Or nice save time is back up, please. Right, Lizzy Low. Right? I promise to today. Bye. Yes. Tonight is a celebration. And in NC State when we celebrate, we do it right here at the Bell Tower, we had a lot to celebrate. Y'all been out here a lot recently. Not one, not 12, final four teams, two teams have showed us how to survive and advance what a time to be a part of the pack tonight, we're here to celebrate our women's basketball team who won two games at Reynolds Coliseum. Then flew all across the country to Portland Oregon and won two more. Beat Stanford and top seed of Texas to reach the final four. And we're here tonight to celebrate our men's basketball team who won five games in five days and beat Carolina to become AC C champions. Then beat Duke in the elite eight to reach the final four in Phoenix. Incredible crowd here tonight. We're gonna welcome up our chancellor, Chancellor Woodson to help kick this party off. A thank you all for coming out tonight to celebrate one of the most amazing years in NC State's history with our men and our women teams going to the final four amazing runs by both programs. So, well, coach, you're gonna meet both Coach Moore and Coach Keats and all the players tonight. Thank you so much for everything you've done to celebrate the pack. When, uh, Bill Corgan, and you'll hear from director Corgan later when we were flying between Phoenix and Cleveland, we said when we get back to Raleigh, we've got to do something because folks have gathered at the Bell Tower to celebrate these teams, but that teams couldn't be there because they were in Portland or they were in Dallas. So tonight, thank you for coming out to let the team know what it means to celebrate at the Bell tower to light it red for the pack. So thank you for coming out. Thank you. Ok. Ok. Tonight, we're not just celebrating the historic accomplishments of our women's basketball and our men's basketball team tonight. We're also celebrating you. All of you came out tonight, all of you that are watching at home. Thank you all so much for the impact that you've made in this community and at this school that we love so much. Thank you for coming out to the Bell Tower after every win to light at red, you're ready to meet your teams. Let's meet the Portland four regional champs, UN C State women's basketball team. First. The assistant coach is NC State alum Ashley Williams Houston Thatcher, and that's your associate head coach, Nicky West. Now, your women's basketball team. Number 20 42 15, Wesley Williamson. 24. Absolutely. Number 22 pursuing professional opportunities and unable to join us tonight. Let's hear it for number two, come in and the most for regional. Number 10. Your head coach. No, ladies and gentlemen, year 2023 2024 women's basketball team. Take a look back at your postseason run. People got it. I, I, yes, yeah. Course a day they kill us ST 16 in the, for the 16th time. Let's just say the, we, we feel kind of like the party crashers. You know, I don't know that we got an invitation to this thing, but we're here, baby and he just, this playing in the air. That ain't no second time the last three years. NC State. Why? Eight? I had to get it out of the refrigerator. Oh, we got, that's what separates Wack women's basketball from a final four appearance today at Sea State plays in the regional final in Portland against top seed in Texas without that trophy. I'm down this today. This is the last game here. Let's take it. It's hard. We didn't come here for nothing. One on one with Booker driving into her chest hours. She flexes to, oh, Brook flex it on him. Here's James. She's got three threes driving kick to rivers. How the car straight on three winne can't keep up with it. Crosses over gets left and Lane finds the ball with free throw line jumper. She was just there and she knocks it down five seconds left. Final four, we're going to party like second time in school history. The first was in, they're gonna put another banner up in Reynolds Coliseum. I don't know what to do right now. I'm so part of the team. We came a long way. We was, we wasn't even right in the beginning of the season. Now, look, we going to the bottom floor baby. That's all that matter. That's all it matter. Hey, ok, we brought it back. Ok. What an incredible video to showcase the love that this team had for each other and the love that Wolfpack nation you all had for this team, Andrew Sanders. Now the head coach of the Wolfpack Westmore coach, I have to ask you, how did it feel? Describe your emotions and your mentality when it sinks in the clock hits zero and you win that elite eight game against Texas? You go in the final four. Yeah, just so many things ran through my mind. Obviously, I was here with coach Yo in the nineties and I instantly thought of her and when I went to the final four in 98 I thought about the team two years ago that came within a double overtime game of getting this done. And then obviously, I thought about these young ladies coming from where we started all the way to the final four. Unbelievable