Quote :

"Hey guys. I just want to tell you: I've really enjoyed these last few weeks with you. It's been so much fun when everybody is happy and joking and being a loving family. Whatever happens tonight, i love you all. I wish this feeling would never end."

[Edited on March 23, 2012 at 5:43 PM. Reason : bitches love smileys]

3/23/2012 5:43:12 PM

lol it's amazing how winning brings out the nice in everybody.

3/23/2012 6:27:44 PM

3/23/2012 6:34:47 PM

Lisa Frank in Sports Talk??

3/23/2012 6:35:57 PM

Quote :

"Gottfried, the former Murray State and Alabama coach, knew North Carolina State had a passionate fan base that was itching for a return for greatness. The Wolfpack, who won the NCAA title in 1974 and 1983, averaged 13,779 fans per game in 2010-11 despite having a losing team. "And that's not fake attendance," said Lutz, the assistant coach. "That's actual butts in seats.""

Lol I loved this part of that article for some reason. Lutz was taking a stab at UNC?

3/23/2012 8:47:31 PM

definitely

3/23/2012 8:49:36 PM

Haha I thought the exact same thing

3/23/2012 10:08:38 PM

.

[Edited on March 23, 2012 at 11:52 PM. Reason : .]

3/23/2012 11:51:58 PM

AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME SEASON!!!

Stay hongry, WOLFPACK!!!

3/24/2012 12:54:50 AM

Great Season Pack. WAY AHEAD OF SCHEDULE.

3/24/2012 1:04:26 AM

who woulda thunk it, sweet 16 this year.

lets hope it's a sign of things to come.

3/24/2012 1:24:57 AM

^ You must not have been around long. Don't get your hopes up. It's still NC State.

3/24/2012 1:25:48 AM

been around long enough.

[Edited on March 24, 2012 at 1:27 AM. Reason : god damn negative people]

3/24/2012 1:27:09 AM

Any chance we start the season in the top 25?

Congrats pack on a great season, let's make next year even greater. I'm not over the loss, but the anger is dissipating. Wolfpack nation should be proud. I hope Amile is paying attention to this effort.

3/24/2012 1:27:21 AM

I think the 2011-12 team will be remembered favorably by State fans. This team fought hard all season, got us back into the tournament, & won a couple of games in the tourney too. Although we all believed NC State Basketball could one day be great again, this team confirmed those beliefs. And for that we will be forever grateful.

Next year the team should contend for the ACC, and have a decent chance at going farther in the tournament.

3/24/2012 3:37:14 AM

they went to the sweet 16 of course they'll be remembered favorably.

3/24/2012 4:00:10 AM

^^^almost certainly.

very, very proud of this team - especially in the last stretch of the season. I just pray to God that Leslie comes back for another year. we could dominate. especially if Amile and/or Torian decide to join the fray.

Gottfried too a "rebuilding" year and turned it into one of the best runs we've had in a long time.

3/24/2012 4:34:38 AM

Now I'm ready to see next year's thread. This season was great, and a whole lot of fun, but our team still has a lot of history left to make next year.

3/24/2012 10:50:16 AM

I think our measure of progress should not be how far we make it in the NCAAT. We may or may not make it this far next year. But I do expect us to challenge for the ACC regular season title, and make a deep run in the ACCT. Year after year. That's what our program needs.

3/24/2012 10:56:17 AM

i agree, some stars aligned this year with our NCAAT draw and play...

we will definitely not be under the radar next year. we will have more potential for a deep run but it still might not happen... just the way you show up in one game could take you out of the tourney. look at better teams like mizz, duke, msu.

Gottfried is awesome though. I am just so upset at having to wait until next year. It's a long wait.

3/24/2012 11:07:38 AM

It won't be that long a wait because there is also an exciting football season to look forward to. Debbie has done wonders for this program. Baseball is improving, soccer is too(not long before we catch UNC there).

3/24/2012 11:12:11 AM

I was so pissed we lost to Kansas, but this team deserves a ton of credit! Congrats to the seniors! Glad you guys made a great memory for yourselves.

Maybe we can be a top 20 team and get a 4 seed next year!

3/24/2012 3:16:41 PM

Final AP rankings after the tourney....State cracks top 20?

3/24/2012 4:03:27 PM

Get the feeling that adidas is going to go state crazy in the offseason and we are gonna end up needing to wear sunglasses to look at our jerseys next year.

3/24/2012 4:12:19 PM

Quote :

"But I do expect us to challenge for the ACC regular season title, and make a deep run in the ACCT. Year after year. That's what our program needs."

Incorrect. This is precisely what we had with Herb. We knew without a shadow of a doubt every single year that we'd get to the Dance, but we knew without a doubt that we'd never win a NC.

