‘How can you not pull for these guys?’ Even NC Gov. Cooper, a UNC fan, cheers NC State

N.C. State’s basketball teams — both women and men — are going to the Final Four. Their players are rising stars and unquestionably power players.

But there are a lot of N.C. State power players off the court, too.

And now they’ve gained a few converts.

Even hardcore UNC fan Gov. Roy Cooper wants the Wolfpack to win. Cooper told reporters on Tuesday after a Council of State meeting that he won’t be in the stands for the women’s and men’s Final Four but will be “cheering them on.”

“It’s a remarkable athletic feat, what the men’s team has done, particularly to be able to win five games in five days against tough competition,” Cooper said.

“Then to come back into the tournament, and win those games. A lot of athletes, when they’ve reached what may seem to be an impossible pinnacle, they have a letdown. These guys didn’t. I mean, they’re rolling.

“And I was practicing law in my first year, had just graduated from law school, when the 1983 N.C. State team made that run. It was an extraordinary — we were all for N.C. State. I’m all for them this time, too. Yes, I’m a big Carolina fan. But how can you not pull for these guys? And if you’re not a fan of the other three schools, I think everybody else is going to be going pulling for North Carolina State,” he said.

Cooper has thrown his support behind other big-name North Carolina universities too, even UNC’s hated rival, Duke. In 2022, Cooper presented the Order of the Longleaf Pine to former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski and even put a Duke collar on First Dog Violet.

‘How about the Pack?’

At Tuesday’s Council of State meeting, other statewide elected officials at the table with Cooper included one N.C. State alum and a few supporters.

Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler used part of his time in meeting with Cooper and others to praise N.C. State. Troxler received his bachelor’s degree from N.C. State in 1974, majoring in conservation with a concentration in environmental studies.

“Governor, how about the Pack? Men and women in the Final Four! So I hope everybody joins me in congratulating them for this accomplishment,” Troxler said.

Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey, a UNC-Charlotte and High Point University alum; Labor Commissioner Josh Dobson, a Gardner-Webb University and Appalachian State University alum; and State Auditor Jessica Holmes, who graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill for undergraduate and law school, also used their time to praise the Pack.

Causey wore his Wolfpack tie Tuesday.

Holmes is a former county commissioner in Wake County, home of N.C. State.

“As a double Tar Heel, it pains me to say congratulations to the teams that have made it to the Final Four. As someone who’s born and bred here in North Carolina, I will always cheer for the home team. So there’s that, and that’s about all you’re going to get,” Holmes said to laughs.

Some famous NC State alumni

Here are notable North Carolinians, not involved with sports, who graduated from or attended N.C. State:

▪ Rapsody, the rap star

▪ Christina Koch, astronaut

▪ Scotty McCreery, the country singer

▪ Jim Goodnight, CEO of SAS

▪ Zach Galifianakis, actor and comedian