But the real news revolved around three names who are less familiar.
O’Brien said that incoming freshmen William Beasley, Tobais Palmer and Marty Everett
failed to qualify academically and won’t enroll at N.C. State.
“So they’ll have to do the prep or (junior college) route depending upon what they
need to do to get themselves eligible,” N.C. State’s coach said.
Beasley is a 6-2, 225-pound linebacker from Milton, Fla. He was ranked the No. 36
strong side linebacker in the country by Scout.com and was thought to have a chance
to contribute as a freshman.
Palmer is a 5-10, 165-pound running back/cornerback from Pittsboro. Scout.com had
him as the No. 41 cornerback in the country.
Finally, Everett is a 6-4, 300-pound defensive lineman from Bushnell, Fla., who was
the No. 28 defensive tackle in the country.
O’Brien also said that incoming freshman Terrell Manning will be redshirted this
year after undergoing knee surgery in January.
He deferred all other talk about
injuries and the Wolfpack's roster until practice starts in a little over a week.
Otherwise, there wasn’t a whole lot of new information from O’Brien on the day that
his Wolfpack team was picked to finish sixth in the ACC’s Atlantic Division.
NOTABLES
O’Brien reiterated that he’ll wait until the moment is right to name a starting
quarterback. That might be the second week of practice. It might be right before the
Wolfpack’s opener at South Carolina.
With the challenging atmosphere N.C. State will face in Columbia, some might think
that incumbent Daniel Evans has a built-in advantage, but O'Brien said that’s not the
case.
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Jamelle Eugene
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“I know it’s a tough place to play and there’s a lot of excitement, but if it’s got
to be a freshman, he’s going to have to play in that situation anyway whether it be
Russell Wilson or Mike Glennon," said O'Brien. "So you might as well as start it right away
and get in the atmosphere and go after them.”
Jamelle Eugene is entrenched as the team’s starting running back ahead of Toney Baker and Andre Brown. Is Eugene looking over his shoulder?
“He doesn’t have to [look over] his shoulder at all,” said O’Brien. “He did a tremendous job the
last six games of the year. He did a great job at spring practice... he was the only
healthy tailback for a while there.
“He’s going to have to come out of the game, he’s going to have to get a rest, and
other people are going to play. He’s proven that he can be a ball carrier, he’s
proven that he can pass protect and he’s proven that he can catch the football.”
O’Brien thinks the scale of the Wolfpack’s challenge in the opener will help his
team focus.
“From the first day we came back in January, there’s been a little something about
the conditioning program, the workout program, you went to spring practice, you know
you’re going to be on national TV in the first game of the year,” O’Brien said. “I
think the intensity, I think the concentration picked up... it certainly has through
the summer because they know they’re going to have to be really good early.”