Rodney Purvis has decided to transfer to Connecticut, he said Friday.

Purvis, a McDonald's All-American from Raleigh, averaged 8.3 points and 2.4 rebounds this past season at N.C. State. He made the decision to leave N.C. State on Monday.

UConn is coming off of a 20-10 season in coach Kevin Ollie's first season. The Huskies were banned from postseason play by the NCAA for previous academic issues under former coach Jim Calhoun.

Here is a lovely holiday remembrance from Kenneth Branch, a Raleigh reader and Wake County's principal of the year for 2012. He is now retired:

Here's a statement from numerous pastors across the state in the N.C. Council of Churches on the shootings in Connecticut:

Getting lots of letters about the Connecticut shootings that are too long to run. Here's one from a Raleigh firearms instructor. See what you think.

Here's a look at more than 20 more letters on the shootings in Connecticut. These are largely unedited.

Another batch of letters from N&O readers on the shootings. These are largely unedited:

Scores and scores of letters on the shooting deaths of 26 at a Connecticut elementary school. Here's a sampling:

Now that Notre Dame’s in the fold, a coup of staggering proportions for the ACC and comissioner John Swofford, assuring the relevance of the conference long into the future, if it was ever really in doubt, the only question left is who’s No. 16?

With 14 teams for football and 15 overall once Notre Dame joins -- and NBC’s football megadeal with the Fighting Irish expires in 2015, so mark that date on the calendar -- the ACC is going to need one more team to balance out the conference at some point down the road.

Connecticut was mentioned back when Syracuse and Pittsburgh were invited aboard, but there are two schools that fit the ACC far better, both athletically and academically. One would be easy: Rutgers. Another would require some behind-the-scenes maneuvering on the par of the Notre Dame move: Vanderbilt.

DURHAM – With irrepressible efficiency and defensive aplomb, the No. 3 Connecticut women’s basketball team delivered another disappointing loss to Duke on Monday night– its fifth consecutive over the Blue Devils. 

The Huskies (20-2, 8-1 Big East), as they had twice last year, defeated the No. 5 Devils (17-3, 8-0 ACC) by executing basketball fundamentals at the highest level and chipping away for a 61-45 victory at Cameron Indoor Stadium. 

The Devils, playing before a raucous crowd and nationally televised audience, put up a fight, yet it was little they could do as Geno Auriemma’s bunch kept working for rebounds, kept closing out on shooters and kept converting opportunities.

Meanwhile, the Devils got away from what has worked offensively this season as the team’s averaged 76.9 points per game. They finished with just eight assists and failed to move the ball with the fluidity that has marked previous victories.

Rodney Purvis, one of the top high school basketball players in the country, plans to announce his college decision on Friday.