After finishing tied for fourth in the ACC in the regular season with an overall record of 22-12 and 11-7 in the conference, N.C. State earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2005 as the No. 11 seed. The Pack will face San Diego State Friday.

Just one year into the Mark Gottfried era, he has turned around a team that finished with a losing record and 5-11 in the conference into a tournament team.

Despite not beating UNC in three attempts, Duke or Florida State, the Pack finished with two wins to end the season and advanced all the way to the third round of the ACC tournament after beating Boston College and another tournament team in Virginia, but lost a controversial contest against the Tar Heels, 69-67, down the stretch.

State is one of only five teams from the ACC to make it to the NCAA Tournament, with Miami being left out and UNC , Duke, ACC Tournament Champion Florida State and Virginia making the 68-team field.

WKNC Pulse of the Pack co-host and Technician Sports Editor Emeritus Cory Smith spoke with members of the Wolfpack shortly after their NCAA Tournament bid was announced.

Lorenzo Brown

Pulse of the Pack: What was your initial reaction when you heard the announcement?

Brown: I was actually asleep when they made the announcement. It was taking a little too long and I fell asleep for a bit and woke up to everyone jumping on me and everyone was celebrating. It was amazing.

PoP : What did Mark Gottfried say to everyone after the team’s name was called?

Brown: He was just like, ‘this is a great opportunity for you guys.’ Myself, personally, I just want to thank the fans and everyone that supported us. Nobody believed in us except for ourselves and our fans. I just want to thank everybody for believing in us.

PoP : How big of a deal is it for you after last year finishing with a losing record to making the NCAA tournament this year?

Brown: It’s a huge deal for me. We worked our tails off in the off-season to not finish in the bottom of the ACC. I know some of the guys were probably upset with me for keeping them in the gym for longer than they wanted to, but you gotta do what you gotta do. Obviously that paid off and we’re a family, so we’re all happy for each other.

PoP : You guys could potentially play UNC if you make it to the Elite Eight. How much do you want to get to that point and knock off UNC ?

Brown: I would love it. Another shot against them would be amazing, and it was a great game against a great team. It would be amazing just to get to that point. The Elite Eight? Wow.

Scott Wood

PoP: As a junior, this being your first time going to the tournament after being a vital part of this team for the last four years, how much relief do you feel right now knowing that you’re in?

Wood: I’m excited, obviously. But I’m more happy for my roommate, C.J. Williams, Alex [Johnson] and Kendall Smith. I’m just happy that they get to experience this and that we can send them out on the right note.

PoP : What does it say about the team that you guys have had such a huge turnaround from last year to this year?

Wood: We always knew we had the talent. We just needed to work together and put our heads together and be as great as we knew we could be. And then bringing in coach Gottfried , he helped us gel that much better.

C.J. Williams

PoP : What are you feeling right now?

Williams: I’m just so happy. Just knowing where I’ve come from since my freshman year to now is just amazing. To know that I’m getting the chance to compete in the greatest show is just tremendous. Man, I wish I had a dictionary right now to find the words to describe how I feel.

PoP : Did you ever think to yourself, “I might never make it to the big dance?”

Williams: You know, I really felt like we were running out of chances after not winning a lot of games over the last few seasons. But this year I knew we had the basketball talent and the players to get it done. And we’re finally there, at the place where we kept saying we wanted to be.

Mark Gottfried

Gottfried : I think our strength of schedule was the most important part of us getting in. Playing teams like Vanderbilt, Texas, Syracuse and Indiana early on with a new coaching staff I think helped this team. We threw a lot at them quickly and by February we were playing good basketball. People made a lot out of the fact that we lost those games early in the season, but we got through all of that and kept getting better. I think this team is playing really good basketball right now.

PoP : With wins against Miami and Virginia and a close game against UNC , how confident are you that this team could make a late run?

Gottfried : I think we’re just as confident as we can be. We’re still disappointed that we lost to UNC yesterday, we had a chance to, but I think our guys know right now that they can play with anybody in the country. Now our responsibility is to correct some things and be a little bit better later on in games and then I think we really could beat anybody.

PoP : How do you think this team matches up with San Diego State?

Gottfried : I know Steve Fisher really well and he’s done a tremendous job with that program. You have to put the job that he’s done up there with anybody in the nation, quite honestly. They’re really, really good, they’re athletic and we’re going to have our hands full.

PoP : What were you feeling when there was only one pick left on the board?

Gottfried : Torture. Just torture. It was as gut-wrenching as anything I’ve ever been through. I had a good feeling, but when it got down to one spot left I was nervous for our guys. I was really happy to see our guys respond the way they did. It was pandemonium in there when our name popped up on the board and it should be. These guys have worked hard and they deserve to be in.