North Carolina State University Athletics
Surprises Abound at Baseball Banquet
2/16/2012 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 16, 2012
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RALEIGH, N.C. – There were a couple of nice surprises on Thursday prior to the annual induction ceremonies for the NC State Baseball Hall of Fame.
Wolfpack head coach Elliott Avent was greeted around lunchtime by an unexpected visitor when Wolfpack men’s basketball coach Mark Gottfried, before heading over to Durham for his team’s meeting with Duke, stopped by to congratulate the newest inductees and wish the 2012 baseball team good luck as they prepare for Friday’s season opener against Marshall.
Newly elected member Terry Harvey was surprised to see his former coach on hand to introduce him. It wasn’t his former baseball coach Ray Tanner, however. It was former football coach Dick Sheridan, who recruited Harvey from Georgia to be his quarterback in the early 1990s. It made Harvey wish he’d shaved his beard, something Sheridan never allowed during his seven years as NC State football coach.
The former coach wasn’t worried about facial hair, however. He was proud that Harvey left school not only as the football program’s all-time leading passer, but also the baseball program’s career-leader in wins, innings-pitched and strikeouts as well.
Harvey was one of four new inductees during the sold-out banquet at the North Hills Marriott Renaissance Hotel on Thursday night.
Two other former players were inducted with Harvey, former All-America third baseman Tracy Woodson and NC State all-time hits and RBI leader Jake Weber. The trio of players – all of whom were on the ACC’s Top 50 players in history – were joined by former NC State sports information director and senior associate athletics director Frank Weedon, himself a surprise addition to the class late last month.
Each member of the fourth class of inductees to NC State’s only hall of fame had worthy credentials.
Harvey nearly threw a complete-game one-hitter in his first career start as a freshman, became the first pitcher to ever no-hit Florida State as a sophomore and spent his final two seasons by bouncing back and forth between baseball and football as one of the best two-sport athletes in Wolfpack history.
Woodson had one of the greatest single seasons in NC State baseball history in 1984, clubbing a school-record 25 home runs. In addition, he was a member of the 1988 World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers and a successful minor league manager. Since 2006, Woodson has been the head coach at Valparaiso.
Weber was reliability incarnate, starting every single game during his four-year career, an ACC-record of 248 without missing an out. He completed his four-year career as NC State’s all-time hits and RBI leader.
Weedon, whose name is proudly displayed on the press box at Doak Field at Dail Park because of a $50,000 naming gift, spent more than 50 years serving the NC State athletics department, as sports information director, associate athletics director and departmental historian. As much as he contributed to all Wolfpack athletics, baseball was always the Washington, D.C., native’s favorite sport.
Even though he was unable to attend Thursday night’s induction ceremonies because of health reasons, Weedon’s presence at any NC State athletics event – especially a banquet – doesn’t have to be literal. His fingerprints were all over it.
While Weedon was a long-time fixture at NC State, all three of the players went in different directions after leaving baseball.
Woodson remained in baseball, even after his five-year major-league career ended. After taking off his cleats, he became a minor league manager for the Florida Marlins, including stints with the Albuquerque Isotopes and the Carolina Mudcats. He spent his off-seasons refereeing college basketball games. Since 2006, he has been the head baseball coach at Valparaiso. He was offered the job with the condition that complete his bachelor’s degree he didn’t wait for after leaving NC State following his junior year. He finished his 64 credits in less than two years at Valpo and proudly displays his degree in his office.
Harvey spent three years in the minor leagues after leaving NC State, ultimately leaving the sport and never looking back. He and his wife settled down in Cary and take turns shuttling their three sons to athletic fields all over the Triangle. He works at CEVA Logistics in Cary as a development manager.
Weber was admittedly lost when his minor league career ended with the Yankees organization. He met his wife, who was enrolled in a U.S. Army dentistry program that required military service. He decided to join the Army as well and, after a 14-month stint in Afghanistan, is awaiting a transfer from his current assignment in San Antonio to Fort Gordon in Augusta, Ga.