run. Just uh fantastic. No doubt, this is a special team. What was it about this team that made it so special that helped propel you all the way to Cleveland. Yeah, I just think they were so unselfish and everybody pull for each other. There was no, you know, jealousy, whatever, everyone was genuinely happy when somebody played well. And that was what was great about this team. We didn't rely on one or two people. I think we had probably about six or seven different people lead us in scoring at different times on any given night, we had a lot of players that could go out and score 25 and I just think it was a lot of fun from that standpoint. There was a definitely a team and uh both on the court and off. Uh It was, they were fun to be around and your team basically unbeatable at home in Reynolds Coliseum. Tell me about the fan base, their support and how much that helped. Yeah, you know, uh definitely, um I think we won three games in overtime at home this year. I had so many opportunities where we could have, you know, maybe we were behind and had to dig out of a hole. Uh But our fans gave us the energy we needed, gave us the confidence we needed. And uh again, we definitely could do it without a Wolf Pack Nation. And the fan base is just so much fun to be around. Let's face it. You have more fun in red, right? So again, uh we've had a lot of fun with the fans and we just appreciate them coming back at three o'clock in the morning, uh from out in Portland or whatever or just different places. Uh It's been unbelievable and we really appreciate uh the support everybody's given us. Thank you, coach. All right. Thank you, Go Rivers. Welcome to the Bell Tower. Appreciate it. Appreciate it. It feels good. Y'all lit. It, read a number of times this year. Tell me about this team. It's been clear throughout the love that y'all have for one another. Describe it to me, man. This is a sisterhood that we created. Uh I wouldn't want to play with anybody else. We love each other. Uh We were blessed to have a great group, great personalities and I'm just so surprised at how much we gel together on and off the court. Like coach said, we always have a good time and it's been fun. I think I can speak for everybody and we can attest to that. So y'all have fun this year. I think it was fun guys. So OK, when you go to a final four, you leave a legacy, right? In that video, they're gonna put a banner up in Reynolds Coliseum for y'all. When we think back and look back on this team. What is that? Legacy. What do you want people to remember about this team? Like I already spoke on, we're more than just a team. We're more than basketball players. We're sisters. These are the girls that's gonna be at my wedding, baby showers, whatever the case may be, you know, I love them to death. And this was for Kay. Yeah, period, period. Uh Now this is for Ky, you know, the team that almost made it two years ago hasn't been done since 88 and we're 98. So we're just very, we're fortunate. We're blessed, blessed, blessed one more question for you. What do you want to tell Wolfpack Nation if it was up to me, all of y'all would get a ring. All y'all would get a ring. Yeah. Ok. Yeah, but no, y'all deserve y'all flowers uh for sure. Uh We appreciate you guys on behalf of women's basketball and men's basketball, all of that. We appreciate you guys just as much as y'all appreciate us and go pack. That's Sanaya Rivers. Thank you. So fan. Let's give it up one more time for your NC State women's basketball team. He's up. Yeah, Brown, he's up. Yeah, Brown. Uh now it's time to meet our second Wolfpack final four team. The winners of the South region. You're NC State men's basketball team first, the assistant coaching staff, Kareem Richardson NC State along Levi Watkins, Larry Dixon and Steven. Now here's your NC State basketball team. Number two short 13 20 Alex number 24 number three, right 11, Dennis Parker and number one, number 30. Fair enough. Pop rock number 12, Michael 14, number zero DJ, most the South region. Number James. Please welcome to the Bell Tower, your men's basketball head coach. Now, let's take a look back at your historic run. Speaking of this win, this is not a team that entered this tournament with a lot of momentum. Describe over these last two games, what you've seen, we're going into this tournament. We just kind of went in with a why not that mindset. And I think we're, you know, showcasing that right now, you know, competing and playing hard and that's one of the non negotiables when you come here. Yeah, we're going to play an exciting brand of basketball and I'm gonna give you a lot of freedom, but you have to really play hard. 10 love, tough and shit to me, adversity and overcome it or find ways to try to overcome it. You know, your culture starts with your identity. We play hard, we play fast that we can go through anything. As long as we keep. About 10 days ago, Duke went to Raleigh pretty much handled NC State. They won that game by 50. How is tonight? If you can give us a checklist going to