Just getting in gets really old, really fast. That cannot be the goal.

3/24/2012 7:10:07 PM

Some of Herb's teams were bubble teams. just saying

3/24/2012 7:14:47 PM

Herb didn't even make it into the tournament until his 6th season, and in five consectuve trips, we only made it past the 2nd round once. We finished 2nd in the ACC once, and tied for 3rd once. We averaged 5th/6th place in the ACC over his 10 year career. We averaged less than 20 wins a season, often with soft OOC schedules.

[Edited on March 24, 2012 at 7:24 PM. Reason : ]

3/24/2012 7:23:11 PM

Expectations for next year should be that we go from a bubble team to a team that is solidly in, finish with at least 10 ACC wins, and get a bye in the ACC Tournament, and get some good OOC wins. I just want to see steady improvement. I'm still a State fan, and I am way too familiar with promising looking seasons ending up being great disappointments.

3/24/2012 7:29:16 PM

Congrats to the team on winning over 20 games, finishing in the top half of the ACC, making the NCAA tourny, and making the sweet 16. This season exceeded my expectations.

3/25/2012 7:46:02 PM

HAPPY BIRTHDAY THE BIG DANDY VANDY

3/25/2012 7:51:12 PM

My goal for next year is simply 25 wins.

3/25/2012 8:08:03 PM

more like 28 to 30 with a Championship!

3/25/2012 8:10:44 PM

Quote :

"We knew without a shadow of a doubt every single year that we'd get to the Dance"

This is so fucking false, it is not even funny. Herb was perpetually on the bubble except for one season when we got a 4 seed or maybe a 3 and then lost that heartbreaker to Freije and Vandy in the 2nd round.

3/26/2012 7:47:39 AM

finished ranked #20

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/rankings

4/3/2012 1:47:33 PM

i'll take it

4/3/2012 1:56:28 PM

take it? I'll celebrate it...

4/3/2012 2:40:09 PM

What? I'm sure i'm just missing something here, but I dont see us on that list.....it says we only received 2 votes in the Coaches Poll...and not list anywhere in the AP 25.

[Edited on April 3, 2012 at 3:29 PM. Reason : \/\/ Ahhhh, gotcha. I knew I was missing something, haha.]

4/3/2012 3:26:00 PM

^Are you a Pitt fan?

4/3/2012 3:28:04 PM

you are looking at the wrong poll

4/3/2012 3:28:05 PM

WE'RE NUMBER 20! WE'RE NUMBER 20! WE'RE NUMBER 20! WE'RE NUMBER 20!

4/3/2012 5:08:02 PM

Lol. We went from 0 votes the entire first 18 weeks to 2 votes to postseason #20. Pretty much exact opposite of UCLA which started preseason #20, went down to 10 votes the next week and then got 0 votes the rest of the season.

4/3/2012 5:08:03 PM

nevermind. not going to be a downer.

[Edited on April 3, 2012 at 5:18 PM. Reason : but you guys can probably guess what this post was about.]

4/3/2012 5:18:30 PM

4/3/2012 5:21:34 PM

4/3/2012 5:45:17 PM

http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/04/03/indiana-louisville-top-our-too-early-2012-13-preseason-top-25/

Quote :

"4. N.C. State Wolfpack (24-13) Too high for a team that was an average ACC team that got hot at season’s end? Maybe. But the Wolfpack return four starters and bring in a top 5 recruiting class headed by guard Rodney Purvis. It’s an athletic, balanced group that also boasts elite athletes. Now we’ll see if coach Mark Gottfried can pull off some magic for an entire season."

Quote :

"11. Duke Blue Devils (27-7) Speaking of no defense, don’t expect another season of soft D in Durham. Austin Rivers may be gone, but the Devils boast experience and shooters. That’s enough for 25 wins with Coach K on the sideline."

Quote :

"22. North Carolina Tar Heels (32-6) UNC needs James Michael McAdoo to stay. Desperately. Without him, their frontcourt would be shot, leaving Reggie Bullock and P.J. Hairston to do the heavy lifting. Hope incoming freshman Marcus Paige is ready to run the show."

4/3/2012 9:18:06 PM

Also I liked this quote:

Quote :

"It’s an athletic, balanced group that also boasts elite athletes."

4/3/2012 9:20:32 PM

i like the sound of that too. we'll have a lot of athletes, and some of them are or will be elite. wonder how far we'll drop in the pre-season polls if cjl leaves? (because he's the most athletically elite)

4/3/2012 9:27:36 PM

I just liked it because it specifies that not only are we athletic, we also have athletes!

4/3/2012 9:35:08 PM

elite athletes

4/3/2012 9:35:47 PM

elithletes

4/3/2012 9:49:04 PM