'How can you not pull for these guys?' UNC fan Cooper backs 'Pack, but won't go to Final Four

Gov. Roy Cooper's allegiance to the University of North Carolina is well documented.

But Cooper is pulling for the Tar Heels' rivals this weekend, though he'll be doing it from North Carolina and not at the Final Four.

NC State's men's basketball team has won nine consecutive elimination games to capture the ACC Tournament and reach the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament. The school's women's basketball team is also in the Final Four.

"I'm not going to the Final Four this year," said Cooper, who attended the 2022 Final Four with North Carolina and Duke. "If NC State lost, I'd probably get blamed for it. I will be cheering them on. Both the men's and women's teams.

"It is a remarkable athletic feat what the men's team has done particularly to be able to win five games in five days against tough competition and then to come back into the tournament and win those games. A lot of athletes when they've reached what may seem to be an impossible pinnacle they have a letdown. These guys didn't. They're rolling."

Cooper tweeted his support after the NC State men beat Duke to reach the Final Four.

The NC State men's team is an 11 seed and needed to win the ACC Tournament just to receive a spot in the NCAA Tournament, where they've become a national darling for their strong play and personality.

NC State takes on No. 1 seed Purdue in the national semifinals in Phoenix on Saturday. No. 1 seed UConn and No. 4 seed Alabama, which eliminated UNC in the Sweet 16, are in the other semifinal. The title game is Monday night.

The NC State women's team defeated top-seeded Texas in the Elite Eight to reach the Final Four in Cleveland, the only non-No. 1 seed still standing. The third-seeded Wolfpack play undefeated South Carolina in one semifinal Friday, while UConn and Iowa meet in the other semifinal. The title game is Sunday.

Cooper follows sports and, particularly the Carolina Hurricanes, closely. He said, as a first-year lawyer, he cheered for the Wolfpack during its national title run in 1983, the last time NC State reached the Final Four.

"Yes, I'm a big Carolina fan, but how can you not pull for these guys?" Cooper said. "And if you're not a fan of the other three schools, I think everybody else is going to be pulling for North Carolina State. Probably in both the women's and the men's tournament, although Iowa's got a lot of fans right now."