be different for them. It's a difference in confidence for the wolf pack coming into this game and they have ingredients necessary to upset the Blue Devils right there. He goes for the beamed out. It's trust, you know, anytime you're gonna see a successful basketball team or a successful sports program, I, I guarantee you that the big part of it is they trust fourth game in four nights for the wack again. Feeling there should have been a call. Here is something else. There's a quote by Mike Tyson where he said toughness, he's doing the things you don't want to do. Like you love him, you have done something so special. Some of the greatest boxers and I see him at their press conference and they talking, well, you're about to get into a ring with some guys who's supposed to be good. Ok, I don't think so. I don't think so. It has been quite a story here in Washington for this group of NC state players now though they take on an in state rival, the top seed and a team playing extremely well with the North Carolina tar heels. One team looks like a one seed, no matter what one team is playing for at the heart of it all, at the of it all. Tonight is a trophy, a banner in the memo ahead to Diarra. This group loves each other man. They really, really like each other. I think a big thing that I'm learning and very encouraged guy is we don't have an old mature group. We have a very good with you guys, they're tough. It's one of the best offensive players in the country and then it, it, and I think they just locked into that, of like playing harder listening to what Coach Keats has always talked about all year, the hardest playing team typically wins and we turned it up. How much fun are these state players having this? You know, we can only do it together. Well, that's what we signed up for as coaches and that's what our players signed up for as well. And MC State can feel something that has never happened in this league, five games in five successive days. Absolutely incredible. There's the heart of the packs done it. NC State is the 2024 AC C bench basketball champion. They have earned it really proud of our guys. We gotta get back, we gotta get some rest and guess what? We're going to the NCAA tournament, talk about the Virginia game and about the run in the AC C tournament. It seemed like that really energized the America's big man. That's what I've been calling has been terrific, you think? You know, but you have no idea that is the ethos of March madness. He has not been able to get going. He's three of 11 with the Jam o'connell with five on the shot clock o'connell drives right in Joseph. What a clutch bucket from Michael o'connell. Answer it way to the sweet 16 paper chair or gives it up o'connell has to hold this March to remember. Continues for NC state of the floor o'connell bounce back door. Bourne. Give it up and taken away by Middlebrooks. What a job he has to do with this kid. Get it up the floor. O'connor burns. T this is what dreams are made of, uh, going into the tournament. We just got to win it with a lot. You know what a run, what a season. Let's bring over Coach Keats and ask him about it. Coach final four AC C champion. I got to ask you about that first five games in five days. No team in AC C history had ever done it before. It's special. What was the mindset, the mentality of your team? Well, first of all, I want all of you guys to give yourself a hand. Thanks for coming out and thanks for supporting us. You know, um, when you, when you do something together and, and all the credit goes to these guys, you know, when we entered, when we went to go to the AC C tournament, we didn't talk about just going to the tournament. We talked about winning a championship and, um, these guys fought every single day. Uh, we took it one game at a time. We talked about getting to the next stage. We did every four minutes, every halftime and every next game we were gonna win and, um, I gotta give all the credit to these guys man, they, they fought, they believed they trusted, uh, they were one unit and, um, they took advantage of a great opportunity. I'll say it again for your AC C champions. Final four. How many of you went out to Phoenix? Coach State Farm Stadium is over 2200 miles away from PNC Arena. What did it mean to you to go there and see all that red in the crowd? Well, I, I will say this to you when we went to our practice, I looked around and there was so much red in there and I, when we got to the game, I was like, there's so much red in there. Uh but not only that, those who couldn't make it, I want you to think about this, those who couldn't make it. They were all around Raleigh, they were all around the country. We drunk a lot of beer. We filled every bar that there was and we did it. I mean, you guys were great. Uh This is a, this was a great opportunity for us. We were so proud of it. Uh We hadn't went to the final four since uh 1983 and, um, you guys turned out, you showed out and you cheered really loud. So I appreciate you for that. I think ice cream sales in Raleigh