake Forest in that game, his sack where he was able to
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strip the ball from the quarterback during the second was basically able to kind of rip it out of his hands and take over
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for himself, which is very I mean, that's a good thing to do
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as a defensive player, to be able to just
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take the ball from the hands while trying to sack him and just rip it out and come back
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standing, essentially. And he had one more strip sack against Stanford, as well. As he was able to get a couple strip sacks, a couple of fumbles where he was able to recover them.
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And overall, as I mentioned, I mean, he is just a fast, aggressive athlete who can burst through the line and, um,
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you know, there were some questions going into this that last season, how he can perform as a linebacker. But he has basically, kind of removed all doubt that he is that number one guy who can explode from the lower level lower layers of the defense, especially on the Blitz, his footage and coverage plays leaves a lot to be desired, which is what part of why he was moved down to linebacker was just because he was not a good in the past coverage, as he is in the run coverage
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and, um,
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well, he won't be able to make his big splash as either a complimentary linebacker or taken over in that hybrid role that will probably have to wait and see until that First game to see who can take that spot? Um,
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if he can improve on his play, stop in prowess, he will get drafted, even if it's a later round pick, and he ends up being a special teams guy. He is just, he's committed to the game, and he is someone I think a lot of scouts kind of have their eyes on
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as is with Roger Sanjay, which is kind of my way of wrapping up this little segment.
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Come up next we'll go over a boo Corrigan press conference,
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which is just kind of explaining some of the things that he mentioned in the interview, and just my personal opinions on them. And then we'll finish with that 2005 March Madness run not too long ago. Boo Corrigan, the athletic director for NC State University, had a press conference with the school and some of the journalists in the North Carolina, Raleigh area. He talked a lot about the future of nio, NC State's competitiveness, and kind of how the revenue for NC States can be coming in for the future,
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with the $20.5 million settlement in the hill versus NCAA
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A lot of additional fundings can be coming through that way, as well as with
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venue in for Carter, Carter Findley and naming rights for it.
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Let's see. So 2 million for the new athletes and 2.5 for the facilities.
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The plan is is kind of just give them a sort of basis amount of funding to work with. And, you know, each coach can kind of take how much money they truly need in order to keep their facilities running or to get upgrades, and he hopes that flexibility will allow football, men's basketball, to get the care they need, while also giving smaller sports a chance to take care of their athletes, like given, you know, football and men's basketball a little higher starting funds, but then given the smaller school a lot more flexibility, and what they can do with their money. Naming rights are prioritized for donors who look to provide for NC State students and graduates, which will be a key part of the kind of wide open negotiations with it. Well, I don't necessarily love the idea of
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changing the name of the stadium. I.
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I think yes, that one the name and rights would change the name of the stadium.
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Yeah,
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I don't love that. It does have the blessing of the Carter and Finley families, which is sort of a consolation prize to it. I just don't, I don't love the idea of it, but I think having that money going to the
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school and having the name and rights company help to provide a network for NC State graduates and students is kind of a way to make it a win, win. I think boo Corrigan has done a great job with
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figuring out how to bring in funds for NC State, and I think his work with our new chancellor, Kevin Howell, will kind of continue that positive momentum,
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especially when
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he's made it clear to competitiveness and entertainment is the top goal and priority of NC State Athletics. There's an he has no intention of separating himself in the rest of departments of NC State or to have it take priority. While, you know, a lot of
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schools, they do kind of seem to have that problem where a lot of the money seems to go into the sports funding and not necessarily into the quality of the school or what they're teaching. We're just
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how they take care of themselves in an academic manner, I guess is the way to put it like the example provided by Corrigan was with the National Institute of Health and research funded as most likely to be tampered with,
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they offer
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support and compromise with research departments as necessary, rather than carrying the image of being above us of all the other academic departments in the school and their responsibilities within caring for the students, above all else, even if that means, you know, taking a little less with funding, even though they do have that 20 point 5 million and upcoming name and rights, which helps them a lot.
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NC State, some other ways of them getting funding. You can look at their rev share. They've shown patients with future of employment status and collective bargaining for student athletes haven't really taken aside yet, and they're just going to kind of wait and see what comes from it. NC State is also important in support of antitrust exemptions to maintain the sanctity of revenue sharing within the ACC. So I think that means is basically
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it's kind of
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equal within all the schools. So I think the bigger schools get just that little bit extra on as NC State being a bigger school, that's kind of part of it.
