{"id":1117,"date":"2026-05-27T12:39:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T12:39:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1117"},"modified":"2026-05-27T12:39:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T12:39:20","slug":"nc-state-baseball-hc-elliott-avent-talks-retirement-ncaa-tournament-selection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1117","title":{"rendered":"NC State baseball HC Elliott Avent talks retirement, NCAA Tournament selection"},"content":{"rendered":"

AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.<\/p>\n

Read our AI Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n

Elliott Avent has never had biological children. But for three decades in Raleigh, he\u2019s raised a program full of sons.<\/p>\n

Read more Parents push back after Chapel Hill yearbook omits 12 students with disabilities<\/a><\/p>\n

They\u2019ve come through N.C. State in waves, dozens at a time, leaving with better swings and sharper instincts on the field. But more than that, they\u2019ve left with stories: Avent answering calls when third baseman Sherman Johnson gets a boot on his car, showing up at the hospital before sunrise for former catcher Jacob Cozart\u2019s<\/u><\/a> surgery, or making sure current center fielder Ty Head keeps his grades up.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s just like our dad,\u201d former third baseman Sherman Johnson said. \u201cYou can tell him anything. He helps us with everything \u2014 whether it\u2019s parking tickets, school, whatever that is. He\u2019ll help us.\u201d<\/p>\n

So when Avent announced last week that he would retire after 30 seasons as the Wolfpack\u2019s baseball coach, it marked more than the end of an era for the program. It was a father figure stepping away.<\/p>\n

Now, with one more NCAA Tournament appearance ahead \u2014 N.C. State\u2019s fourth consecutive appearance and 10th in the last 11 seasons \u2014 the Wolfpack isn\u2019t just chasing wins. The team is chasing one last ride with the man who helped raise them.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been awesome ever since I met him,\u201d left-handed pitcher Ryan Marohn said. \u201cAll the players before me said the same thing. He\u2019s the reason I came here out of high school. When I first met him, I knew that was a coach I wanted to play for.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is his last run, so we\u2019re gonna give everything we got for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s often said the decision to retire hits everybody at a certain time in their career.<\/p>\n

For Avent, that moment was about a month ago. Before Avent could step away, there were a few things he wanted to check off \u2014 from facility upgrades to, most importantly, ensuring continuity in the dugout. Avent isn\u2019t sure he would have retired without knowing longtime assistant Chris Hart would take over.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the right place at the right time, but I wanted to make sure Chris Hart was the next head coach,\u201d Avent said.<\/p>\n

There was also one more box left unchecked for Avent. He didn\u2019t want his final season to end without a postseason.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery player needs to experience that,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen I announced it, I took the chance \u2026 and thank goodness the committee saw fit to do what I think was the right thing and put us in. So that gives me great satisfaction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although Avent told his team to prepare like they were in the field, the uncertainty lingered until Selection Monday, when N.C. State<\/u><\/a> was selected as an at-large team for the NCAA Tournament.<\/p>\n

Avent hardly celebrated outwardly. He just watched his players.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all about the players,\u201d Avent said. \u201cIf you coach for the right reasons \u2014 which I\u2019m not sure everybody does this for the right reasons anymore; college athletics has gotten a little bit skewed \u2014 there\u2019s the players that everybody should (focus on).\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking to the media on Wednesday ahead of the Wolfpack\u2019s trip to the Auburn regional, Avent downplayed any notion of a farewell tour.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIf I wanted to draw some emotion, I would\u2019ve announced it before the ACC Tournament,\u201d Avent said. \u201cI\u2019m not that guy. I don\u2019t want parades. I don\u2019t want jackets. I don\u2019t. I\u2019ll put the keys on the desk and say bye.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, Avent allowed himself one fitting description for what comes next \u2014 not a \u201clast dance,\u201d but something more his speed. He invoked his friend Ray Birmingham, the former baseball coach at New Mexico State University.<\/p>\n

According to Avent, after Birmingham coached his last game, he \u201cgot on a horse and rode out from home plate to center field and just kept riding.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love Westerns,\u201d Avent said Wednesday. \u201cThis will be the last ride.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a porch swing behind Avent\u2019s house, the kind that creaks when you settle into it. Avent sat there with his wife last Thursday night \u2014 hours after announcing his retirement \u2014 looking out at a peaceful, quiet yard with birds and chipmunks and squirrels. The phone inside kept ringing. He largely ignored it.<\/p>\n

He picked up twice: for Janis Guzzo, the widow of N.C. State wrestling coach Bob Guzzo, who died last week, and for Pamela Valvano Strasser, the former wife of the late Jim Valvano.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy connection to all those great people is what makes this place so special,\u201d Avent said. \u201cAnd I\u2019m happy to be that person that can still tell those stories.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the days since, former players and coaches \u2014 at N.C. State and rival schools \u2014 tracked him down with their own. Messages came from former assistant Brett Austin, Wake Forest coach Tom Walter, UNC\u2019s Scott Forbes. One of Avent\u2019s favorites was a text from former North Carolina center fielder Vance Honeycutt.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst of all, he had to go to the trouble to find my number from somebody,\u201d Avent said \u2014 then kept rattling off names. Jordan Sprinkle, whom he mentored with USA Baseball. Troy Tulowitzki, a colleague in the same organization.<\/p>\n

All of it made Avent pause. Made him wonder what more he could have done \u2014 not more wins or Omaha runs, but more conversations.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where his mind went Wednesday. Not to his record, but to a long talk with senior infielder Wyatt Peifer in the newly renovated players\u2019 lounge that morning. If he had it to do over, he\u2019d spend more time there \u2014 talking, listening, guiding.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s still baseball left.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to win,\u201d Hart said. \u201cWe\u2019re not going down there to have a celebratory regional for Coach Avent by any means. Our team believes we can go down there and win.\u201d<\/p>\n

After weeks of scratching through injuries, the Wolfpack finally has its pitching lined up, its roster healthy, its footing back. One more weekend. One last ride with a team that isn\u2019t ready to go quietly.<\/p>\n

That was what Avent carried into the clubhouse after Selection Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust remember how it feels to see your name up on that board,\u201d he told his team, according to junior second baseman Luke Nixon. \u201cKnow that you\u2019re going to the postseason. That you get to compete with your teammates and your best friends one more time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Store leaves Crabtree mall for another Raleigh shopping center. What we know<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

N.C. State secures an NCAA Tournament spot, giving Coach Elliott Avent a final postseason after decades mentoring players and shaping Wolfpack baseball.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1116,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-read-todays-edition"],"yoast_head":"\nNC State baseball HC Elliott Avent talks retirement, NCAA Tournament selection - Durham Moving Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1117\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NC State baseball HC Elliott Avent talks retirement, NCAA Tournament selection - Durham Moving Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"N.C. 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