Walk-On Guard Talks Wolfpack Experience
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To help introduce his new team to Wolfpack fans, first-year head coach Will Wade hosted several episodes of a series called "Around Raleigh." The coach has interviewed several players so far.
Wade sat down with one of the only returners on the 2025-26 roster, senior guard Jordan Snell. The guard walked onto the team back in 2022 and has remained a member of the program since.
He gained attention when he became the "Boom Box" bearer during the team's remarkable Final Four run in 2024.
Watch the Episode Here
Catch a familiar face, Jordan Snell, in Episode 6 of Around Raleigh with Coach Wade. 🎥 pic.twitter.com/YWdzpMzimX
— NC State Men's Basketball (@PackMensBball) August 2, 2025
Below are some of Snell's quotes from the episode:
On why he ended up choosing NC State after high school:
Snell: "Just being around the team, that's what made me want to go to NC State and then growing up, my dad was always at mid-majors, so I was just mind-blown by the high-major lifestyle. It played a big part in my development as a player and just my development as a person."
On why he loves NC State:
Snell: "I just think it's the community that's around NC State. Like when I came in, I was kind of hesitant to really, like be myself and show my true personality, but everybody kind of wrapped their arms around me from the jump, whether that was the staff, my professors, the fans, everybody showed me love from the jump, which resulted in me wanting to ultimately stay loyal to them and come back for another year.
I feel like they always showed me love, even though I'm not always The guy on the court. My freshman year making the tournament, that was huge. That was a big experience for me."
On the origin of the boom box in 2024:
Snell: "Sophomore year, we started out OK and then we doled out ... I told the manager ... 'We should just come out with the speaker and see what happens.' So we did that. We actually beat Clemson on the road for our first quad-one win that season. That was our first game doing the boom box. We actually had a little JBL speaker at that time ... We upgrade and then it picked up some steam around the first round of the NCAA Tournament ... I guess I'm known as the boom box guy now."
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Tucker Sennett graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in Sports Journalism from the esteemed Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. A former basketball player, he has gained valuable experience working at Cronkite News and brings a deep passion for sports and reporting to his role as the NC State Wolfpack Beat Writer On SI.
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