I'm back! Jonas Pope IV joins The Wolfpacker staff

I’M BACK!

I’m now realizing that line would hit so much harder if I were already 45 years old (still seven months away).

Anyway, dramatic, or lack thereof, flair aside, my name is Jonas Pope IV, and this is my way of announcing I am back covering NC State. 

Back? Yes. I am new here to The Wolfpacker, but no stranger to the NC State beat. For two and a half seasons I was the NC State beat writer for the Raleigh News & Observer. I like to boast that during the 2021 season I was the only local media member to see every single NC State snap in person. Be that as it may, when my time as the beat writer came to an end, I thought my days covering the Pack were over. But I have returned and I am excited to get to work, covering recruiting for The Wolfpacker.

I am no stranger to NC State, or the recruiting beat.

I grew up following the Pack, thanks to my older sister (NC State class of 1994) who didn’t mind her brother tagging along to games at Carter-Finley Stadium, back when they had the old field house and the grass hill. I dated myself a little there, but generational gap aside, I’d like to think I still have enough left in the tank to connect with recruits.

Before taking on the NC State beat full time for the News & Observer, I covered recruiting (basketball and football) for all three local ACC schools. Part of my duties in that role was to also cover all the preps in the area. No stranger to prep sports, my career started in Eastern, North Carolina, covering sports for the Roanoke Rapids Daily Herald. Even then I wasn’t opposed to occasionally driving up to Raleigh to catch (and cover) an NC State game.

In covering recruiting for the N&O I was able to interview some of NC State’s biggest stars of late (Drake Thomas, Payton Wilson, Noah Rogers) when they were still in high school, then watch them blossom into All-ACC caliber players.

I’m looking forward to that journey again and serving you, the readers of The Wolfpacker!