North Carolina State University Athletics
PEELER: Wolfpack Club Caravan Rolls Through Raleigh
4/23/2009 12:00:00 AM | Pack Athletics
BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH, N.C. New NC State coaches Steve Springthorpe and Kelly Harper stood at center stage Wednesday night in front of the 700 attendees at the Wake County Wolfpack Club Caravan.
The event, one of the biggest in the string of similar Caravans across the state, featured 18 of the school’s 20 head coaches, along with athletics director Lee Fowler, Wolfpack Club executive director Bobby Purcell and many other members of the athletics department and Wolfpack Club staff.
But several athletes, including women’s basketball player Shayla Fields and first-team All-ACC quarterback Russell Wilson, stole the show.
Fields represented all student-athletes in thanking the members of the organization that provides the $7 million per year to pay for all athletic scholarships.
“This was the least I could do to show my appreciation for the Wolfpack Club and what they do for all of us,” said Fields, who just completed her four-year career with the Wolfpack. “My experience here with the Wolfpack family has been a major adventure. I have had the opportunity to play amongst and against the best, while ultimately getting what I came here for four years ago...a college degree.
“The Wolfpack Club family means more to me than I ever could have imagined. When you come here as a freshman, you never really know where the scholarship money comes from. All you know is that you are recruited here to play a sport, something you have probably wanted to do your whole life. I was fortunate that Coach Kay Yow always talked to us about the Wolfpack Club and what it stands for.”
Wilson, fresh off the field from baseball practice, delivered an invocation, after raucous welcome from the supporters. Several of his football teammates, who spent much of the two-hour meeting playing with kids on the practice fields, joined him later on stage.
“I believe that is the first time I have ever seen a standing ovation for someone giving a prayer,” Purcell said.
After every coach was introduced, football coach Tom O’Brien, men’s basketball coach Sidney Lowe and baseball coach Elliott Avent each spent a few minutes talking to the packed tent.
O’Brien clearly still pumped from Saturday’s inaugural Kay Yow Spring Game, which drew 21,075 fans and raised nearly $30,000 thanked the crowd for their support in turning the event into a fundraiser for the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund and the Wolfpack Club’s Kay Yow Endowment.
He relayed stories of kids who weren’t asked to make a donation at all who turned over their weekly allowance at the front gate. He also told of one little girl who brought her piggy bank to the front gate, broke it open and emptied all the contents into the collection bin.
O’Brien would like to meet the little girl. (Anyone who knows her, see the e-mail address below.)
Lowe who along with women’s cross country coach Laurie Henes, men’s golf coach Richard Sykes, cheerleading coach Harold Trammel attended school at NC State, so he had even more reason to thank the Wolfpack Club for its support.
Both Springthorpe and Harper have been hired since the end of women’s soccer season and women’s basketball season, respectively, so they are both introducing themselves whenever possible to the fan base, as well as recruits.
Harper, who was announced as Kay Yow successor last Thursday, spent the weekend out of town recruiting. She also has spent much time getting to know her players. In fact, later in day after she was hired, she held 30-minute individual workout sessions and has conducted as many group workouts as allowed under NCAA guidelines.
She’s making plans for her first group of summer camps, which will be conducted as usual at Reynolds Coliseum and Carmichael Gymnasium. The first week of camp is slated for June 21-25 (for individual players), followed by team camp June 26-28, day camp July 20-23 and elite camp July 31-Aug. 2.
“It’s a great way for our program to reach out to the community,” Harper said. “It’s a great time for kids to come out and have fun with basketball, with our players and with our staff.
“It’s important for me for kids to enjoy themselves at camp. I want them to learn early on that you can have fun while learning basketball.”
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