hit an all time high as well. Coach, last question for you. When you look back on this team, the legacy, what do you want people to remember about this team? Well, I, I want you guys to remember a team. You know, I, I say this all the time, you know, when you do, you get a chance to do something as a group, it means so much. And I want you to think about the fight that these guys have, uh the belief that they have in one another, the family atmosphere that they've had um their, their will to win, uh, their understanding of who they're playing for. What you think about this. One of the things we talk about is we say, hey, represent yourself, represent the university and represent your family the right way. And so when you think about this group, I want you to think about those three things because Shirley, that's what this group did and, um, we're ac c champions void. Yeah, let's hear it for coach Keats. Thank you, coach, let's bring in Casey Morsel. Ok, Casey, congratulations. We see the hardware there. This team won nine straight elimination games. What did y'all talk about in the locker room that made that happen? Well, honestly, I mean, it, it, I'm not gonna lie head into the postseason. We were in a low place, uh, but we looked at the postseason as a new season and we had to sit back and think, and we came together as a team and we had to say, why on earth as a senior on this team? What has this run meant to you and what has Wolfpack nation meant to you? Yeah, appreciate it. Uh You got it. No, honestly, it, it means everything uh to all of us, um especially from where we were three years ago to now seeing in Hillsboro street fill, seeing hundreds and thousands of people supporting us. Um It's been a journey but you guys are stuck with us from the very beginning and us speaking on the behalf of the team, we can't thank you more enough. Sorry for Casey Morsel and your AC C champion final four NC State men's basketball team. Bye now. Let's turn our attention to the video boards and take a look at how our team supported one another through these historic postseason runs. NC State men are in and their head coach is in the building familiar face around here, Kevin, chief supporter of the women's program, by the way, your men's team also advanced to the elite eight. You got a message for them. Hey, why not do that's it? Congratulations you. Thank you. I think it was good. They all had it at the same time because back at home they had both TV S up the whole Hillsboro Packer. Now the bell tower. Yeah. No, the bell, our bell tower lights are red and so many fans are out there right now. Cheering us on. So it feels good to have both teams win at the same time. It's a good point. I just wish I could have watched the game yet. You watch the highlights, I would just say, yeah, it's definitely big for our program. Uh seeing the girls, you know, have success, definitely motivates us by the way. Um Congratulations to our um women's team too for making the final four. That's really special. It was great. Our players all I think get along, they share the same, you know, journey. And so, uh it's been fun, uh watching them interact and, and cheer for each other and, and then like I said, Coach Keats and I think we have a special bond because we both know how hard this is, you know, starting in the AC C, you've got 14 other unbelievable universities and teams and here you're trying to be the top one. It's not easy. And uh so we got our ups and downs during the season, we try to talk or text, you know, almost every day and uh it's just like I said, special to share that with him and to see them doing so well. You saw in that video, the support that both of these teams have for one another, right? We've talked a lot tonight about the incredible fan support of all of y'all, but now we'll talk to the most outstanding players of their regionals. Isaiah James and DJ Burns. Let's hear it. Azai, I gotta ask you first and we saw in that video that's one of my favorite moments in the interview right after your win, you're celebrating, you're doing the post game interview. You didn't know that the men's team has won. That was breaking news to you. What was going through your mind? What was your reaction? Well, my reaction, it was shocking, you know, when the reporter told me, you know, it's blessed to have both teams so, you know, win this and, you know, you see the bond we have with each other and how we commend each other every chance we get. So it, it was a good thing that it was a core memory. I'll say core memory for all of us I think. And DJ, I gotta ask you, you've been very outspoken uh in interviews on social media, how much you've supported the women's basketball team? What has watching them and their support for your team meant to you? Oh, man, it's been awesome. I always, um I used to tell the guys it feels like we gotta keep up, you know, they, they did um everything that we were trying to do all season. They actually did it even before the postseason. So, um they gave us a lot to look forward