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Pack in the Pros

Former NC State Player, Nate McMillan, Now Officially Atlanta Hawks’ Head Coach

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This last four months has been wild for McMillan. From bottom dwellers to two wins from NBA Finals, the loss of ‘Interim’ from his title was eminent. Monday, according to Woj himself, McMillan signed a four-year deal with the Hawks to become their longterm head coach.

Enter Nate McMillan

Heading into the All-Star break, the Hawks were 14-20 and 11th in the East. On March 1, they fired Head Coach Lloyd Pierce and named McMillan interim HC. Since that point, Hawks have been arguably the hottest team in the NBA. They went 27-11 the remainder of the year, won the Southeast Division, upset the Knicks in the first round, had a miracle comeback against the 76ers to win that series and pushed the Milwaukee Bucks to the bring in the Eastern Conference Finals. I can assure you, every single person in Atlanta would have accepted this team knocking on the Finals door back in March.

Every. Single. Statistical. Category has been improved under McMillan. The team not only is clicking on all cylinders production-wise, but 1000% believe in themselves. The swagger they played with in Madison Square Garden was intense. Then they backed it up in Philly and almost again in Milwaukee.

Road to Coaching

If you focus on regular seasons, Nate McMillan has quite impressive record. In his last seven full seasons behind the bench, every team is above .500 and in the playoffs. Prior to Atlanta, McMillan was the head coach of the Pacers, where his last three seasons were all 2nd in the Central and floating around 60% winning percentage.

The problem has always been the playoffs.

While McMillan has a .535 overall winning percentage in the regular season, that drops to .321 in the playoffs. Outside of this run by the Hawks, his teams have been bounced in the first round 8 of 10 tries.

Yet you look at his back-to-back 48-34 seasons, followed by 45-28 shortened season and now this crazy run with the Hawks and realize; maybe he finally has the postseason answer?

Trae Young loves him and wanted him to stay. When news of hiring broke, Young had three words to say,

“Let’s Work Coach!”

 

State Career

After spending two years at Chowan College, McMillan came home to Raleigh to play for Jim Valvano. In his first year back, he helped the Wolfpack grab a share of first in the ACC regular season. Both years, State made it to the Elite Eight. During his career, he spread the wealth across the stat sheet; 5.1 REBs, 6 ASTs, 2.2 STLs, 1 BLK, and 8.5 PTS.

Passionate State fan that just wants to win...something...like anything...

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Dof87
Dof87
3 years ago

Hew was an intense competitor.

travelwolf
travelwolf
3 years ago

and he was a bean pole… put on lots and lots of weight since then. V loved him.

Pack in the Pros

Former NC State All-ACC F TJ Warren Signs Exhibit 10 Deal with the Knicks

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Former NC State ACC Player of the Year TJ Warren has signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Knicks.

What is an Exhibit 10 deal?

Here’s what Google’s AI cooked up:

An Exhibit 10 contract is a one-year, minimum salary, non-guaranteed NBA contract that teams can use to bring in players for Summer League competition. The contract can include an optional bonus of up to $75,000 if the player spends at least 60 days with the team’s G League affiliate after being waived.

Conversion to two-way contract: Teams can convert an Exhibit 10 contract into a two-way contract before the regular season begins. This guarantees the bonus and makes the contract a two-way contract.

Maximum number of contracts: Each team can have up to six Exhibit 10 contracts at a time.

Roster spot: If a player is kept on the 15-man roster after the regular season begins, their contract becomes a standard minimum deal.

Compensation protection: Exhibit 10 contracts don’t come with compensation protection.

When the contract becomes fully guaranteed: If the team doesn’t guarantee the deal, it becomes fully guaranteed on January 10. However, in reality, contracts become fully guaranteed on January 7 because players must clear waivers by January 10 to avoid this.

Warren is looking to find a new NBA home as he approaches his 10th NBA season. Last year, TJ played in only 11 games for the Minnesota Timberwolves, averaging 3.7 points in 11.4 minutes per game. In 2022-23, Warren played in 42 games split between Brooklyn and Phoenix, averaging 7.5 points in 16.4 minutes per game. Prior to that, TJ missed the entire 2021-22 due to a foot injury, which also caused him to miss all but 4 games of the 2020-21 season.

It’s been a rough couple of years for the former ACC Player of the Year (2014), but prior to that, Warren had been a starter in the NBA for 5 straight seasons, averaging 14+ points per game in each of those seasons.

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Pack in the Pros

Former NC State TE Trent Pennix has Been Signed to the Colts’ Practice Squad

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Former NC State Tight End Trent Pennix has been signed to the Indianapolis Colts Practice Squad.

After going undrafted in April, Indianapolis signed Pennix to an Undrafted Free Agent deal. In the first game of the 2024 NFL Preseason, Pennix suffered a groin injury, and was waived. When Pennix wasn’t claimed off of waivers, Indy put him on their IR.

Pennix was being used as a Running Back with the Colts, instead of Tight End, which is where he ended his career at NC State. Originally, NC State recruited Pennix out of Sanderson High School as a Running Back, and that was his position with the Wolfpack his first couple of seasons.

In his final year in Raleigh, Pennix had 15 receptions for 190 yards and 3 touchdowns. He also rushed the ball 2 times for 67 yards and a touchdown.

