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Before you read this article, please take a peek at what is probably the most on-point argument as to why NC State and it’s fans should continue to demand a winner…oh, and it’s written by a Duke website.

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A lot of you have already read the article written a few days ago by Gary Parrish on the Wolfpack’s recent firing of Mark Gottfried. If you haven’t, go ahead and read what Mr. Parrish had to say regarding the NC State and their fan base here.

The article talks about the ‘unrealistic expectations’ that NC State fans have to win in the ACC. While this may or may not ring true, let’s break down the points Gary Parish made in his article, along with some other popular talking points that are floating around these days.

Point 1: NC State chased out Herb Sendek and Mark Gottfried after taking their teams to a fair number of NCAA tournaments

Now, I am not going to get into the ‘should we have fired Sendek’ argument, but let’s just take a look at what Sendek did after he was pushed over to ASU from NC State.

After 9 seasons and just two NCAA tournaments (one of which was lead by NBA star James Harden) Sendek was fired from ASU. Maybe it’s just that ASU fans are just as crazy and unrealistic as NC State fans.  Whatever the case, it seems as if Sendek was who Wolfpack fans thought he was; a guy who ran a good program but never could build them into a true championship contender.

Now let’s look at Gottfried. He was not fired simply because of his two losing seasons, he was fired because his team showed a complete lack of some major fundamental building blocks. The team lacked physicality, showed long stretches of passionless basketball and ranked as one of the ACC’s worst Defenses of all time, which led to multiple losses by 20+ points.

Let’s not forget that multiple opponents have spoken out about NC State quitting when they got behind. Their lack of fight was literally built into opposing team’s scout prep. Gottfried has undoubtedly lost this team. The real questions are why and how?

It’s not really unprecedented to fire a coach who has shown some success early in career, but then completely unraveled only a couple years later. Let’s take a quick look at a somewhat similar scenario over at UNC.

Matt Doherty was the coach at UNC for 3 years. In his first year, the man made the NCAA tournament and at one point was #1 in the nation. He then followed that with one very bad season with a young team and then another decent season where they barely missed the NCAA. Following that, Doherty was pushed out from UNC amidst rumors that he had lost the respect of his players.

Think back to that time. There were no national articles about how UNC was expecting too much or that they weren’t giving Doherty was being treated unfairly. In fact, the national media joined the bandwagon and helped push the narrative that Doherty had failed and it was time for the Heels to move on.

Point 2: NC State cannot get a top-tier talent because they are right down the road from UNC and Duke

This is a point that drives us nuts, and the arguments on this are absolutely absurd.

What year are we living in? This isn’t 1970 where you are only competing for talent within state lines. We are talking about a time where a coach can go and watch a kid play ball in California and the next day be in Florida to watch someone else. The location of rival schools makes little difference. While there is some truth to the notion that you want a chance to pull kids who want to stay close to home, it is hardly the focal point of recruiting anymore. Take a look at this years Duke team if you want. Just one player from the state of NC. So is Duke a bad job because they are losing the local battle to UNC and NC State? Come on. This is a strawman argument that holds little weight.

Point 3: According to Gary Parish, this is a job coach’s won’t touch because of how NC State and their fans treat their coaches.

Ok, lets take a look at this. You’re saying that no coach would want to work in an atmosphere where you face the best teams day in day out, at a school who absolutely loves and supports their team?

Sure, you’re not going to get a coach who is scared, or someone who wants to play it safe, rack up the wins at a mid-major and then retire off into the sunset without even trying his hand at a true challenge. Fair enough, but coaches are naturally competitive and the ones that believe they are the best are looking for a job like this. One where they are on the national stage, with shot after shot at dethroning the king.

This job isn’t for everyone, that is understood. But to act like people won’t touch this job because it’s too tough or demands too much is completely misunderstanding the mindset of a coach looking to make a name for himself.

That being said, no one says this job is easy. It’s a high risk, high reward opportunity, and like any industry, when the stakes are higher and the demands are greater, then the compensation needs to also increase. NC State is not an ideal job for $2 million or $2.5 million. Especially for a proven coach with years of experience. But NC State is a very interesting opportunity for $3 – $3.5 million. In fact, I’d go as far as saying that it’s a really good job for that price, and one that will be piquing the interest of a lot of quality coaches.

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There is no doubt that the timing of the fire is probably not ideal, but there is absolutely no reason to believe that no top-tier coach would want to coach at NC State. There are obviously plenty of factors that will play into finding a coach, and the expectations of the fan base and staff at NC State is one of them, but for the right price, it’s worth the risk.

On top of that, there is no reason that NC State fans should be ridiculed for demanding to win (and win consistently). This is a school that is rich in history. One that at a point was better than Duke and on par with UNC. One that has had hall-of-fame coaches, plays on Tobacco Road and boasts one of the most passionate fan bases in college basketball.

So, Gary Parish, we appreciate your expertise on NC State’s basketball program and you can tell your anonymous second tier coach that he can stay at his cozy second tier job. That is fine with us. We’ll keep demanding excellence until we get it.

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wolfpack74
wolfpack74
7 years ago

What mid-season firing? 27 games in is not mid-season. The season ended after the Duke game.

Wolfer96
Wolfer96
7 years ago

It’s amazing that the media is surprised that someone who lost control of his team and had a worse team in season 6 than season 1 was fired? This was the highest paid employee in the State of NC! Higher pay than the Governor. NCSU is not a charity for bad coaches. Guys who get paid millions know they have to win to keep their jobs period. Why feel bad for a guy cashing 6 figure checks each month?

