RALEIGH — N.C. State's bench will have a different look next season. DeShawn Painter, the top backup forward for the Wolfpack, and Jaqawn Raymond, a reserve guard, plan to transfer, the school announced Wednesday.
Painter, who averaged 6.2 points and 4.3 rebounds as a junior, wants to finish his career closer to his home in Norfolk, Va. to be with his ailing mother and grandmother. Under NCAA transfer rules, Painter can apply for a waiver and be eligible for the 2012-13 season.
Gatorade, in collaboration with ESPNHS, today announced guard Rodney Purvis of Upper Room Christian Academy as its Gatorade North Carolina boys basketball Player of the Year. Purvis is the first Player of the Year to be chosen from Upper Room.
The award recognizes outstanding athletic excellence and high standards of academic achievement along with exemplary character demonstrated on and off the court. Purvis is also now a finalist for the National Player of the Year award to be announced later this month.
“It means a lot,” Purvis said. “It’s an honor to have my name on that award.”
Purvis, who is 6-foot-4 and 199-pound, led the Eagles to a 24-16 record and the Greater Carolina High School Athletic Association championship this past season.
“I’m just happy and proud for him,” coach Avie Lester said. “It’s nice that people acknowledge his work and effort.”
DURHAM -- One of the more important moments in Duke’s comeback against N.C. State on Thursday night came in the first half, just as the Wolfpack was building a commanding early lead.
Seth Curry went up for a loose ball and came down awkwardly. When he got up, he put weight on his ankle to see if he could continue.The grimace on his face suggested Curry’s return was far from certain.
“When he went out, I thought he was gone,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “Jose (Fonseca), our trainer, was just telling me that Seth said, ‘Man, I don’t know if I can go,’ and Jose said, ‘You have to go.’ Seth said, ‘It hurts,’ and Jose said, ‘I’ll give you a shot.’”
The ACC announced on Friday new scheduling formats that will take effect when Pittsburgh and Syracuse begin league play, officially making the ACC a 14-team conference. Among the changes:
-A nine-game conference schedule in football.
-And an 18-game conference schedule in basketball, in which each of the 14 teams will play twice a year against one permanent partner. Games between permanent partners are only ones that will be guaranteed to happen twice per season. Given that North Carolina’s permanent partner is Duke, that means that in two out of every three seasons North Carolina and N.C. State will play just once during the regular season.
John Swofford, ACC Commissioner, spoke on Friday with The News & Observer about several issues related to the announcement of the new scheduling formats. Here’s the Q-and-A:
Updated 11:19 p.m.
CHAPEL HILL — It had been eight years since N.C. State entered the Smith Center with as strong of an ACC record as it brought here on Thursday night. After five long, losing seasons in league play, the Wolfpack’s resurgence inspired thoughts that maybe they’d closed some of the margin between them and North Carolina.
But the No. 7 Tar Heels proved otherwise on Thursday during a dominant 74-55 victory that reaffirmed the gap between these programs remains wide. The Heels’ victory was their 11th consecutive in this series, and that stretch of supremacy is UNC’s longest over N.C. State (15-6, 4-2) since the formation of the ACC in 1953.
Mark Gottfried’s two predecessors took opposite tacks in their approaches to N.C. State’s grudge match against North Carolina.
Herb Sendek downplayed the significance of the game, stressing it was only 1/16th of the ACC schedule. Sidney Lowe, meanwhile, wore a red blazer to signify how important he thought it was.
Gottfried said Monday that he doesn’t own any red blazers, but he nonetheless embraced the implications of Thursday's meeting between the Wolfpack and the Tar Heels at the Smith Center at 7 p.m. (ESPN).
RALEIGH – Once again, N.C. State won a game with a collection of players fulfilling their roles, not having just one star individual who carried the rest.
That was the formula N.C. State used in a closer-than-it-looked 79-74 win over Maryland on Sunday night.
And executing this type of game plan set in by first-year coach Mark Gottfried will most likely determined whether the Wolfpack reach their ultimate goal: the NCAA Tournament.
In the ACC opener for both teams, the Wolfpack showed more maturity in the second half. They limited their turnovers. They helped each other on the defensive end. And when it was time to pull away and win the game, the Wolfpack did just that.
RALEIGH – N.C. State leads Maryland 36-30 at halftime in the ACC opener for both teams and coaches Mark Gottfried and Mark Turgeon. Here are a few observations from the first half here at the RBC Center.
-- N.C. State outrebounded Maryland 19-12 in the first half. That’s important for the Wolfpack against Maryland’s 7-foot center Alex Len. Not only are the Wolfpack holding the Terrapins to just one shot, but they are also taking advantage when they run in transition – which included at dunk from forward C.J. Leslie that was the biggest highlight in the first half that brought the home crowd to its feet.
Both Leslie (six rebounds) and forward Richard Howell (two rebounds) have been active on the backboard.
-- Leslie leads the Wolfpack with 12 points. A few of his baskets have come after grabbing offensive rebounds. At times Leslie was too aggressive in turning the ball over two times, but he’s outplaying any big man Maryland puts on him.
-- N.C. State built its lead, and maintained it for much of the first half, on a 5-0 run midway through the half by playing solid defense. The Wolfpack also finished the half well on the defensive end. N.C. State held Maryland scoreless for the final 2:36 left on the clock. The Terrapins have turned the ball over seven times, and some of them were unforced errors.
-- Forward Scott Wood has been sharp coming off screens. Wood started the game making his first three shots. His 3-pointer, coming off a screen, helped stretch Maryland’s defense. He also recorded a block in the first half.
-- This game should stay close throughout the second half as N.C. State’s biggest lead was five. Maryland clearly wants to take time of the clock and go through its offensive sets. When Maryland is passing the ball from side-to-side, the Terrapins have scored. Guard Terrell Stoglin leads Maryland with eight points.
Torian Graham, one of the top basketball recruits in the country, excited N.C. State fans again today when he announced his commitment to play for the Wolfpack next season. Then, within just a few hours, he decided to change his mind again and pull out of his commitment.
This wasn’t the first time Graham, a 6-foot-4 senior guard from Durham, has reopened his recruitment after initially picking N.C. State.
In August, Graham de-committed from the N.C. State after choosing the school in May, a month after new coach Mark Gottfried was hired.
“Nothing bad happened at State,” Graham said back in August, as the News & Observer has not been able to reach him today. “I felt like I made my decision too fast and didn’t give other colleges a chance to recruit me.”
Last night, a YouTube video surfaced of Graham announcing his decision to pick the Wolfpack.
“I’m going to end up at N.C. State,” Graham said in the video. “At heart, that’s where I’ve always wanted to be.”
Graham, the No. 38 prospect in the country by ESPN, also suggested he was going to N.C. State on his Twitter account this morning.
Graham’s addition would have given N.C. State one of the best recruiting classes for next season.
Already, the Wolfpack have three seniors in Rodney Purvis (16), T.J. Warren (23) and Tyler Lewis (69) who are ranked in the top-100 by ESPN.
RALEIGH – This one wasn’t close or dramatic, but N.C. State fans will take it.
An 82-67 victory over Elon on Friday night in front of a near sellout crowd at Reynolds Coliseum was fueled by a balanced scoring attack and solid defense from the Wolfpack.
