North Carolina State University Athletics
PEELER: Getting To Know Chancellor Woodson
4/22/2010 12:00:00 AM | Pack Athletics
BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH, N.C. – Admittedly, William "Randy" Woodson still has a lot to learn about NC State athletics and all of its traditions. But give him time. He is eager to be the Wolfpack's biggest supporter in every sport.
Woodson, formerly the provost at Purdue University, was named NC State's 14th chancellor in January. He immediately began learning as much as he could about every aspect of the university's 11 colleges and graduate school and its athletics program, which includes 23 varsity sports. He made seven trips to Raleigh before taking the post, and now that he and his wife Susan are here permanently, he's learning how things work at North Carolina's largest university.
On one of his trips here, he took in a men's basketball game at the RBC Center and was introduced to the crowd.
Saturday, during the annual Kay Yow Spring Football Game, Woodson took a tour of the Chancellor's box in Vaughn Towers at Carter-Finley Stadium, where he will entertain during football games in the fall. He introduced himself and his wife to the Wolfpack Club's state representatives during their annual workshop prior to the game. He met Torry and Terrence Holt and Mario Williams, among other football alumni.
He really liked what he saw, more than 25,000 fans at Carter-Finley Stadium for a spring football game. He readily admits that he never saw anything like that at Purdue.
This weekend, he'll take in his first baseball game at Doak Field at Dail Park, when the Wolfpack hosts a three-game series against Boston College. And he is eager to see more sporting events throughout the academic year and to meet the student-athletes that represent NC State University.
Sitting in his office at Holladay Hall, Woodson talked about his first memory of Wolfpack athletics, dating back to his high school days in Arkansas when he watched in amazement the high-flying abilities of basketball All-America David Thompson.
Woodson grew up playing baseball and spent his college years in Arkansas and Louisiana, getting a good taste of college football, SEC-style. He spent more than 25 years in Indiana, so he's learned to love college basketball. He's even seen basketball games at Frankfort High School's Everett Case Arena, a domed building on campus that seats more than 5,000 spectators for a school with an enrollment of less than 900 students.
And he knows that Coach Case imported big-time basketball from Indiana to North Carolina.
But, he's still learning many of the nuances about his new school.
"I recognize I am coming in from the foreign part of the country in the middle of the United States," Woodson said. "I still have a lot to learn."
Earlier this week, Woodson answered the following questions for GoPack.com
GoPack.com: Can you talk about your basic philosophy about college athletics and its importance to the university?
Chancellor Woodson: As I have said publicly and frequently, I am a huge fan of college athletics. On a personal level, I enjoy the environment and enthusiasm that the alums and others have for the university, in many cases because of athletics. It is a big part of the brand for the university. It is something that has the potential to help attract great students and keep alumni coming back to NC State. That is a good thing. But it can be a challenge when it is not done well or ethically. Every indication is that NC State has been working hard to be compliant with the NCAA rules. What I see is a university whose alumni are passionate about athletics. I have already heard from a lot of them.
GoPack.com: Wolfpack fans certainly have a lot of passion.
Chancellor Woodson: And they have shown their passion through their contributions. While I know there are gaps that we always need to be attentive to, we have world-class facilities for athletics at NC State. All the pieces appear to be very strong to put this puzzle together. But our alums and our fans want us to win. And, frankly, I like to win too.
GoPack.com: What was your involvement with athletics while you were at Purdue?
Chancellor Woodson: My experience is that I have been a leader at a Big 10 university, where athletics are not trivial. I wasn't as engaged [as a dean or provost] as I will be as a chancellor, but I was fairly involved in athletics as provost, because of some of the things we did with academic issues. And because I am a huge fan, I pay attention.
GoPack.com: Have you learned much about NC State's student-athletes and their academic successes?
