http://sports-ak.espn.go.com/ncb/index

under 'blue ribbon spotlight'

Quote :

" BLUE RIBBON ANALYSIS BACKCOURT: B BENCH/DEPTH: A FRONTCOURT: A INTANGIBLES: A Twenty-five years ago, Sidney Lowe went into his senior season believing his team was good enough to win the ACC and contend for the national championship. That hope was seemingly derailed when his long-time backcourt partner Dereck Whittenburg went down with a broken foot in January. What happened over the next two months, however, has become a part college basketball lore -- the Wolfpack developed other players, took advantage of the changing game and be-lieved in the dream of their coach, Jim Valvano. Lowe's college playing career ended a quarter century ago with him, Whittenburg and Thurl Bailey cutting down the nets in Albuquerque, N.M., after a dramatic 54-52 victory over No. 1-ranked Houston in the NCAA Tournament title game. Can Lowe cash in on some of that same magic, as the school celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Cardiac Pack? After more than two decades playing and coaching in the NBA, the sec-ond-year coach is still absorbing the ins and outs of the college game, but his learning curve has been dramatic, as he and his team proved to everyone last March in Tampa. But the ACC is as competitive as always, and momentum doesn't carry a team for long. The Wolfpack went to the ACC Championship game in Herb Sendek's first season as head coach -- and two other times, to boot -- and never won the school's elusive 11th ACC Championship. Lowe, who collected a high school national championship, an ACC title, a NCAA championship and three professional championships during his highly decorated playing career, appears to be capable of getting the Wolfpack over that hump. Getting there this year is not out of the question. "

Man, I wish I could read all of it

10/23/2007 9:24:49 AM

lol at poor people

Quote :

"COACH AND PROGRAM If second-year NC State coach Sidney Lowe was looking for a 7-foot center with good shooting abilities, he might be in trouble. If he and his staff were looking for the reincarnation of David Thompson, Rodney Monroe or Julius Hodge, they might be a little bit worried. If they needed any other position player to fill in the one significant hole in the lineup, maybe it would be cause for concern. But what the Wolfpack needs is a point guard. And that, Lowe is convinced, is an issue that he and his staff -- which includes five former collegiate point guards -- is something they can teach as the season goes along, even if all three candidates for the starting job have never suited up for the Wolfpack before. Lowe isn't sure which of the three -- transfers Farnold Degand and Marques Johnson or incoming freshman Javier Gonzalez -- will win the job. But he is convinced they will receive enough guidance along the way to be capable playmakers. NC State Wolfpack Last Season 20-16 (.556) Conference Record 5-11 (t-10th) Starters Lost/Returning 1/4 Coach Sidney Lowe (St. Paul's '06) Record At School 20-16 (1 year) Career Record 20-16 (1 year) RPI Last 5 years 56-19-50-51-72 ''These guys are going to be very young, but I think with our staff and with time, all three of them will be very good,'' Lowe said. ''We need to have solid play from them. Hopefully, one of these point guards will eventually learn the sets, know what we are looking for and make the calls himself.'' For now, however, Lowe will make those calls from the bench. Last year, when Lowe led his alma mater on its remarkable run to the ACC Tournament championship game, the coach proved he could make do with what he had and still excel. Playing with a roster that barely went seven players deep and logging a dozen games without a true point guard, the former Wolfpack standout defied the low preseason expectations that were placed on his team. Not only did the Wolfpack not finish last in the league -- as was predicted by the ACC media in October -- but by the end of the season, NC State was probably playing better than every team in the league other than North Carolina, which edged the Wolfpack in the tournament championship game in Tampa, Fla., with a late, two-minute burst. By then, the Wolfpack had earned a season's worth of respect. Lowe, an unknown quantity as a coach going into his first season, proved that his NBA experience -- which includes a five-year playing career and two stints as a head coach -- translated nicely to the college game. He took a team that had only two experienced players -- senior point-guard Engin Atsur and then-junior forward Gavin Grant -- and molded it into a squad that won a respectable five regu-lar-season games in the ACC and was capable of pulling off postseason upsets of Duke, Virginia Tech and Virginia to qualify for the ACC title game. He did it despite Atsur's hamstring injury that kept the senior out of the lineup for 12 out of 13 games in December and January. Lowe helped the team survive even with Grant, a natural small forward, playing the point. He did it with two frontcourt players, Brandon Costner and Ben McCauley, who had hardly seen any action the previous year, and a shooting guard, Courtney Fells, who was almost as green. And he did it with a cobbled-together bench that included, among other things, a former walk-on who had never started a single game in previous stints at Winthrop or Gulf Coast Community College; a scholarship football player who talked his way on the roster in the athletic cafeteria; and a civil engineering student who hadn't played basket-ball in three years before he answered an announcement in the student newspaper for a campus-wide tryout. Now, Lowe heads into his second season with a barn full of experience and the help of five incoming freshman and three newly eligible transfers. In addition to the three newcomers vying for the point-guard spot, two more freshmen, McDonald's All-America J.J. Hickson of Atlanta and highly regarded Tracy Smith of Detroit, will help immediately in the Wolfpack's front-court. Lowe now has a 15-player roster that is deep enough to sustain setbacks. The team will hardly miss freshman swingman Johnny Thomas, who suffered a knee injury in early September and will miss the entire season. ''We will have the ability to go more than six or seven players deep,'' Lowe said. ''I am not sure if we will play as many as 10 players or not, but we probably could. The key is that we will have some depth on the floor.'' And Lowe is not worried about having enough shots and points to go around. He has been around the game long enough to understand that will work itself out as the season goes along. ''I don't worry about it at all,'' Lowe said in the summer. ''As a staff, we have to make sure that we have everyone focused on the main goal and that is to win ball games and to play the right way. Regardless of who takes the shot or who gets the open shot -- we just want to get a good one.'' Blue Ribbon Previews Take an Inside look at the ACC with Blue Ribbon's 2007-08 team reports: Boston College Clemson Duke Florida State Georgia Tech Maryland Miami North Carolina NC State Virginia Virginia Tech Wake Forest The biggest thing the returning players learned last year, Lowe said, is that running the team's offense and following his orders paid off, even during the difficult days of January and February. By the time the end of the season rolled around, a more experienced and deeper team was able to win more games. ''Our finish last year gave us great confidence,'' Lowe said. ''As I watched our players in the few hours we had to work with them in the spring, you could tell the confidence factor. I could tell from my conversations with them what they think and how they feel about themselves. They are pleased with their effort of last year, but they do want more. Hopefully, the guys are growing up and starting to see how much fun this can be.'' And the only thing Lowe promised his players when he took over before last season was that they would have fun, with the understanding that winning is the most fun of all. That should happen more often this year for a team that is experienced, talented and deep. "

