CHARLOTTE — For the first time since 1975, media members covering the ACC have picked N.C. State to win the conference. The league on Wednesday released the results of its annual preseason media poll, in which the Wolfpack received 26 of 53 first-place votes.
Duke, which received 21 first-place votes, finished second in the poll. North Carolina finished third and Florida State, which received six first-place votes, came in fourth.
Rodney Purvis will play basketball this season but his former high school won't.
Upper Room Christian Academy in Raleigh is eliminating its high school and middle school grades, the school's executive director John Amanchukwu said Tuesday.
Handling expectations, Lorenzo Brown's health, which forwards will play off the bench, 'skinny' Rich Howell and shot at UNC — notes from N.C. State basketball's media day:
The NCAA cleared N.C. State freshman guard Rodney Purvis on Monday afternoon.
The McDonald's All-American guard will be eligible to play basketball for the Wolfpack this season after the NCAA completed a review of Purvis' high school, Upper Room Christian Academy in Raleigh.
Updated: 2:30 p.m.
The NCAA has cleared Rodney Purvis to go to class at N.C. State but his eligibility for the upcoming basketball season is still in question.
Purvis confirmed the NCAA's decision on his Twitter account on Tuesday. He will be on scholarship for the academic year, according to coach Mark Gottfried, but there's still a chance he won't be eligible to play during the 2012-13 season.
Lorenzo Brown wasn't supposed to play against CB Torrejon on Tuesday. The Spanish pro team probably wishes the junior point guard didn't.
Brown scored 25 points to lead the Wolfpack to an 83-76 win over Torrejon in the first of five games on their 10-day trip to Spain.
Brown had minor knee surgery on June 26 and coach Mark Gottfried said before the trip they would be "cautious" with Brown.
Rodney Purvis, evil Twitter genius toying with the emotions of N.C. State fans? Duke recruit Rasheed Sulaimon almost went to UNC?
Those secrets were revealed in ESPN's Jason Jordan's report from the Jordan Brand Classic, which is Saturday in Charlotte. Jordan asked several players, including Purvis, Sulaimon and UNC signee J.P. Tokoto about which school was their second choice.
New Hanover County's Kadeem Allen, Raleigh Upper Room's Rodney Purvis and Cary Green Hope's Kristen Gaffney headline the 2011-12 Associated Press all-state prep basketball teams for North Carolina.
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.”
In the end, there was too much of a pull at N.C. State for T.J. Warren to play college basketball anywhere else.
Warren, one of the top high school basketball players in the country, chose the Wolfpack over Georgetown on Wednesday.
He joins his friends, top recruits Rodney Purvis and Tyler Lewis, in the Wolfpack's recruiting class of 2012, and joins the program where his father played 32 years ago.