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There is some talk in the future of, you know, conference realignment, which I think is going to come within the next few years, especially as schools like Clemson SMU and Florida State probably want to see if they can get a bit more money going into a big conference like,
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could you imagine Clemson, SMU and Florida State being in the SEC it might even take UNC and Duke to, just to kind of take the North Carolina part the southeast,
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but
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it's just, I don't think that that's going to be something NC State's necessarily worried about. They sound like they believe that even if dominoes start to fall in the future, as of right now, the ACC is good enough for the program, which makes sense because of the
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success that they've had. I don't think that they're definitely not going to go down a level, like you could argue the big 12 is going down a bit,
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but they might not be in contention to go to the SEC if changes do happen, I don't think that's something to necessarily worry about.
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And the last thing he mentioned is support of nio go, and the subscription model where they supply
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nio deals to the athletes. But he wants more from the collective efforts of NIL go, even though that is early in negotiations,
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hoping that, you know, the org, that organization and other in our nio agencies, will do more to provide for the athletes, rather than the schools having to do it, that will be something that would kind of have to wait and see with the future.
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Lot of this is still early on, and NC State is kind of taking the side of just waiting to see how everything works out. I think that's a smart approach. I don't need to be
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in the four running for anything, especially not with how you know, they're not the most dominant program. They're not the biggest athletic program, not even in the state, really, I think that's Duke.
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I'm just, I'm happy with what they have going on. I'm happy with everything that is,
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you know, I'm happy with the future of this athletic program, and that
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kind of sums up that press conference is pretty short, um, and now we'll be going into our last part with the 2005 men's basketball
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little March Madness run it's going to be this episode is definitely going to be a longer one, but that's not going to be too bad
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in the year of 2004
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got real dramatic there.
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Number three seed, NC State, was just one shot away from being number six. Vanderbilt ilyon, if it's a mov the junior forward from Winston. Salem, misses a shot to lose. 7573
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i He's become a staple in his starting rotation heading into this upcoming season,
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and they're hoping to continue this big run that they had last year.
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They bring back Julius Hart to star of the team, and the senior guard from the Bronx, who at the conference in shooting accuracy, and second team all American
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Some other notable starters,
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engine at sewer returns to run the point guard
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backup who could take more starts, center Jordan Collins and Georgetown guard Tony Bethel,
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there's a lot to be
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note worthy for the team.
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The team plays in a generous Princeton style offense where, you know, a lot of people get the opportunity to carry the rock and distribute assists and score.
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Julius Hodge was the big star of this team.
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They'd entered the season ranked 19th in the country, and proved themselves worthy of that title for the month of November and the first half of December. They were dominant when in the majority of their games by pretty good margins. However, that is the pre conference schedule part, and that includes
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the toughest conference being the
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toughest opponents, Purdue
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and the first loss of the season came to number 18 Washington, led by Brandon Roy and Nate Robinson. They would lose four straight headed into January, including a loss by one to Miami, Florida, that took him out of the top 25
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and a blowout loss to number two Duke that cemented it.
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However, they would recover late into February and March, they'd have a win against number eight Georgia Tech, and go on to finish seven and nine in the conference.
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Some notable wins include number 22 Maryland, and some losses were blowouts by UNC Wake Forest.
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This team did not reach their expections, expectations of last season with their pretty inconsistent starting crew, the only starters that were really consistent was Julius Hodge. It's your
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and
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outside of that, there was a rotation with Tony Bethel, Levi Watkins, Cameron Brenneman, Andrew Brackman, I think I mentioned Jordan Collins and Ilian Evitiomov
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whoever they entered the
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let's see, they entered the ACC tournament as one of the lower seeds, having to play in the wild card round, versus Florida State, where they really took care of business. It fits him off and it's you were scored 18 and 17 with its you were leading an assist and Hodge edition seven of his own to win 70 to 54
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however, leg injury to Tony Bethel meant that Ford Cameron Brenneman was going to have to come off the bench. So.
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Wake Forest. What's next? Head coach, skip proster and star Chris Paul was - Chris Paul we wasn't there in the last game that
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Wake Forest played against NC State, which was late in the regular season, Chris Paul punched Julius Hodge and was suspended for this game,
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but they still had no ways to deal with Justin gray and Eric Williams for Wake Forest,
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however, Brandon and Hodge took the weight and score in a sewer.
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Wed with steals and if it tomorrow, with seven assists to pair with 18 points,
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pretty much five players, not just several blocks, and a team won a dominant fashion, 81 to 65
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so the momentum is looking really good In just the
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conference tournament.