10/23/2007 9:29:10 AM

actually theres no point to pay because plenty of other people do and post the info on all kinds of message boards

10/23/2007 9:30:08 AM

Quote :

"PLAYERS PG-FARNOLD DEGAND (6-4, 168 lbs., SO, #12, 17.3 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 5.1 apg in 2004-05, O'Bryant HS/Boston and Iowa State). There's no real compelling reason to list Degand as the Wolfpack's starting point guard just yet, except that he has been in the program longer than either of the other two candidates, Tennessee-transfer Marques Johnson and freshman Javier Gon-zalez. Plus, Degand, a transfer himself from Iowa State, might have created a little soft spot for himself as Lowe's very first signee after the coach was hired in the summer of 2006. The native of Boston threw his lot with the Wolfpack after spending one year at Iowa State, where he sat out as a red-shirt. He opted to transfer without ever suiting up for the Cyclones af-ter Iowa State coach Wayne Morgan was let go after Degand's red-shirt season. He sat out all of last year under NCAA transfer rules and will have three years of eligibility remaining. Lowe says Degand has more north-south speed than any of the other point-guard candidates, and that he is capable of ratcheting up the tempo of a game. He impressed at times throughout practice last season. However, it has been more than two years since he played any competitive basketball. SG-COURTNEY FELLS (6-5, 239 lbs., JR, #4, 10.9 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 1.3 apg, 33.2 mpg, .450 FG, .331 3PT, .767 FT, Shannon HS/Shannon, Miss.). Many times last season, Lowe believed the athletic, lithe Fells was the most talented player on the floor. He just had a hard time getting Fells to show it. Fells isn't a prototypical shooting guard. He can, indeed, fill up the basket from long range. But he's better at driving to the basket and using his 6-5 frame with the extra-long wingspan to create shots inside, at least when he decides to be aggressive. Lowe asked Fells all last season if he was afraid to be the best player on the court. There were times the answer seemed to be ''Yes.'' There were also times -- like the Wolfpack's win at Wake Forest and its win over No. 2 ranked North Carolina, his two 20-point scoring games of the season -- that it was a resounding ''No.'' But it is clear that Fells -- who saw few significant minutes as a freshman, then averaged more than 33 minutes per game last year -- is still developing and still maturing. He still has a long way to go in playing man-to-man defense. He still needs more confidence with his shot. He struggled to contribute down the stretch, after Atsur returned to the lineup. But he improved his ball handling throughout the season, at least well enough to take over some minutes at the point during January, when Grant was struggling to replace Atsur. ''I think Courtney realizes that we are going to need him to step up his game this year,'' Lowe said. ''He is trying to understand better how to get his shot off, where to take it and how to move without the basketball. He is such an unbelievable athlete, but at times he'll just sit back and watch, as opposed to being the aggressor and going to find it and get the shot. We are going to work on that a lot this year.'' SF-GAVIN GRANT (6-8, 208 lbs., SR, #11, 14.7 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 3.8 apg, 36.5 mpg, .473 FG, .315 3PT, .742 FT, St. Raymonds High School/The Bronx, N.Y.). Grant, the only scholar-ship senior on the roster, wants desperately to go out as a champion. And last season, he made the sacrifices necessary to put his team in position to win, a major contribution for a player who has been portrayed during his first two years as a bit selfish in his desire to score and be a star in a program that, by structure, did not produce a lot of all-conference-type players. But the former high school teammate of 2004 ACC Player-of-the-Year Julius Hodge has always seen himself in a similar light -- a versatile, high-scoring wing forward capable of carrying his team. Last year, however, the Wolfpack needed someone to step in for the injured Engin Atsur and play point guard. Grant, the team's second-best ball handler after Atsur, stepped in and led the team during December and January, even though it meant giving up many of his scoring opportunities. He wasn't completely successful, of course, especially when opposing teams started putting more and more defensive pressure on him. He finished the season with a team-high 137 assists. But he also had an ACC-high 151 turnovers, 27 more than second-place Javaris Crittenton of Georgia Tech. Many of those turnovers came at critical times that were costly. But Lowe appre-ciated the sacrifice Grant made to help the team. This season, with three newcomers at the point, there should be no need for Grant to have the ball in his hands as much. He can go back to playing the wing, where he excelled at times last year and where he has been a versatile and productive players for