N.C. State secures 2009 football class

Wednesday turned out to be a solid day for the Wolfpack football program.  Tom O'Brien and his staff inked 24 high schoolers from all over who will join the N.C. State family later this year. 

Here's a complete list of the signing day additions via GoPack.com

Morgan Alexander 5'11" 180lbs. ATH Cartersville, Ga. 

Brandan Bishop 6'2" 200 lbs.  SAF Boca Raton, Fla. 

Jarvis Byrd 5'11" 180 lbs.  CB Pahokee, Fla. 

Darryl Cato-Bishop 6'4" 250lbs.  DE Groton, Mass.

Tyson Chandler 6'6" 340 lbs.  OL North Plainfield, NJ

Ryan Cheek 6'1" 230 lbs.  LB  Lancaster, Oh. 

Duran Christophe 6'6" 280 lbs.  OL  Woodstock, Ga. 

Sylvester Crawford 6'4" 225 lbs.  DE  Charlotte, NC

Rickey Dowdy 6'2" 225 lbs.  LB High Point, NC

A.J. Ferguson 6'3" 250 lbs.  DL Southport, NC

Denzelle Good 6'6" 325 lbs.  OL Gaffney, SC

Dean Haynes 5'11" 178lbs  CB  Tunnel Hill, Ga.

Quintin Payton 6'4" 190 lbs.  WR Anderson, SC

Everett Proctor 6'2" 200 lbs.  QB Fayetteville, NC

Raynard Randolph 6'2" 320 lbs.  DT Brandywine, MD

Hans Rice 6'2" 205 lbs.  LB Eufaula, Ala.

Deion Roberson 6'3" 275 lbs.  DT Tucker, Ga.

Brian Slay 6'3" 290 lbs.  DT Ashburn, Va.

Rashard Smith 5'11" 175 lbs.  CB Dublin, Ga.

Anthony Talbert 6'4" 230 lbs. TE Cincinnati, Oh.

Bryan Underwood 5'11" 170 lbs.  WR University Heights, Oh.

Chris Ward 6'1" 175 lbs.  P Fayetteville, Ga.

Asa Watson 6'4" 225 lbs.  TE Rock Hill, SC

Camden Watz 6'3" 290 lbs.  OL  Marietta, Ga.

Players who enrolled in spring '09

Donald Coleman 6'0" 210 lbs.  SAF Detroit, Mi.

Sam Jones 6'7" 295 lbs. OL Fuquay-Varina, NC

Nathan Mageo 6'3" 285 lbs.  DT  Pago Pago, American Samoa

James Washington, III 5'11" 185 lbs RB Orlando, Fla.

Signing Day Extravaganza

By the end of today, N.C. State football will have 25 new members. The fiasco that is National Signing Day has turned into a media frenzy event, and the Wolfpack football program is no different.

Coach Tom O'Brien will hold a press conference at 4 p.m. today to announce the 2009 football class. 

I will post a complete list of signees later today with info on the best of them. 

Stay tuned...

Pack picks up win over NCCU

N.C. State, now 12-8 overall, picked up a victory over the Eagles from North Carolina Central Tuesday night.

The 87-59 win came against a team in the Eagles who is now 2-23 overall and one of the worst division one programs in the country.

The break in ACC action came three days after the loss to UNC and five day before State's next action, against Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.

Forward Brandon Costner led the Pack with 25 points, but N.C. State committed 20 turnovers and allowed Central guard Jamar Briscoe to score 28.

Heading into Sunday's showdown with the Hokies, the Pack must focus on improving guard play and taking care of the ball. If State has any chance of making a late season run and making some noise in the ACC, these problems have to be addressed.

Check out the complete box score here.

Yow memorial defaced Sunday morning

Following Saturday's basketball game against UNC, the mural commemorating the life of Kay Yow in the N.C. State Free Expression Tunnel was painted over. 

Those who painted on the mural wrote statements making derogatory statements about cancer. N.C. State students painted back over the mural with pink paint during the night on Saturday. 

Here's a link to an article from Technician.

Here's an opinion response to the painting from the Daily Tar Heel.

Pack falls to UNC

Saturday's basketball game against North Carolina proved to be what many expected. N.C. State came to play, but they just didn't quite have enough to match the talent of the Tar Heels. 

Tyler Hansbrough completely dominated the inside tandem of Ben McCauley and Tracy Smith. His 31 points were the difference. 

Moving forward, the Pack has plenty of positives to take away from the game. Courtney Fells showed some life, bringing the Pack back in the second half with his three point shooting. Also, Farnold Degand and Julius Mays are playing more consistent at point guard and the entire team is showing great effort. 

If State keeps playing hard, the NCAA tournament is something they can accomplish. It will be interesting to see how the rest of the ACC regular season and season as a whole plays out. I'm cautiously optimistic from here on out.