Chancellor Woodson: I've seen that more from the numbers side than I have from the people side. At the end of the day, this is a people business. But here is what I know: I know there are a lot of young men and women who go to a university because of athletics and leave the university an educated person ready for the workforce. The great thing about athletics is that it is a way to attract people and give them a tremendous educational experience and they leave as a person ready for a career. Higher education is a transformative experience in people's lives. It opens up doors and opens their minds to the possibilities of what they can do in the future. If they come to the university because of athletics, we are going to open up their minds and their future, not only through the education they get as an athlete, but also because of the education they get as a student.
GoPack.com: Do you have a favorite sport?
Chancellor Woodson: I am a big fan of a lot of sports. I grew up playing baseball, so that will always be special to me. I am going to my first baseball game this weekend. I will admit that I have never witnessed a rifle competition. But the students and the student-athletes and the coaches will see me attend a number of sporting events. Susan was a cheerleader in high school and understands football. I certainly love football. I spend a lot of time watching it when I have some free time. Spending so much time in Indiana, I have learned to love basketball, because it is huge in the state. My son [Patrick] was an all-state soccer player and won an athletic scholarship to play soccer. I have watched a lot of soccer and learned to appreciate the nuances of the game. When I went to Cornell, I learned to love hockey. The bottom line is, I enjoy being part of the competition that athletics brings to an institution.
GoPack.com: Did you ever go to Frankfort, Ind.?
Chancellor Woodson: ..."The Home of the Hot Dogs." I have been to Everett Case Arena at Frankfort High School many, many times, because my son played some basketball games there in junior high. One of the things that amazed me about Indiana, having grown up in Arkansas, is that you can go to the smallest town in Indiana and they will have an arena for basketball that seats 2,500 people or more. Where do these people come from? Frankfort is a great example of that. They have a domed arena that seats about 6,000.
GoPack.com: What has your interaction been so far with coaches and student-athletes, and what do you want it to be?
Chancellor Woodson: Well, let me just say that I admire what they do and I want them to know I support their efforts to help young men and women be successful, but they don't need me to be the athletics director. I just need to do everything I can to create an environment here where the coaches can be successful and the student-athletes can be successful. I'll be a big fan, but I need the athletics director to be the person [in charge of] the coaches and the organization. I have tried hard to meet the coaches as I can. I met Coach [Tom] O'Brien last week. When our [basketball] team beat Duke, right after I had been named chancellor, I called Coach [Sidney] Lowe to congratulate him. Those are the things they can expect of me, is to be a fan and to be supportive. But I don't know enough to run their business. I do look forward to meeting all the coaches. At the end of the day, they are educators. They are incredibly important in the lives of a large number of young people and they have the opportunity to make positive impacts on their lives. They are a big part of the university.
GoPack.com: You had a little taste Saturday at the Kay Yow Spring Football game of what a football game-day is like. What do you anticipate those to be like for you in the fall?
Chancellor Woodson: Let's not go back and tell [Purdue athletics director] Morgan Burke this, but Saturday's game was a bigger spring event than I ever experienced at Purdue. Having said that, there are certainly big spring games within the Big Ten. Purdue just didn't have that. One of the things I was very impressed by is the fact that the former players are coming back and it is really catching hold as a tradition. I thought that was a wonderful testament to the institution that they have the kind of respect and loyalty to NC State that they willing to make an effort to come back.
GoPack.com: When you were introduced to the university community in February at Reynolds Coliseum, you spoke about your memories of NC State basketball, like David Thompson and the 1983 NCAA championship. Can you share those again?
Chancellor Woodson: In 1974, I was a high school student and I just remember seeing David Thompson play on television. I had never seen anybody jump like he did. He was such an iconic basketball player.In terms of 1983, it was just such a wild ending to a season. This was a team that was on the bubble of even going to the NCAA. I was at LSU during that season. It just is an iconic moment in college basketball history. I have also come to appreciate that Reynolds Coliseum was a huge part of the growth of college basketball in the state of North Carolina. I think Everett Case was, too. To a certain extent, Duke and North Carolina should be grateful to NC State for what was created here.
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