two full seasons, averaging 11.5 points per game during that span. But he's also one of the Wolfpack's most unpredictable and outspoken players, as he proved yet again this summer when he told ESPN Radio that he was sure the Wolfpack wouldn't lose more than four games this season. Who knows, if a point guard develops and Grant settles back into his role as a small forward and complementary player, his prediction just might come true. PF-BRANDON COSTNER (6-9, 238 lbs., SO, #33, 16.8 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 34.4 mpg, .474 FG, .379 3PT, .721 FT, Seton Hall Prep/St. Clair, N.J.). Costner's personal breakout party came in Tampa last season, when his scoring led the Wolfpack to the finals of the ACC Tournament. Costner, then a red-shirt freshman, scored 90 points in four games, breaking the school's tournament scoring record of 84 points that was shared by legend David Thompson (1975) and C.C. Harrison (1997). Costner scored 30 points in the opening-round win over Duke and added 28 more in the 89-80 loss to North Carolina in the championship game, a pretty good jump-start for what could be a spectacular sophomore season. The left-handed Costner, comfortable banging around inside and shooting from the outside, was consistent throughout the season, leading all ACC freshmen in scoring and rebounding. He became only the seventh freshman in ACC history to lead his team in both statistical categories and broke former NC State star Charles ''Hawkeye'' Whitney's freshman scoring record (605 points). He failed to score in double figures only once all year, and then he had nine in a win at Virginia Tech. His productivity, of course, came with the added maturity he gained while sitting out most of the 2005-06 season with a stress fracture in his upper right leg. He played only five games -- and scored only 14 points -- before missing the rest of the season and earning a medical red-shirt. Throughout last season, the former McDonald's All-American and the son of former professional player Tony Costner showed he had fully recovered from his injury and that he is one of the league's up and coming stars, capable of rebounding and scoring against the best players in the ACC and country. Costner seemed to have a good chance at making the United States squad for the Pan American Games in Brazil, but he suffered a minor knee injury during the tryouts and coach Jay Wright opted not to include him on the roster. Costner spent most of his off-season in Raleigh, improving his strength and getting rid of about 15 pounds of baby fat. He probably won't have to play as many minutes this year, with the addition of freshmen J.J. Hickson and Tracy Smith to the frontcourt, which should improve his productivity. C-BEN McCAULEY (6-10, 238 lbs., JR, #34, 14.4 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 3.3 apg, 34.5 mpg, .584 FG, .653 FT, Yough HS/West Newton, Pa.). Few players in NC State history improved more than McCauley did between his freshman and sophomore seasons. When he first arrived in Raleigh, he was a little-used reserve who barely averaged seven minutes, two points and one rebound per game. He revealed little about his game, other than a strong desire to compete. As a sophomore, however, McCauley took advantage of the fact there was no one playing behind him. He was on the court for nearly 35 minutes a game and increased his scoring and rebounding seven fold. He finished second to North Carolina's Brandan Wright in field-goal percentage. He also developed into the ACC's best interior passer, capable of creating shots for his teammates by zipping accurate passes to them on the wing. He and Duke's Josh McRoberts were the only big men in the league last year to dole out more than 100 assists, McCauley finishing with a surprising 115 on the year. His development made him one of the league's biggest surprises, and earned him honorable-mention All-ACC honors. This year, Lowe predicts McCauley will reveal a broader range on his jump shot. He should also be more productive because he doesn't have to play every minute of every game. ''If there is anything he needs to add to his game, it would probably be a straight face-up jump shot,'' Lowe said. ''He had a tremendous year for us last year. He is going to continue to get better with his moves, his reads in the low post. He might need to make his move a little quicker before the double team gets there, get the ball a little deeper in the post. His adjustment is going to be more about what other teams are doing to him, as opposed to him working on an aspect of his game.'' McCauley is also one of the ACC's most engaging personalities. The son of an undertaker, McCauley grew up on the third floor of the family mortuary, which made sleepovers with his friends quite interesting. He also has different aspirations than most college basketball players -- when his hoops career is over, he wants to become a golf-course architect. An avid golfer, he and Costner played a couple times a week throughout the off-season. "

