ANALYSIS: NC State Fans Should Be Proud of Exponential Progress

As the end of the 2017-18 athletic year comes to an end, when you simply look at the data, you can’t miss the fact that NC State’s athletic program as a whole continues to make massive strides in the right direction.

With one sport (Baseball) left to finalize the 2017-18 Directors’ Cup Final Standings, NC State sits in 15th place nationally. The Directors’ Cup, which began in 1993, calculates the best overall college athletic programs in the country. For starters, as you see below, NC State’s athletic program has moved from 89th nationally in 2010, to likely finishing in the Top-15 in 2018. That number only becomes more impressive when you consider the fact that NC State ranked 48th out of 65 Power 5 schools in expenses this year. NC State doesn’t have deep pockets like many of the Power 5 schools do, but that hasn’t stopped them from becoming one of the elite athletic programs nationally.

As you see in the chart below, even though NC State’s expenses rank 48th out of 65 Power 5 schools, the expenses have increased by $36.9 million since 2010, and the Operating Revenue by $34.9 million. Financially, things are continuing to head in the right direction, and the more they do so, the possibilities of increased success in each individual sport continues to rise as well.

Sure, NC State fans want ACC Championships, as well they should, but the Wolfpack fan base should also be extremely proud of the work the student athletes are producing in the classroom. As you can see in the chart below, in 2010 NC State had 4 Academic All-Americans in the entire Athletic Program. In 2018, that number jumped to 53, which is an increase of 1,225%.

For the first time ever, the cumulative average GPA for all of NC State’s athletes combined is over 3.0.

The Graduation Success Rate for the Wolfpack Athletic Program in 2017-18 is 85%, which is the highest in NC State history.

Lets move our attention back from the academics to the athletic. NC State had 6 coaches win Coach of the Year Awards this year for the second consecutive year. Only 1 coach won such an award in 2010, with none doing so in 2011.

This year 12 NC State athletes were National Champions, which once again, is the highest mark in school history.

Seventy-Five Wolfpack athletes were Competitive All-Americans this season. As you look at the chart below, that number was in the single digits in 2010 and 2011. Once again, an all-time high.

For the third consecutive year, 3 NC State sports took home conference championships (Gymnastics, Men’s Swimming and Women’s Cross Country).

11 NC State sports finished in the Top-25 in the Final Rankings, which is yet again, another all-time high. We will have to wait and see if Baseball lands in the Top-25 in the Final Rankings, bringing that number to 12.

NC State Athletic Director Debbie Yow has this ship heading in the right direction. That isn’t anecdotal. The data is there to prove it.

(Thanks to Fred Demarest, NC State’s Senior Associate Athletics Director/Communications and Brand Management, for providing the charts used in this piece)