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But then there's Duke
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JJ Redick scores 35
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and despite an eight point lead from NC State in the first half, they would lose 76 to 69
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but they make the NC double A tournament for their fourth consecutive year as the 10th seed of two starters questionable to return, trying
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to remember who the other one was. Bethel definitely was not looking like he was going to return,
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but
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they're ready,
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especially since their first opponent was seven seed, Unc, Charlotte
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UNC, Charlotte, fifth time in the tournament under Head Coach Bobby Lutz, the winningest head coach in their program history,
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who eats a strong offensive program with 72 points per game, led by Eddie Benson.
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And their plan is to limit the performances of Hodge and it's your they did keep it. Um at sewer held back, but Hodges had 19.7 rebounds in nine assists, reaching a 2000 career point threshold, and
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um blew them out 75 to 63
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that fits them off notched for steels and brand them in with four blocks and four straight threes to help secure that win.
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So with that Donovan performance out of the way, I guess it wasn't really technically a major upset for a major conference team with a lower standing to dominate a higher Standing Team from a lower conference.
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But this next one, UConn that that's going to be tough,
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six NBA players on our team, including Rudy Gay, Josh Boone, Charlie Villanueva, Marcus Williams.
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Marcus Williams, you know, but we went to team and assist. And while he was questionable going into the game, they still had to get past Rudy Gay, Josh Boone, Charlie Villanueva,
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and while they were coming off a close win against South Florida, Calhoun and Huskies ready to clean things up before it again to the Sweet 16. Ruiz I was the intention,
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while Williams and Phil nueva score 22 and 16 respectively. Hodge would go to score 17 points in six assists, supplemented by strong defensive performances from Brenna mint, and if it's a mov you know, the dynamic defensive duo for this team,
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Brennaman in particular, had a three point shot to help extend the lead by four within a minute on the clock,
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and when Hodge tied it again, he when the score was tied again, Hodge would be able to Drive in the paint to score it again, one, to clinch the win. 6562
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the first time in sweet 16 since the gym for falfano years, almost said that wrong.
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This wasn't just a team, you know, this was a brotherhood. And this wasn't just a run from Hodges. This is destiny, to
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face a team that has primed us effort to take that next step, and NC State could not feel more ready for it.
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That game would be number six, Wisconsin,
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with one of the best defensive teams and strong shooting performances from alondo Tucker Michael Wilkinson, Wisconsin have proven to be one of the toughest team in any given night. If NC State can out rebound and keep their efficiency in shooting, they might just have a shot.
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Wilkinson and Tucker showed up for the game. Scored in 22 points and 17 points. Respectively and Engin Atsur gave a productive D.
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Defensive game, with three steals and 16 points, Hodges 14 with five assists.
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But they couldn't just they couldn't keep up with Wisconsin shooting streak, and were heavily rebounded 17 to 31
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with a chance to tie the game. Sewer missed a three to give NC State
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just chance to weed wait in the second half.
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Despite all of that they fought to achieve, they would fall short to Wisconsin, 65 to 59
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and end their magical run.
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Or I guess you can call it their magical upset, but live in a moment,
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would do a Where are they now segment. You know, I love doing those. Julius Hodge was drafted 20th overall to Denver. His jersey was tired by NC State, and he's currently the head coach of division two basketball team. Lincoln Lyons,
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Engin Atsur played pro ball in Turkey, most known to be with,
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uh, I'm a botch this, so I apologize Turkey, Fenerbache and Bestikas, question mark,
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Ilian Evitiomov
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currently playing with chole basket in France, we know their season just ended, so he might have, I
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don't think he's retired yet.
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Nope.
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Yeah, he's still with them, and while he did jump around France professionally, still a pretty good, pretty good way to live. And Cam brennerman runs a brand dreams a sports market and vocational school
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that helps, you know, kind of
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breed the next big era of, you know, basketball, sports people like me,
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Wisconsin would lose the national championship you wouldn't see in the next round. Oh, wow.
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But hey, that concludes today's episode. I hope you enjoyed the listen. This was kind of a long one. If you have anything you want to hear about, just you know, give WKNC a holler. Our next episode should be next week. We're going to start uploading weekly. We'll be reviewing the ECU women's soccer game and doing a pregame matchup for the football game.
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But I think that's pretty much all we have going for it. I hope you enjoyed today's episode. Hope you have a good day and go pack you.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