10/23/2007 9:30:11 AM

Quote :

"G-JAVIER GONZALEZ (6-0, 176 lbs., FR, #10, 20.7 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 5.0 apg, Michael M. Krop HS/Miami). Gonzalez was a late addition to Lowe's first full recruiting class, a player assis-tant coach Monte Towe heard about from an AAU coach. It didn't take long for the Wolfpack to offer Gonzalez, who was also being recruited by LSU, Washington State, Duquesne, Hofstra, UCF and USF. And Gonzalez was thrilled to be recruited by an ACC school, especially one with an opening for a starting point guard. ''Quite frankly, we didn't have a point guard that has established himself as being the guy at that position,'' Lowe said. ''That position is up for grabs right now, and I felt like we needed to get another guy. What I like about Javi is his demeanor on the court and his effort. He is a talented young man and a tough kid.'' A native of Puerto Rico, Gonzalez played two years of high school ball in Elizabeth, N.J., before moving to Miami for his senior season to live with his grandmother. He had a spectacular season for Krop, earning all-state honors in the 6-A classification and a share of Miami-Dade County Player-of-the-Year honors. He is considered more of a pure point guard than the other two candidates, both of whom can play either guard position. Lowe may like Gonzalez at the point because of his pass-first, score-second mentality, something Lowe himself had as a player. G-MARQUES JOHNSON (6-5, 205 lbs., FR, #13, 2.0 ppg, 0.5 rpg in four games, Snider HS/Fort Wayne Ind. and University of Tennessee). Johnson nearly signed with the Wolfpack immediately out of high school but was lured instead to Tennessee, because of a greater prospect of immediate playing time. But only four games into last season, Volunteer coach Bruce Pearl made it clear that another freshman, Ramar Smith, would be the starter and he encouraged Johnson to red-shirt. Instead, Johnson opted to transfer mid-season to NC State, where he saw another opening at the point with the departure of Engin Atsur. He will be one of the three candidates vying for the starting job, but he will start the season behind the other two. That's because under NCAA transfer guidelines, he will have to sit out the Wolfpack's first half-dozen games, until the second semester begins. The big and rangy guard brings some unique skills to the backcourt, mainly because he is capable of playing either guard position. He was recruited to play the point, but Lowe also sees Johnson getting some minutes at the shooting guard as the season progresses. But the possibility of playing Johnson and Fells, both 6-5, with Grant, Costner, Hickson or McCauley would give the Wolfpack one of the tallest lineups in the country and create match-up havoc for opponents. ''Marques is a more stable, run-the-show kind of point guard,'' Lowe said. ''Farnold is more of a north-and-south guy. I think their different styles of play will give us the advantage to change the tempo of the game. We can run when we want to and then slow it down when we want to.'' F-J.J. HICKSON (6-9, 242 lbs., FR, #1, 25.9 ppg, 13.8 rpg, 3.0 bpg, 2.0 apg, Wheeler HS/Atlanta). Hickson is one of the most offensively gifted recruits in the nation this season, a 6-9 low post player with a natural jump hook and excellent back-to-the-basket skills. He not only showed off those skills during his four-year career at Atlanta's Wheeler High School, but he also gained lots of attention after starring in a pair of postseason all-star games. He made seven of his nine shots, scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds in the McDonald's All-Star Game. Hickson followed it up five days later by scoring 24 points, making 12-of-17 shots and grabbing eight rebounds at the Roundball Classic in Chicago, where he was chosen co-MVP with UCLA-bound Kevin Love. Ranked by Rivals.com as the No. 3 power forward in the country and 2007's No. 16 recruit, Hickson is the Wolfpack's most highly touted recruit since Julius Hodge signed in 2001 and helped lead his team to four consecutive NCAA appearances. Hickson, who chose NC State over two-time defending national champion Florida and Tennessee, has impressed his new head coach. In fact, Lowe believes he could already be playing at a higher level, if not for new NBA rules. ''He has some skills right now that NBA players I have seen don't have,'' said Lowe, who was twice a head coach in the NBA. ''He has a great work ethic. He is skilled. He has great foot-work. He hates to lose. He has a focus about him that is not just typical for your average college freshman. He is serious about his game.'' Hickson's only drawback is his defense, something that he will have to work on as he rotates with McCauley and Costner in the Wolfpack's frontcourt, which should be one of the ACC's best this coming season. PF-TRACY SMITH (6-7, 232 lbs., FR, #23, 24.0 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 4.0 apg, Mt. Zion Academy/Durham, N.C./Detroit). After years of going without frontcourt depth, the Wolfpack should have plenty of possibilities underneath the basket this season. Lowe's team is so deep, in fact, that it may be hard for Smith to become a regular in the Wolfpack's lineup, despite his impres-sive prep credentials and a Top 50 national ranking. Smith is a native of Detroit who played prep basketball at Mt. Zion Academy in Durham, N.C., only about 30 miles from NC State's campus. Considered a four-star prospect, he is a strong interior player with excellent posting skills, despite his less-than-imposing height. He's already drawing favorable comparisons to former Boston College center Craig Smith (no relation), who managed to do quite well for himself during his decorated college career. Smith improved steadily during his time at Mt. Zion, but perhaps the most important thing he learned was how to control his weight. As a sophomore, he weighed 280 pounds, but he slimmed down to nearly 220 as a senior, making him more agile and athletic. Still, he's considered by some to be a tweener, a player too small to bang around underneath the basket and not adept enough with his ball handling skills to be a solid wing forward. With Costner ahead of him in the lineup, and McCauley and Hickson alternating in the low post, Smith should have plenty of time to develop the skills he needs to be a big contributor in the years to come. "

10/23/2007 9:30:59 AM

Quote :

