Younger Finley Signs On To 'Blaze His Own Trail' At State
Because of his name, the position he plays and his relationship to one of the most successful quarterbacks in NC State history, Ben Finley will inevitably be compared to his older brother Ryan.
But it won't be by coach Dave Doeren.
"Ben is his own guy," Doeren said Wednesday upon announcing the younger Finley's signing as a member of the Wolfpack's 2020 recruiting class. "He’s got to blaze his own trail. He chose to come to NC State for his reasons."
Ben Finley was a frequent visitor to Raleigh during his brother's three seasons at State, in which Ryan completed 64.5 percent of his passes, threw for 10,501 yards and 60 touchdowns while leading the Wolfpack to consecutive nine-win seasons in 2017-18.
He was so smitten by State, then-offensive coordinator Eliah Drinkwitz and the atmosphere surrounding its program that he became the first player in this year's class to commit to the Wolfpack.
His pledge, however, came with a promise to Doeren that he was joining the Wolfpack for the right reasons not simply to follow in the footsteps of his big brother.
"While I was recruiting him, that was when we knew that if we played really well, Eliah could be a head coach," Doeren said of Drinkwitz, who did in fact leave to take over a program of his own -- first at Appalachian State, not Missouri.
"I told him ‘you can’t come here because of Eliah. You can’t come here because of Ryan. This needs to be your school.’ He committed that way. Obviously, from the outside looking in, there’s going to be comparisons for him. He’s going to have to do it his own way."
Ben Finley might be a Wolfpack legacy, but that's not why he was offered his scholarship by Doeren.
The 6-foot-3, 190-pound native of Phoenix, Ariz., has put together an impressive resume of his own. He has a quick release and is an extremely accurate passer, completing 63.7 percent of his throws this season as a senior at Paradise Valley High School.
But he also had the arm strength to throw down field and the agility to elude rushers and make things happen on the run, finishing the 2019 season with 3,442 passing yards and 35 touchdowns, with only eight interceptions.
Given the Wolfpack's struggles at the quarterback position last season and the fact that Finley will enroll early, the new signee figures to have a legitimate shot of competing for the starting job..
The familiarity Doeren and other members of his staff have with him can't hurt, either.
"Obviously, we know a lot about not just Ben," Doeren said, "but his family and his pedigree and his mentality, the way he was raised and his family."
