Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Pack's Wilson excused from spring practice

N.C. State quarterback Russell Wilson will not participate in spring football practice this year as he devotes his full attention in the spring to baseball, team spokeswoman Annabelle Myers confirmed today.

According to Myers, Wilson's spring itinerary is consistent with a plan agreed upon by Wilson and football coach Tom O'Brien long ago and doesn't necessarily indicate that Wilson will enter the major league baseball draft in the summer and stop playing football.

Wilson's scholarship is for football, and O'Brien wanted him to concentrate on learning the quarterback position in the spring early in his career. In 2008, heading into his redshirt freshman football season, Wilson didn't miss any spring practices as he competed for the starting position.

In 2009, O'Brien excused Wilson from some spring practice sessions to allow him to play baseball and even allowed Wilson to leave the spring football game at halftime to prepare for a baseball game that same day.

This year, with two seasons as a starter under his belt, Wilson will be allowed to concentrate fully on baseball.

"We're just sticking to the plan," O'Brien said in a statement relayed by Myers.

N.C. State starts spring practice on March 9.

Wilson has competed in two football seasons for the Wolfpack, earning first-team All-ACC honors in 2008 and leading the ACC with 31 touchdown passes in 2009. But 2010 will be his third baseball season with the Wolfpack, and he hasn't ruled out the idea of entering the major league draft after the season.

His only comment on his plans regarding the draft has been that he will let his faith guide his decision.

Ken Tysiac

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

See ya!

Anonymous said...

Old news. Wilson already stated that he wants one final football season in order to make his record 3-0 vs. UNC-CH. Can UNC fans stomach going 0-4 vs. State in their Coach Davis era?

UNC said...

Anonymous - you know you won't go 4-0 vs UNC. We are going to win the NC in 2010. With the D-line we have coming back...you just watch.

Anonymous said...

Wow.. UNC said the same thing last year.. Those same returning players haven't beaten State yet.. Good luck next time..

Anonymous said...

UNC will win the NC in 2010? Let's hope that "NC" means something other than "national championship." The d-line's accomplishments were magnified because they played against WEAK ACC (and I-AA) competition. The only two competent running games they faced (GT and Pitt) sliced them and diced them like a salad shooter. Unless something changes from last year (when they couldn't even beat NCSU or UVA), it has been shown that they're not mentally tough enough to be big time.