"PF-DENNIS HORNER (6-8, 220 lbs., SO, #31, 4.6 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 17.9 mpg, .529 FG, .458 3PT, .841 FT, Holy Spirit HS/Linwood, N.J.). Horner, a wing player who saw most of his action as a reserve, showed how tough he was after he suffered a broken nose in an early February game at Georgia Tech. The painful injury forced him to wear a plastic mask briefly, but he never missed a game because of it. Horner was the only one of Herb Sendek's final three signees who kept his commitment to join the Wolfpack after Sendek left for Arizona State and Lowe was hired (Dan Werner went to Florida and Larry Davis went to Seton Hall). He became a solid contributor in his first season, stepping into the starting lineup at small forward after Atsur suffered a pulled hamstring against Michigan. Horner became one of the team's most consistent outside shooters, hitting a team-high 45.8 percent from beyond the arc. He was also one of the team's most mature and reliable players, earning the respect of his teammates for his hard play and for stepping back into his sixth-man role when Atsur returned to the lineup. Like everyone else who saw lots of playing time last year, Horner will probably have to share some of his minutes with the incoming freshmen. But Lowe says there will always be a spot on the floor for a gutsy hustler like Horner. G-TREVOR FERGUSON (6-5, 185 lbs., SO, #15, 1.8 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 12.5 mpg, .400 FG, .400 3PT, .667 FT, Oldsmar Christian Academy/Palm Harbor, Fla.). Ferguson took a circuitous route to get to Raleigh, a prolonged path that included stops at four different schools, including Pittsburgh, before he settled down with the Wolfpack. Born in Kentucky, Ferguson's family moved to Pensacola, Fla., when he was young, then to Palm Harbor, Fla., just as he was about to enter high school. He spent two years at Palm Harbor High, then transferred to Oldsmar Christian Academy shortly after his mother died of breast cancer. Twelve games into his first season there, he was undercut while going in for a breakaway dunk and fractured both wrists as he tried to break his fall. He petitioned the Florida High School Athletics Association for a fifth year, which was granted. He signed with Pittsburgh the following year without ever taking a visit to the campus and quickly determined that had been a mis-take. He left school before the semester even started, spending the fall at New Creations Prep School in Richmond, Ind. Ferguson enrolled at NC State for the 2006 spring semester, sitting out the rest of the 2005-06 basketball season and the first part of the 2006-07 season under NCAA transfer guidelines. He was a welcome sight for Lowe and his staff when he became eligible last December, because of the Wolfpack's lack of depth. But he also proved to be a bit rusty after spending nearly two and a half years off the court. He contributed 12.5 minutes per game and added some depth to the Wolfpack's weakened backcourt. But he still has a long way to go in terms of defense and ball handling before he will be a regular in the Wolfpack's deeper lineup. F-SIMON HARRIS (6-5, 239 lbs., JR, #2, 2.6 ppg, 3.2 rpg, .500 FG in 2005-06, Millbrook HS/Raleigh, N.C. and Elon) Harris, the son of long-time Wolfpack assistant coach Larry Har-ris, played for two years at Elon College, located about an hour west of Raleigh, but chose to transfer to NC State soon after Sidney Lowe retained his father on the staff. (Larry Harris now enters his 12th season as a Wolfpack assistant.) The younger Harris sat out all of last season under NCAA transfer rules and hopes to contribute this season as a role player. At Elon, he was a part-time starter who played in 59 games. He was a particularly good rebounder, despite his height. He led Elon