June 9, 2003

RALEIGH, N.C. - NC State's Elliott Avent has been named the national coach of the year by CollegeBaseballInsider.com. CBI is a website that covers college baseball on the national level.

Avent, who just concluded his seventh season at NC State, led the Wolfpack (45-18) back to the NCAA regionals for the first time since 1999 in a wacky season in which the Pack played only 10 true home games because of renovations to Doak Field. Besides not having a home playing field for most of the season, the Wolfpack had to conduct fall and preseason practices at local high school fields. From February 10 through the end of April, NC State had just seven practices outdoors.

In addition, the Wolfpack played the season without its two most experienced pitchers -- righthanders Danial Caldwell and Derek McKee both missed the season because of surgery -- and pitching coach Bill Kernen left the team a week before the season started. The Wolfpack played until late April without a pitching coach.

NC State was predicted to finish sixth in a vote by the ACC's coaches in the preseason but rolled to a 15-9 finish, good for third in the league. The Pack cracked the top 10 several times during the season and earned the right to host a regional in Wilson, N.C. NC State swept the regional and traveled to Miami (Fla.) for a Super Regional tilt with the Miami Hurricanes, who defeated the Wolfpack in two games.

Despite the loss of Caldwell, McKee and Kernan, the Wolfpack's pitching was its strong point with the return of Michael Rogers from injury and the emergence of junior college transfer Vern Sterry and freshman Joey Devine. Sterry and Devine were first-team All-ACC, and Rogers was a second-team selection. Sterry later was named first-team All-America by Collegiate Baseball, which named Rogers and Devine to its Freshman All-America team.

In addition, junior catcher Colt Morton was named first-team All-ACC and is a finalist for the Johnny Bench Award, given annually to the nation's top college catcher. Junior outfielder Joe Gaetti was named second-team all-conference.