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UNC's P.J. Hairston sidelined

caultontudor — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:16:50 -0500

UNC announced Friday that freshman guard P.J. Hairston will not play in Saturday's game against Virginia (1 p.m. Smith Center).

Hairston has a sore left foot, the school said in a news release.

He is averaging 6.6 points and is third on the team in three-point field goal conversions. Hairston played 10 minutes in Wednesday's 85-84 loss to Duke.

Earlier, UNC guards Leslie McDonald and Dexter Strickland suffered season-ending knee injuries. McDonald, who was hurt in the summer, has redshirted. Strickland had surgery Thursday following a knee injury at Virginia Tech on Jan. 19.

Reports link Butch Davis to Tampa Bay staff

caultontudor — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:08:40 -0500

Several Tampa area news outlets are reporting that former UNC football coach Butch Davis could soon join the Tampa Bays Buccaneers staff.

Davis was fired by North Carolina and given a $2.7 million payoff in July 2011.

The Bucs hired former Rutgers coach Greg Schiano on Jan. 26. Raheem Morris was fired as the Bucs’ coach after the 2011 team finished 4-12.

Davis, who had a 28-23 record in four seasons at Carolina, was head coach of the Cleveland Browns of the NFL from 2001 through 2004. His Cleveland teams went 24-34. Before coaching the Browns, Davis had NFL experience on the Dallas Cowboys staffs.

At UNC, Davis was dismissed after NCAA and school investigations uncovered academic wrongdoing and illegal dealings between players and sports agents.

UNC forfeited all of its wins in 2008 and ’09 as part of a self-imposed punishment. The NCAA has not yet ruled on the case.

Wolfpack tops the Yellow Jackets 61-52

kkeister — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:59:31 -0500

By David Scott
dscott@charlotteobserver.com

ATLANTA -- N.C. State’s 61-52 ACC victory against Georgia Tech on Thursday was built on the memories of what happened the last time the two teams played.

It was a month ago, when the Yellow Jackets exposed the Wolfpack defensively, shooting 51 percent in an 82-71 win in Raleigh.

“That hurt us,” said Wolfpack Mark Gottfried.

But it also served N.C. State well on Thursday in Philips Arena. The Wolfpack (18-7, 7-3 ACC) clamped down defensively on Georgia Tech (9-15, 2-8), forcing the Yellow Jackets into a 32.2 percent shooting night on its way to a third consecutive triumph.

“It was a point of emphasis for us,” said Gottfried, whose team has a week-long break before playing at Duke next Thursday. “They played really well at our place, but I thought we were a lot better defensively (Thursday). The last couple of days in practice, we were locked in. We wanted to come over here and get this one back.”

Four Wolfpack players scored in double figures this time, including C.J. Williams (15 points), C.J. Leslie (13), Scott Wood (10) and Lorenzo Brown (10). Leslie also had 10 rebounds.

But it was defense that kept the Wolfpack in the game, especially in the first half, when Georgia Tech was gaining a 24-14 advantage on the boards (13-4 offensively).

A combination of poor Yellow Jackets shooting (they shot 28.1 percent in the first half) and a hot Williams (11 points), helped keep the Wolfpack close. N.C. State began to take control by finishing the half on a 6-0 run (holding Georgia Tech scoreless in the final 4 minutes, 50 seconds) to take a 26-24 lead. The Wolfpack then started the second half by outscoring the Yellow Jackets 9-4, going up 35-28 on a Williams jumper with 17:14 remaining.

The Wolfpack evened up the rebounding in the second half, with Georgia Tech finishing with a 42-31 edge.

“We weren’t rebounding the way we were supposed to in the first half,” said Williams. “Part of that was on me. Us guards have to be better at boxing out. Our bigs aren’t 7-feet tall, so we can’t rely on them to get every rebound. We have to go in there ourselves. When we started to do that, we started to stretch it out a little bit.”

Williams left the game for the locker room briefly in the first half after a back injury from high school flared up. He said after the game that it was just a tweak and he was fine.

If there was anything really newsworthy about the game, it might have been Wood making two free throws in the first half, stretching his ACC record to 65 in a row over two seasons for what is the fourth longest streak in NCAA history.

That’s where Wood remains today: He promptly missed three consecutive free throws in the second half.

“I’m starting a streak the other way,” said Wood.

Wood did have someone to blame for his new-found – and certain to be brief – problems at the free-throw line. He said assistant coach Bobby Lutz told him he’d dreamed that Wood had finally missed a free throw.

“He should have kept it to himself,” said Wood with a smile.

Gottfried has no doubt Wood will get back on track.

“When he missed that first one, he was running down the court with a little smile,” Gottfried said. “He was trying to laugh it off, but I know it hurt him. Then it maybe got in his mind. But it’s probably good to get it over with. I think he’ll start another streak and it’ll go for a good long time.”

Capel can empathize with Rivers' emotions

jackdaly — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:21:55 -0500

As Austin Rivers comes down from his adrenaline rush of a Wednesday night, the person who may have the best idea of how Rivers’ one shot will affect his Duke legacy is Jeff Capel.

