What Elliott Avent Said About NC State Baseball After Fall Practice

RALEIGH — While it might not feel like college baseball season, the preparations for the 2026 campaign are well underway for Elliott Avent's NC State program at Doak Field.

The Wolfpack finished up the team portion of their fall ball practices Tuesday afternoon and will play another scrimmage, this time against North Carolina, in Durham later in the week to wrap up the fall preparations.

The veteran head coach spoke to members of the media following Tuesday's practice, providing updates about some of his key players, a major construction project at the stadium and the general state of the Wolfpack baseball program.

Watch Avent's Avaliability Here

Partial Transcript

On what it takes to compete in the modern landscape of college baseball

"If you're going to have any shot in today's new landscape of college athletics ... and I'm not saying you can't bring in all new people and be successful ... I'm just saying there is a challenge in getting everybody to play for one another... You want them to play for your school ... And have pride for the school in every sport."

"You want them to have pride in their school and you want them to like where they play and have a great time playing here, but eventually, you've got to get them to play for each other. If you don't play for each other, you're always climbing up hill a little bit."

Jun 8, 2013; Raleigh, NC, USA; North Carolina State Wolfpack head coach Elliott Avent talks during a interview between innings in the game against the Rice Owls in the game against the Rice Owls in the Raleigh super regional of the 2013 NCAA baseball tournament at Doak Field. North Carolina State defeated Rice 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-Imagn Images | Jeremy Brevard-Imagn Images

On new additions to the program

"You bring in people for a reason. You lose people and you think about how you're going to replace this guy and how you're going to replace that guy ... It's hard to do. We know guys we've had to replace and they seem irreplaceable. Sometimes, you're not going to replace them one-to-one."

"When you bring in transfer players, whether they be from a junior college or the portal, it's not just the player. It's what they bring makeup-wise and leadership-wise and who they are in the locker room."

NC State Baseball — Jun 17, 2024; Omaha, NE, USA; NC State Wolfpack players greet each other after the loss against the Florida Gators at Charles Schwab Field Omaha. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images | Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images

On the construction project being nearly finished at the baseball complex

"It's pretty exciting for me ... It's pretty exciting for a lot of people... Ray Tanner always wanted that building built and then I came over here and now this building is built. That's just the beginning, I hope."

"There's more things were going to do with this ballpark in time, I hope, but this is so special and ... It means a lot to a lot of players when they come back here and they see it, you can just tell they feel like they helped get this done."

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