This is a great opportunity for Pennix, and lucrative one at that. People might not realize that players on an NFL Practice Squad make $12,500 per week in 2024. If you are in your first year in the NFL, and are on the Practice Squad for the full 18 weeks, you would make $225,000.

Pennix joins a handful of other players on NFL Practice Squads.

NC State Players on NFL Practice Squads

RB Trent Pennix – Colts

WR Thayer Thomas – Vikings

DT TY McGill – 49ers

S Tanner Ingle – Rams

DT Cory Durden – Rams

LB Vi Jones – Bucs

WR Kelvin Harmon – Cowboys

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Pack in the Pros

Former Wolfpacker, Carlos Rodon, taking the ball in Game 2 for the Yankees

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The New York Yankees will open up their AL Division Series matchup against either the Royals or the Orioles on Sunday. They will obviously be going with their ace, Gerrit Cole. However, they announced on Wednesday that they will be going with former NC State pitcher, Carlos Rodon, for Game 2 on Monday.

He was in contention to start Game 2 with Luis Gil and Clarke Schmidt, but Schmidt is just coming back off of inury and Gil has been erratic down the stretch. Meanwhile, Rodon has been solid.

Rodon hasn’t given up more than 2 runs in any of his previous 5 starts and has 34 strikeouts over that span.

Rodon finishd the season with a 3.96 ERA and 195 Ks. That’s the second most strikeouts in his career (best was 237 with San Francisco in 2022). It was his 4th best season in terms of ERA over his 10 year career.

But, the former Wolfpacker hasn’t fared very well against Baltimore this season. Over 2 starts he has a 9.00 ERA. However, he has dominated Kansas City. In those 2 starts he has a 2.08 ERA and 12ks over 13 innings.

Let’s hope he’s matched up against KC in this one!

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Pack in the Pros

NFL Week 4 Pack Pros Report

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Here’s a rundown of how the former NC State football players in the NFL did in Week 4.

Wide Receiver Jakobi Meyers (starter) led the Raiders in receptions (5), receiving yards (49) and targets (10) in their 20-16 win over the Browns. His PFF grade of 73.3 was the 3rd highest on the Las Vegas offense, which is his highest grade of the season, and his highest grade since Week 12 of last year.

Punter AJ Cole (starter) averaged 58 yards per punt (4 punts) in Las Vegas’ 20-16 win over Cleveland.

Linebacker Germaine Pratt (starter) had 9 tackles and 1 pass breakup in Cincinnati’s 34-24 win over Carolina. His PFF grade was 66.6, playing in 64 of 70 snaps. He was injured in the contest, but was able to return.

Linebacker Payton Wilson had a career high 6 tackles in his first career start in the Steelers’ 24-27 loss. His PFF Grade was 74.0, which was the 4th highest on Pittsburgh’s defense, and the highest grade of his career. He played 37 of 66 snaps.

Linebacker James Smith-Williams had 5 tackles and 1 tackle for loss in the Falcons’ 26-24 win over the Saints. His PFF grade was 67.1 which is his best grade since Week 7 of last year. Smith-Williams played in 34 of 74 snaps.

Defensive Tackle Alim McNeill (starter) had 2 tackles, 0.5 sacks, 1 pass breakup and 1 QB Hit in Detroit’s 42-29 win over Seattle. His PFF grade of 77.0 was the 2nd highest on the team, which was his best grade of the season, and the highest grade since Week 13 of last year. McNeill played in 63 of 90 snaps.

Quarterback Jacoby Brissett (starter) was 19 of 32 for 168 yards and a touchdown (1 INT) in the Pats’ 13-30 loss to the Niners. His PFF grade was 34.4, which is the 2nd lowest grade of his career.

Cornerback Nick McCloud (starter) saw his first action of the season, returning from injury, in the Giants’ 15-20 loss to the Cowboys. He had 3 tackles and 1 tackle for loss, and his PFF grade was 60.7 (37 of 56 snaps).

Linebacker Drake Thomas had 2 tackles in Seattle’s 29-42 loss to the Lions. He had a PFF grade of 33.9 in 9 snaps, which is the lowest grade of his career.

Center Garrett Bradbury (starter) played every snap in Minnesota’s 31-29 win over Green Bay. His PFF grade was 68.0.

Left Tackle Ikem Ekwonu (starter) played every snap in the Panthers’ 24-34 loss to the Bengals. His PFF grade was 66.3.

Left Guard Joe Thuney (starter) played every snap in the Chiefs’ 17-10 win over the Chargers. His PFF grade was 61.7.

Left Guard Chandler Zavala (starter) played every snap in the Panther’s 24-34 loss to the Bengals. His PFF grade was 63.4, which was the best grade of his career.

Place Kicker Brayden Narveson (starter) missed both of his field goal attempts in Green Bay’s 29-31 loss to the Vikings.

Nose Tackle Kentavius Street didn’t record any stats in the Falcons’ 26-24 win over the Saints, but played in 19 of 74 snaps. His PFF grade of 28.5 was the worst grade on Atlanta’s defense, and the 2nd worst grade of his career.

DNP

Center Dylan McMahon – Eagles

Injury

DT BJ Hill – Bengals

DT Larrell Murchison – Rams

RB Nyheim Hines – Browns

LB Bradley Chubb – Dolphins

QB Russell Wilson – Steelers

DT Justin Jones – Cardinals

 

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