Wolfer96
Wolfer96
7 years ago

Man, it’s crazy that it took an article from the Duke Basketball Report to really hit the nail on the head.

yakima2k
yakima2k
7 years ago

I realize the article isn’t titled “Famous Coaches Taking Cheap Shots at NC State”, but Calipari needs to mind his own business. Mid-season dismissals happen – Dennis Felton and Kelvin Sampson come to mind, I’m sure there are others. Listening to know nothing Doris Burke drone on about Gottfried on Saturday was beyond irritating.

Wolfer96
Wolfer96
7 years ago

I’m liking this Holtmann more and more. One of the challenges this season for Holtmann is that he has around 8 starter level guys. He has been able to manage their playing time without anyone protesting to lack of minutes.

Wolfer96
Wolfer96
7 years ago

Fact is Yow screwed up the last search. She low balled some coaches and was too critical of coaches that showed awe at coaching in the triangle. If a young coach doesn’t show some appreciation for the State’s neighbors and the ACC then they aren’t ready for the challenge of this job. Then she made the poor decision to go with Gott. He was never the right hire for this job.

Wolfer96
Wolfer96
7 years ago

Some of these media are like the guy with the ugly girlfriend who stands in disbelief over how some guy got that hot girl. These idiots don’t get to put their limitations on State’s expectations.

NC State Basketball

NC State has Won 5 ACC Championships this Year

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NC State has won 5 ACC Championships this year, which is the most of any athletic program in the conference this year.

The Wolfpack has won ACC Titles in Women’s Cross Country, Men’s Swimming & Diving, Wrestling, Men’s Basketball and Gymnastics.

The last time NC State won 5 ACC Championships in one year was 1979-80.

As far as I can tell, here’s a look at the Wolfpack Conference Titles from 1979-80:

Football
Women’s Basketball
Women’s Cross Country
Men’s Swimming & Diving
Men’s Tennis

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NC State Basketball

NC State is 1 of 4 Schools to Have Both Men & Women’s Basketball Teams in Sweet 16

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NC State is 1 of 4 schools to have their Men and Women’s Basketball teams BOTH advance to the Sweet 16, along with Duke, Gonzaga and UCONN.

NC State and Duke are the only two schools in the country to send both Basketball teams to the Sweet 16, and also send the Football team to a bowl game.

This marks only the third time in school history that BOTH teams made the Sweet 16.

Years NC State’s Men & Women’s Teams Made the Sweet 16

1985
1989
2024

Despite the fact that the Men’s team has made the Elite 8 six times (1950, 1951, 1974, 1983, 1985, 1986), and the Women have made it 2 times (1998 & 2022), in the three occasions they both went to the Sweet 16 in the same year, neither team advanced to the Elite 8.

In 2024, Why Not Us?

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NC State Basketball

#3 seed NC State Holds on Against #6 Seed Tennessee, Defeating the Vols 79-72 to Advance to the Sweet 16

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#3 seed NC State held on last night, defeating #6 seed Tennessee 79-72 in Reynolds Coliseum to advance to the Sweet 16 for the 5th time in the last 6 tournaments.

The Wolfpack led by only 1 after the 1st Quarter, but they looked like they had things under control at halftime, leading by 18 points.

At one point, NC State led by as much as 20 points in the 3rd Quarter, but the Lady Volunteers weren’t about to give up.

With 4:19 left in the 4th, Tennessee cut the lead to 2 points, but NC State might have bent, but they wouldn’t break.

Junior Guard Aziaha James led the way with 22 points and 7 assists, which were both team highs. She scored 7 points in the final 3.5 minutes, helping to squash tue Last Vols’ comeback attempt.

Junior Guard Saniya Rivers had 20 points (6-14 FG) and 6 boards.

Freshman Zoe Brooks was clutch off the bench, chipping in 16 points and 6 boards.

This marks the 16th time the NC State Women’s Basketball team has advanced to the Sweet 16.

The Wolfpack will play #2 seed Stanford on Friday night at 7:30pm on ESPN in Portland.

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NC State Basketball

A Historical Breakdown of the Series Between NC State & Marquette

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#11 seed NC State will play #2 seed Marquette in the Sweet 16 on Friday night, which will mark the 6th time the two teams have played one another.

The first time the Wolfpack and the Golden Eagles played one another was also in the NCAA Tournament, and it just so happened to be the 1974 Championship game, with NC State winning the game 76-64, giving the Pack their first National Championship.

Wolfpack led the way with 21 points, and Tommy Burleson had a double-double of 14 points and 11 boards, with 7 blocks, which is tied for the 8th most in school history in a single game.

NC State also had 12 steals in the game, which is the most by a Pack team in an NCAA Tournament game.

The next time the two teams would meet was on January 21st, in Reynolds Coliseum. The Wolfpack won 89-76, and it was a night for the history books for Point Guard Chris Corchiani. In that game, set ACC career records for assists with 861 and steals with 276.

The following year, the Golden Eagles picked up their first win against the Wolfpack, winning 66-42 in Milwaukee.

It would be over 15 years before NC State and Marquette would play one another again, and this time it would once again be a home-and-home series in back-to-back years.

On December 22nd, 2008, the Wolfpack lost a close one at home, falling 65-68. Wolfpack Forward Brandon Costner hit all five 3-Point attempts in that game, which still stands as the best 3-Point Percentage in a single game in school history.

The following year, on December 5th, 2009, the Wolfpack would claim the lead in the series again, defeating the Golden Eagles 77-73 on the road. NC State big man Tracy Smith had a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds. Point Guard Javier Gonzalez had 15 points and 7 assists, and Wing Scott Wood knocked down 4 of his 6 three-point attempts.

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