Backing The Pack

If you buy something from a link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement. RALEIGH, NC - MARCH 15: Ty Head #14 of the NC State Wolfpack catches the fly ball during the college baseball game between the Boston College Eagles and the NC State Wolfpack on March 15, 2026 at Doak Field at Dail Park in Raleigh, NC.

Basketball news & notes: Rumor central – The Pack may open the season against some Fighting Camels Snelly is back! - Jordan Snell hired on Wolfpack staff as grad assistant NCAA: Wichita has been selected as the second site (along with Dayton) for the opening round of the expanded 76 team NCAA tournament. Each city will host three games the Tuesday and Wednesday after Selection Sunday.

RHP Heath Andrews (JR) - 3-4, 7.55 ERA, 64.1 IP, 11.6 BB%, 18.6 K% UTL Dalton Bargo (SR) - .275/.338/.500, 7 2B, 8 HR, 8.9 BB%, 19.1 K%, 0-0 SB RHP Landon Carr (rJR) - 0-0, 5.40 ERA, 1.2 IP, 35.7 BB%, 14.3 K% LHP Cooper Consiglio (JR) - 3-5, 3 SV, 6.90 ERA, 60.0 IP, 10.5 BB%, 25.7 K% RHP Jacob Dudan (JR) - 4-1, 3.60 ERA, 50.0 IP, 5.9 BB%, 30.4 K% OF Brayden Fraasman (SR) - .256/.302/.372, 9 2B, 2 HR, 7.1 BB%, 23.0 K%, 8-10 SB OF Ty Head (SO) - .291/.460/.556, 8 2B, 14 HR, 22.3 BB%, 9.0 K%,...

In June the NCAA approved its new age-based eligibility model, which discards redshirts entirely and gives athletes the ability to play five full seasons in college, provided they meet the new standard. The Division I Cabinet on Tuesday unanimously approved a sweeping overhaul of eligibility rules for student-athletes, permitting Division I student-athletes up to five years of eligibility if they enroll in college no later than the academic year after their 19th birthday.

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI - MARCH 9: A general view of the Big 12 logo on the side of a basketball hoop at the 2026 Phillips 66 Big 12 Tournament in the T-Mobile Center on March 9, 2026 at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Joe Gonzales/Baylor Athletics) The Big 12 announced an agreement this week that, in a sane world, would be so roundly dismissed as embarrassing that the league would have to walk it back.

COLUMBIA, MISSOURI - NOVEMBER 22: Members of the NC State Wolfpack women’s team celebrate after winning the team title during the NCAA cross country championships at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course on November 22, 2025 in Columbia, Missouri. (Photo by Kirby Lee/Getty Images)From left: Angela Napoleon (242), Hannah Gapes (237), Grace Hartman (239), Fleur Templier (247), Brooke Rauber (245), Brittany Michalak (241) and Sadie Engelhardt (236).

BASKETBALL CALENDAR 6/29 Second summer session started - As of Jurkovic’s arrival Thursday, all 13 players are on campus IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Here’s some fun snippets from the interview with Patrick Stacy to help get us through basketball’s summer doldrums Justin Gainey “If you want to find your way onto the floor, you need to defend” Preston Edmead - One of the best off-the-dribble shooters in the country; he’s going to blow the roof off Lenovo; there’s going to be a lot of kids trying to...

N.C. State coach Tom O’Brien and quarterback Russell Wilson wait for the ruling on a third-quarter-touchdown pass against North Carolina on Saturday, November 20, 2010 at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. N.C. State won, 29-25.

NC State landed a pair of transfers over the last week in RHP Connor Chicoli and OF Maddox Monsour. The transfer portal also tooketh as rFR RHP Kaden Morris entered. Morris did not appear in a game in his two seasons with the Wolfpack. A Raleigh native who attended Garner HS and Pro5 Academy, Chicoli will arrive back in town after stops at Georgia Tech and South Carolina.

NC State’s 24 hours of takeover time on the ACC Network begins tonight, or rather Thursday morning, depending on your perspective. As college sports have been degraded over the years by the worst people you can imagine, I have more frequently come back to the question of why I care about them, especially now. The answer is actually obvious: it’s because being a college sports fan is a vibrant experience, rather than a narrow one, and this has become more important to me the older I’ve gotten.