to. They won three straight AC C championships. Y'all got an AC C championship this year. Isiah James DJ Burns. Congratulations. Let's hear it now at this time, please welcome our director of athletics. Hey, hey, hey, how, how freaking great is this right? What pack nation celebrating our students standing behind them being a part of this whole thing. But there's also another group that's been with us this entire trip. And I want to thank the band and I want to thank the cheerleaders for all that. They did this off season, whether it was Pittsburgh or Dallas or down to, uh, to Phoenix or here Reynolds or in Oregon. And then, you know, in Cleveland. But what a great trip it's been and everyone here is appreciative of what you've done to show that we are champions at, at NC state and to show what it means and to be able to share this moment with little kids that are looking around going, that's who we are and you know what we are champions and that's who we are right now. So thank you very much for everyone being here. It is now my honor to Andrews, our uh Mayor Baldwin to come up with a couple of proclamations. Thank you. Thank you, Boo. I'm gonna put this over here so I can green it. What a great moment for our city. I have a few funny stories just to kind of share. Um I think this was, it's memories that will last forever. And one of my favorite memories is watching the women's team and River Baldwin just going at it and my husband starts screaming, go cousin, go cousin and I'm looking at him like, what the hell are you talking about, he's like, you get it Baldwin because I'm like, ok, cool. So she is now officially known in our household is cousin. Thank you. He also said she got all the hype. Damn it. I also have to joke a little bit because Coach Keats told DJ Burns he could be mayor. And I was like, somebody asked me on Twitter what that felt like. And I said, hell yeah, I'll be his coach. So I have an official request today. I'm going to have DJ be mayor of the day. One of these days, we're going to organize it. You got that DJ. And before we came out here, I asked DJ Haines, what was your favorite moment? Your best memory in the tournament? And he said, and I think a lot of people can agree with this, Michael o'connor's three pointer at the buzzer. Amazing, amazing. So now I'm going to issue the proclamation. It's a little formal, so bear with me. It has all these we ass in it. So just whatever. So, whereas North Carolina college basketball has a long and storied history with strong regional rivalries, understatement of the year and especially fair spirit of competition, especially on the basketball court. And whereas veteran coaches, Kevin Keats and Westmore took it up a notch this year handing the men and the women's teams respectively to the final four with season records of 26 wins and 15 losses for the men and 31 wins and seven losses for the women girls. You kick their butts a little bit. And whereas the women's team referring to themselves as Party Crashers after being underdogs in the preseason polls rallied to beat second seeded Sanford and then number one seed Texas to earn their spot in the final four good stuff. And whereas the men's team had to win five straight games in the AC C tournament. Best part beating local rivals, Duke and Un C. I thought that might get some cheers. And then with the hot stopping buzzer beating three pointer forced an overtime win over Virginia on their way to becoming the 2024 AC C tournament champions and securing a bid to the NCAA men's division one tournament. And whereas residents alumni and students rallied behind the teams cheering them on in the true spirit of March madness. Like you said, Coach Keats, there was a lot of beer being drunk with thousands celebrating each win at the storied Bell Tower lit up red in all its glory with everyone believing, why not us. And whereas following these fantastic games, the season ended with the men's team falling to Purdue, the number one ranked team from the Midwest and the women's team following South Carolina, the number one ranked team from the SEC. Nothing to be ashamed of. And whereas during this run, the words of NC State's legendary basketball coach Jim Valvano came back to us after 43 years reminding us, don't give up, don't ever give up watching these two teams. It is clear they never gave up. I want to say thank you to the players for making us proud for being an inspiration to all and for bringing our community together. I'm being honest, I've never seen anything like it was amazing. Now, therefore, do I Marian Baldwin, mayor of the city of Raleigh hereby proclaim April 15th, North Carolina State University Men's and women's basketball day in the city of Raleigh go pack. Thank you all for joining us on this special night. Thank you for joining us for our final four celebration. We hope you had a great time and we can't wait to see you in Reynolds Coliseum and PNC Arena next season. Go back. The players asked if this means they have no school tomorrow. Hell, yeah. Wow. That ok. Yeah.