with 149 rebounds as a freshman, including a career-high 14 against Georgia Southern. At Raleigh's Millbrook High School, where he was a two-time all-conference selection, Harris averaged 15.7 points and 8.7 rebounds per game as a senior. G-CLAYTON BEARD (6-4, 200 lbs., FR, #22, 10.0 ppg, 9.0 rpg, Country Day School/Detroit). A preferred walk-on, Beard was a late-summer addition to the Wolfpack roster, recruited from Detroit as another big, athletic combo guard to help steady his new team's uncertain backcourt. As team captain his senior year, Beard led Country Day to the Class B state championship, in his second season at the school. As a freshman and sophomore, he played at Hidden Lake Academy in Dahlonega, Ga. A versatile athlete, he also played football and lacrosse at Country Day. Beard's coach, Kurt Keener, says he is athletic enough to contribute to the Wolfpack, if he can be patient and wait for his opportunity. Beard says his primary goal is to play well enough in his first season to earn a scholarship. Whether either of those things will happen on a team that is deep with recruited talent is an uncertainty Beard will have to wait out. SF-JOHNNY THOMAS (6-5, 210 lbs., FR, #30, 19.8 ppg, 9.8 rpg, Greensboro Day School/Morehead City, N.C.). Thomas would have seen action as a reserve wing forward, someone the coaches hoped would become a lock-down defender. But his season was derailed when he suffered a knee injury in an early September pick-up game. A diagnostic surgery revealed sig-nificant damage to his knee and was followed by second surgery to repair the damage. He will request a medical red-shirt after sitting out the 2007-08 season, but he's expected to be recovered by next season. Thomas, a native of the coastal town of Morehead City, N.C., transferred to Greensboro Day School to improve his academics for college. He helped lead the school to the North Caro-lina Independent High School Athletic Association state championship as a junior, averaging 18 points and 10 rebounds, and a runner-up finish and a 31-2 record as a senior. BLUE RIBBON ANALYSIS BACKCOURT: B BENCH/DEPTH: A FRONTCOURT: A INTANGIBLES: A Twenty-five years ago, Sidney Lowe went into his senior season believing his team was good enough to win the ACC and contend for the national championship. That hope was seemingly derailed when his long-time backcourt partner Dereck Whittenburg went down with a broken foot in January. What happened over the next two months, however, has become a part college basketball lore -- the Wolfpack developed other players, took advantage of the changing game and be-lieved in the dream of their coach, Jim Valvano. Lowe's college playing career ended a quarter century ago with him, Whittenburg and Thurl Bailey cutting down the nets in Albuquerque, N.M., after a dramatic 54-52 victory over No. 1-ranked Houston in the NCAA Tournament title game. Can Lowe cash in on some of that same magic, as the school celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Cardiac Pack? After more than two decades playing and coaching in the NBA, the sec-ond-year coach is still absorbing the ins and outs of the college game, but his learning curve has been dramatic, as he and his team proved to everyone last March in Tampa. But the ACC is as competitive as always, and momentum doesn't carry a team for long. The Wolfpack went to the ACC Championship game in Herb Sendek's first season as head coach -- and two other times, to boot -- and never won the school's elusive 11th ACC Championship. Lowe, who collected a high school national championship, an ACC title, a NCAA championship and three professional championships during his highly decorated playing career, appears to be capable of getting the Wolfpack over that hump. Getting there this year is not out of the question. "

