GREENSBORO — N.C. State coach Tom O’Brien is prepared for the possibility that quarterback Russell Wilson will play just one more season for the Wolfpack football team.
Wilson, a first-team All-ACC selection as a redshirt freshman last season, is on an accelerated academic schedule that has him on track for graduation in the spring of 2010. He also is a baseball prospect who's eligible for the 2010 MLB draft.
Editor's note: Stephen Allan will provide updates from the ACC Kickoff in Greensboro today. The head coaches from each team met with the media this afternoon.
GREENSBORO - Donald Bowens, who was N.C. State's leading receiver in 2007, is out at least until October while recovering from knee surgery, coach Tom O'Brien said at the ACC media kickoff.
Bowens missed the 2008 season because of a stress fracture in his back and missed spring practice because of the knee injury.
Injuries suffered in a car crash in June have N.C. State linebacker Nate Irving out indefinitely, coach Tom O’Brien said Thursday afternoon.
During his first public media appearance since the June 28 crash, O’Brien said he won’t know more about Irving’s status until after the player’s next meeting with doctors in mid-August.
Four players who were expected to be on N.C. State’s 2009 football roster will not be with the team, the school announced Thursday.
Coach Tom O’Brien announced that sophomore cornerback Dominique Ellis is transferring. Three players who signed with N.C. State in February – Tyson Chandler, Raynard Randolph and Bryan Underwood – will not enroll in the fall.
N.C. State linebacker Nate Irving's surgery was successful and went as expected on Sunday after he suffered a broken leg and collapsed lung in a car crash early Sunday morning, school sports information director Annabelle Myers said Monday morning.
Irving suffered injuries that were serious but not life threatening in a one-vehicle crash on Interstate 40 while returning to campus from his home in Wallace, N.C., northwest of Wilmington.
If N.C. State's leadership quandary has you depressed, you can find some solace in coach Tom O'Brien's decision to take members of the Wolfpack football team to the Wounded Warrior Battalion at Camp Lejeune on Thursday.
That's a good thing that O'Brien and his players did yesterday, for both sides. The visit gives the Marines, injured in combat in either Iraq or Afghanistan, something to look forward to and the players a sense of perspective.
Tom O'Brien has a live chat scheduled for 4 p.m. today on gopack.com.
The Wolfpack football coach will no doubt be asked about the increased expectations for Year 3. Some yahoo already picked State to win the Atlantic Division, which O'Brien found amusing.
"If you guys knew what the heck you were doing, you would be doing something else," O'Brien said. "As I told the team, nobody picked Boston College last year."
Staff photo by Ethan Hyman
• Photo gallery: See 27 images from the spring game
RALEIGH — Sophomore linebacker Audie Cole reacted quickly just before halftime of N.C. State’s spring game Saturday after tight end George Bryan appeared to break into the open field.
Cole hustled back to deflect Russell Wilson’s pass incomplete at the goal line, demonstrating that he might be the final piece in a formidable defensive front seven next season.
Near the halfway point of N.C. State's spring drills, with seven workouts completed, the improved play at defensive tackle might be the most unexpected development.
The Wolfpack already is in great shape at one tackle position with senior Alan-Michael Cash returning as one of the most underrated players in the ACC. N.C. State also is stout on the ends with senior returning starters Willie Young and Shea McKeen.
