Former Wolfpack basketball players Tom Gugliotta, center, and Chris Corchiani, right, are removed from the stands during the second half of the Wolfpack's 76-62 loss to Florida State. ETHAN HYMAN - ehyman@newsobserver.com
Chris Corchiani and Tom Gugliotta will be back at the RBC Center on Tuesday as honored guests of N.C. State.
Wolfpack athletic director Debbie Yow said Sunday that the school will honor the 1988-89 N.C. State basketball team, which won the ACC regular-season title, before Tuesday's home game against North Carolina.
Corchiani and Gugliotta were both members of coach Jim Valvano's penultimate team, which went 10-4 in the ACC and advanced to the Round of 16 in the NCAA tournament. Both former players were involved in an incident with referee Karl Hess in N.C. State's 76-62 loss to Florida State on Saturday at the RBC Center.
With 6 minutes and 40 seconds left in the game, Hess ejected Corchiani and Gugliotta, who were sitting behind the scorers' table. Corchiani said he and Gugliotta were complaining about the officiating, and protesting some of the calls, but did not threaten or use profanity with Hess.
Hess declined to provide a reason why he ejected the former players. The ACC has also refused to offer an explanation, although it did acknowledge that Hess did not follow NCAA protocol in having the former players removed from their seats.
Yow said the '89 team, the last N.C. State basketball team to an ACC title, will receive the "Wolfpack Unlimited" award for their "refusal to accept the status quo."
"This was one of Jim's best teams and it's well-deserved, so I'm looking forward to it," Yow said.
Yow did not comment on the timing of the decision to honor the '89 team, which featured Corchiani at point guard and Rodney Monroe at shooting guard. Gugliotta was a reserve forward on the team. All three players have their jerseys honored in the RBC Center rafters.
Yow had no comment about the ACC's lack of public explanation for the ejection of the former players.
"I can't say anything else," Yow said. "I'm still talking to the conference."
Comments
Hilarious
Mon, 02/20/2012 - 16:19 — SportsBirdLet me get this straight: N.C. State is honoring a team that didn't win the ACC title...while playing the team that did win the ACC title that same year, and that team is also their biggest rival? Seriously?
Exactly why is this team being honored anyway? There is no regular season title in the ACC (it was eliminated in 1961), so the Wolfpack didn't actually win a thing in 1989. Are they being honored for making the Sweet 16?
Wouldn't it make infinitely more sense to honor the 1987 team, since this is their 25th anniversary...and they beat Carolina in the finals...and they actually, um, won the ACC title as opposed to being sent home in the quarterfinals?
Perfect sense
Tue, 02/21/2012 - 14:18 — SurferPerhaps the 1989 team is the best one that both Googs and Flame Boy were on? I don't know.
Sportsbird
Mon, 02/20/2012 - 18:55 — gvillegatrPlease do not let the facts get in the way here. After all, we are talking about a school and fanbase that INVENTED the black helicopters !
same old story
Sun, 02/19/2012 - 15:55 — sammywolfIt's hard to see such a poor performance from the team, then to have to live with the actions of an out of control ref becoming the focus. If there was ever any doubt about the Pack getting shafted by officiating crews, it's now laid to rest. The team looked flat from the start,but give Fla.St. credit - they were the better team. Too bad Karl Hess became the main focus from the game.
Childish
Sun, 02/19/2012 - 15:36 — gvillegatrDebbie Yow showing her true colors once again ... acting like a child.
I bet the '89 team that shows up for this event will feel uncomfortable to say the least because they know they will be out there (on this night) because of what happened on Saturday and NOT for what they accomplished in 1989 which was nc states last ACC title.
LOL
Sun, 02/19/2012 - 15:44 — mad_maxAnd gatr likes to call people hypocrites...
So DY is childish, but when Roy throws a temper tantrum and has an innocent fan ejected you think he is in the right. When Everett Withers gave BD (fired for running a cheating program) the game ball, he wasn't being childish. When BD showed up to games at Kenan despite all the negative publicity, he wasn't being childish. When your chancellor and AD lied and claimed that McAdoo didn't plagiarize his paper, they somehow were in the right too.
Whatever max
Sun, 02/19/2012 - 16:09 — gvillegatrFirst off we never had a conversation on whether any of your stated examples were childish or not.
But, FTR, the only example I see as truly being childish was EW awarding the game ball to BD because he was sticking it to Thorpe.
BD going to ball games and sitting in area that hardly no one can access is not childish. Had he sat in the student section or the box next to Thorpe, then that would have constituted childish behavior.
The Chancellor, unfortunately, did not have all the facts on McAdoo's paper. Embarrassing ? Yes. But, I have no idea how that is deemed childish ?!
Debbie Yow is as loose a cannon as there is in the AD business. It hurt her BIG TIME at Maryland and the only reason she wound up at state college is because of her last name. Don't pretend otherwise. No one likes her in the AD community.
Cheers
Sun, 02/19/2012 - 14:51 — YAR8packAny bets on what the decible level will reach when those two guys are introduced? Turn it up to 11!
Damn
Sun, 02/19/2012 - 15:37 — mad_maxDamn, I'm in love with Debbie Yow. Glad we finally have a leader who is willing to fight against the bullshit. To steal this from a hilarious radio show caller from last year, "She had me at 'sabatoge'."