Enjoy you frugal fucks.

10/23/2007 9:31:42 AM

thanks you rich bastard.

10/23/2007 9:50:26 AM

good read indeed

10/23/2007 9:53:00 AM

Quote :

"But the possibility of playing Johnson and Fells, both 6-5, with Grant, Costner, Hickson or McCauley would give the Wolfpack one of the tallest lineups in the country and create match-up havoc for opponents."

CAN'T. FUCKING. WAIT.

10/23/2007 9:54:25 AM

thanks man

10/23/2007 9:55:12 AM

I gotta quit reading this stuff. I am getting too pumped about the season and as a wolfpack fan, that is not a good thing.

10/23/2007 9:56:58 AM

Quote :

"I gotta quit reading this stuff. I am getting too pumped about the season and as a wolfpack fan, that is not a good thing."

10/24/2007 2:08:30 AM

Quote :

"I gotta quit reading this stuff. I am getting too pumped about the season and as a wolfpack fan, that is not a good thing. "

10/24/2007 2:43:22 PM

yeah, copy, quote, paste of ^

10/24/2007 3:15:33 PM

didnt want to make a new thread....

Huffman: Sorry Duke - State Will Finish Second

http://wral.com/sports/story/1963163/

10/24/2007 3:30:27 PM

All these people will be surprised when we rock carolina, but that's OK.

10/24/2007 7:49:37 PM

I echo the comments above...I'm just waiting for some NC State shit to happen to us

10/24/2007 9:01:21 PM

Look people, when it takes half the season for our point guard play to come up to where we think it will be, don't let me tell you I told you so.

Some of your rookies haven't been at NCSU long enough to know what "some ncsu shit" really is all about.

You're a god damn fool if you let all this hype go to your head, with crazy talk about final fours and #2 regular season, and beating up on Carolina.

Why do you people let it happen every year in every sport.

Hype hype hype

cry cry cry

10/24/2007 9:11:11 PM

have you seen our team?

shut up, we ARE this good

10/24/2007 9:14:27 PM

^^ Why do you let it happen every post in every thread?

troll troll troll

bald bald bald

10/24/2007 9:47:18 PM

hahahaha unc will not beat us this year,,, you can go cry about that on IC

10/24/2007 9:50:46 PM