WOLFPACK ROUND UP: BJ Hill signs NFL deal, Jaylon Gibson hits portal, Baseball hits rough patch, NC State WBB gets #1 seed & Bo Hines goes political

You can’t take breaks in this business, because the news never stops! However, we always take a little break and then slow down after basketball season, and this year was no different. Keeping up with NC State is stressful, writing about losing is boring, and it’s 2022 so mental health breaks seem more acceptable these days. That said, during the hiatus, a lot has gone on. Here is what we missed…

BJ Hill signs $30 million deal with Bengals
Fifth-year DT and former Wolfpacker, BJ Hill, is getting paid. Hill signed a 3 year, $30 million deal with the Bengals. He was a 3rd round pick of the NY Giants who was dealt to Cincinnati last August. Hill played in 16 games, totaling 50 tackles and 5.5 sacks during the regular season and ramped it up in the playoffs, notching 13 tackles, 1.5 sacks and an interception.

B.J. Hill: “I knew I wanted to be back here. It’s special here… I definitely wanted to be back. I was telling people I was going to be back.” pic.twitter.com/ntWg0HGTpm

— Marisa Contipelli (@BengalsMarisa) March 15, 2022

Jaylon Gibson likely leaving NC State, Hits the transfer portal
Gibson, a sophomore big for the Wolfpack, has decided to enter the transfer portal. After a season where he was thrust into a much bigger role than expected (due to the injury of Manny Bates), Gibson averaged 2.7 points and 2.7 rebounds in 14 minutes per game during the season. With Bates potentially coming back, Dowuona locked in as his backup, and shot-blocking freshman Shawn Phillips coming in, Gibson was going to have to fight hard for minutes next season. Thus, he’s decided to see what else is out there. If Bates doesn’t return, then it’s likely Keatts will go after a more seasoned big man in the portal. NC State struggled with their frontcourt play this year, and neither Dowuona or Gibson seems to be the long-term answer if the Pack wants to contend for a top spot in the conference.

NC State baseball starts strong, but hits rough patch
The Pack 9 came out of the gates swinging. Literally. They won their first 8 games of the season, anchored by an unbelievable stretch of power production from freshman Tommy White. Since then, however, the Pack has fallen off a cliff, losing 6 of their last 8 games. They are now 0-2 in the conference after losing both bouts with #3 ranked Notre Dame with a series vs. FSU coming up Friday.

White has been an absolute bright spot for the Pack hitting .394 with 9 homers thus far. As for pitching, sophomore Matt Willadson has looked great. Over 4 starts Willadson has a 3.80 ERA with 24 strikeouts over 21 innings (however he doesn’t have a win yet). Meanwhile, last year’s postseason star Sam Highfill has been up and down, with a 4.79 ERA, 23 strikeouts over 20 innings over 4 starts (and a 1-1 record).

NC State WBB heads into the NCAA Tournament as a 1 seed.
The women took care of business this season, doing everything they had to do. They finished 29-3. They won the ACC regular season. They won the ACC Tournament. They finished out the season on a 10 game winning streak.

Now it’s time to bring home the national title. The Pack ladies open up play on Saturday at 2pm when they take on either Longwood or Mt. St. Mary’s. Here is the bracket.

Former NC State WR Bo Hines gets political
Bo Hines was a budding star WR for NC State in 2014. As a freshman, Hines had 45 receptions for 616 yards and a TD in his first year. Note that the#10 all-time best season by a WR in terms of receiving yards was Chris Coleman with 876 in 1998. As a freshman, Hines was too far off that mark and was only showing signs of improvement as the season wore on.

But we never got to see what Bo Hines could become. He left the program and football altogether after that season, transferring to Yale, hanging up the cleats, and getting into politics. Now Hines is running for an open NC Congress seat. He’s aligned with the GOP and made news just a couple of days ago when he received a controversial endorsement from former president Donald Trump.

Ok, there you go. You’re all caught up