It’s conceivable that Rivers’ game-winning 3-pointer was the Blue Devils’ most memorable shot in the series with North Carolina since Capel hit a running 30-footer at the end of the first overtime of the teams’ Feb. 2, 1995 game.

There are differences between the two buzzer-beaters, with the most notable being that Capel’s effort didn’t win the game for Duke – North Carolina ended up outlasting Duke 102-100 in double overtime.

So in that sense, Rivers’ heroics were even more magical for the Blue Devils.

“It’s something that he’ll be able to tell his kids about it,” said Capel, who is now an assistant coach for the Blue Devils. “It’s something that his team will always remember, too – everyone that was associated with it.

“The game will probably be known as the Rivers shot.”

The Capel shot game has taken on a life of its own and become something of an urban legend. Many people, Capel said, have only seen highlights of his shot and do not realize it only tied the game.

That doesn’t bother Capel so much as the final score still irritates. With Mike Krzyzewski on leave with an ailing back, that was the season everything went wrong for the Blue Devils, and in some ways the loss to UNC encapsulated the entire season.

“It would have meant more to me and would mean more to me know if we would have won the game, especially if that would have been the game winner,” Capel said.

Nonetheless, Capel enjoys his place in Duke-North Carolina lore.

Capel said he still gets asked about the shot – with the Tar Heels up three, Serge Zwikker missed a free throw before Cherokee Parks rebounded the ball and passed it to Capel, who dribbled twice and took two steps before letting fly from a spot halfway between the top of the 3-point arc and the half-court line – all the time.

“For a kid that really understands this rivalry, to have a moment that will always be remembered in this historic rivalry – it’s something that’s very special to me,” Capel said. “I know Austin didn’t grow up in this state, but Austin’s a student of the game. I know it’s always going to mean something to him and for him to always have a moment like that.

“He’ll always have this moment and it’s always something that people will remember and identify him with. Hopefully, there are many moments like that for him. But certainly around here and in college basketball, people will always remember that.”

3 N.C. State recruits selected to McDonald's All-America team

timstevens — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:46:35 -0500

Three N.C. State basketball recruits have been selected to play in the 35th McDonald's All-America boys basketball game on March 28 in Chicago.

The Wolfpack recruits are Rodney Purvis of Raleigh Upper Room; Tyler Lewis, who played at Forsyth Country Day in 2010-11 and is at Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill this season; and T.J. Warren, who played at Durham Riverside and Raleigh Word of God before going to Brewster Academy for this season.

All three grew up playing in North Carolina.

Duke recruit Rasheed Sulaimon of Houston (Texas) Strake Jesuit and North Carolina recruit Marcus Page of Linn-Marr (Iowa) Marion also are on the all-star team.

Big 4 hoops legends announced

caultontudor — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:25:05 -0500

The ACC has announced its list of 2012 basketball legends _ a group that includes Kenny Dennard of Duke, Kenny Smith of North Carolina, Todd Fuller of N.C. State and Randolph Childress of Wake Forest.

Joining them are Boston College’s John Bagley (Stratford, Conn.), who was named a third-team (NABC) All-America in 1982; Clemson’s Sharone Wright (Macon, Ga.), a powerful post player for the Tigers who earned All-ACC honors in 1993 and 1994; Florida State’s James Collins (Jacksonville, Fla), a high-scoring wingman who was a three-time All-ACC selection in 1995, 1996 and 1997; Georgia Tech’s Malcolm Mackey (Chattanooga, Tenn.), a powerful post player who helped lead Georgia Tech to ACC Championships in 1990 and 1993; Maryland’s Johnny Rhodes (Washington, D.C.), one of the most versatile players in ACC history who helped lead the Terrapins back to national prominence; Miami’s Ron Godfrey (Coral Springs, Fla.), an Honorable Mention All-America forward for the Hurricanes in the 1960’s who also served as head coach for four seasons; Virginia’s Lee Raker (Louisville, Ky.), a versatile forward who helped lead the Cavaliers to the 1981 NCAA Final Four; and Virginia Tech’s Dale Solomon (Annapolis, Md.), a high-scoring forward who helped lead the Hokies to two NCAA Tournament appearances and one NIT berth.

Replay our Thursday afternoon ACC chat

kkeister — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:56:40 -0500

Talk ACC hoops with columnist Luke DeCock and Duke beat writer Jack Daly

(02/09/2012)

11:58

Lorenzo Perez:

Welcome, everyone. It's the day after Austin Rivers and Duke mounted a classic comeback to beat North Carolina on the Tar Heels' home court.

We have with us Blue Devils beat writer Jack Daly and columnist Luke DeCock, who both covered last night's game at the Smith Center.

Get your questions, comments and family-friendly rants ready. (Yes, we all know Seth Curry traveled before hitting that 3.) We're about to get started.

If anyone wants to talk also about Florida State's flop at Boston College or N.C. State's game tonight at Georgia Tech, Jack and Luke are ready to discuss those as well.

We're about to get started, but here are some links to some of this morning's coverage.

Duke at the buzzer: http://bit.ly/AlyYw6
Duke controls its destiny: http://bit.ly/xs3wb3
Tudor's Take: http://bit.ly/xXoygJ

Thursday February 9, 2012 11:58 Lorenzo Perez