it almost has to be about grades.

5/1/2007 2:37:56 PM

The unquestioned silence regarding his LOI can't be good either. Somebody has got to know whats going on behind the scenes....

simonn and I called this one awhile ago (pg 22/23) despite haters telling us to take it to chit chat.... (sorry , wolfAApack)

5/1/2007 2:54:44 PM

Isn't it true that you don't even need to sign a LOI. All that does is bind you to the school. You can start classes on scholarship just like any other student. You don't HAVE to sign a LOI... at least that is how I understood it.

I'm sure he'll be here in the fall.

5/1/2007 2:55:55 PM

^ Wow. Interesting take. What notable college bball players do you know of that didnt sign LOIs?

5/1/2007 3:17:08 PM

Quote :

"Am I required to sign a National Letter of Intent? No. You are not required to sign a National Letter of Intent but many student-athletes sign a National Letter of Intent because they want to create certainty in the recruiting process. Specifically, by signing a National Letter of Intent, you agree to attend the institution for one year in exchange for the institution's promise, in writing, to provide you athletics financial aid for the entire academic year. Simply, by signing a National Letter of Intent you are given an award including athletics aid for the upcoming academic year provided you are admitted to the institution and you are eligible for athletics aid under NCAA rules. Furthermore, by signing a National Letter of Intent you effectively end the recruiting process. Once you sign a National Letter of Intent, a recruiting ban goes into effect and you may no longer be recruited by any other National Letter of Intent school. "

5/1/2007 3:19:32 PM

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/luke_winn/05/01/power.rankings/2.html

unrelated and probably oldish

5/1/2007 3:21:00 PM

^ wow. Thanks for putting us as #22, but UNC#1 preseason? fuck that guy. Reiterates my theory that writers @ SI are mostly a bunch of UNC homers.

Quote :

"The Heels lost a lottery pick-level talent in Brandan Wright, but recall that they looked fine without him in a 28-point rout of Arizona in January. UNC will still have a nine-deep rotation, and guards Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington should emerge as more complete players (read: guys who also play D) as sophomores. "

Like Arizona was such a great, infallible, not overhyped team last year
Like they wont have alot of frontcourt matchup issues in the ACC without Wright
Like Roy can actually coach defense into "the greatest college recruiting class of all time" (who just wanna get in the NBA because theyve been told that since they were ten)

5/1/2007 3:32:08 PM

^ Andy Katz had an article on the next season's top 25 that came out yesterday. He had Memphis at #1 with the Holes at #2. We came in at #24 and Duke at #11 (I think). Katz pretty much said that losing Wright would not have a huge impact.

5/1/2007 5:25:12 PM

Quote :

"What notable college bball players do you know of that didnt sign LOIs?"

iirc, julius hodge never signed a letter. i'm still w/ you though, this doesn't seem like it's panning out quite as intended.

and don't get too caught up in us not getting enough respect or whatever in the preseason predictions. of course carolina's going to be on everyone's radar, just how it is. just be glad reporters are actually noticing the job lowe's doing.

[Edited on May 1, 2007 at 6:01 PM. Reason : honestly, i didn't expect to be on anyone's radar, but we're on almost everyone's]

5/1/2007 5:58:35 PM

Ellington really has to get better, he was ranked the #1 SG in his class by some sites, talk about under performing.

5/1/2007 11:11:32 PM

ellington stepped it up in the last few games of the regular season. it hurt him that carolina was so stacked and that he was a freshman. he didn't get any phenomenal minutes or anything. next year he'll be sick and he'll be pissing us all off regularly i think.

5/2/2007 12:19:45 AM

Quote :

"and don't get too caught up in us not getting enough respect or whatever in the preseason predictions. of course carolina's going to be on everyone's radar, just how it is. just be glad reporters are actually noticing the job lowe's doing. "

UNC/NCSU both have something in common. We both choke when hyped up...

5/2/2007 8:52:51 AM

#24 in the nation isn't exactly hyped up.

When was the last time NC State was truly hyped up? As in like Carolina this past year or this upcoming year?

Anyways, though Tracy Smith doesn't HAVE to sign his LOI, on the other hand, why wouldn't he?

It's a bad sign, that's for sure.

[Edited on May 2, 2007 at 9:08 AM. Reason : ]

5/2/2007 9:07:19 AM

Quote :

"iirc, julius hodge never signed a letter. i'm still w/ you though, this doesn't seem like it's panning out quite as intended."

he signed something else.....which is becoming common place. I can't think of the name off the top of my head, but its not binding like the LOI is

5/2/2007 9:50:27 AM

I have VERY GOOD reason to believe we have Tracy Smith's LOI. That's all I'm going to say for now.

5/4/2007 9:59:07 AM

Sidney Lowe talked about him publicly - he can't do that unless there is a LOI in hand from the student.

5/4/2007 10:20:44 AM

^^posted a couple minutes after packpride..that's pretty good reason, despite the disdain for that board here.

But yeah, Sid talked about him publicly..that's all we need to hear.

5/4/2007 10:37:16 AM

Well I didn't see the Packpride, but I did see Sid speak about Hickson, Gonzalez, Thomas, and Smith last night. He turned to Coach Jackson to double-check that things were in order before speaking about Tracy Smith. I didn't want to be the only one to put it out there, but we obviously have his LOI.

[Edited on May 4, 2007 at 10:43 AM. Reason : I don't say I have VERY GOOD info b/c I read it on a message board]

5/4/2007 10:41:30 AM

must have just been a coincidence..

5/4/2007 10:48:46 AM

Well it is about the time that people get settled in at work after responding to emails, and get on to post stuff from last night. I don't read packpride though, I figure if it is important I will see it on SFN or here. Sorry if my post was old news to those of you on packpride at the time.

5/4/2007 10:53:14 AM

I just hope we didn't pull any controversial "strings" in order to get this LOI that could lead to a media fuck over

5/4/2007 10:54:05 AM

mt. zion will probably do whatever it takes to get him out.

5/4/2007 11:12:20 AM

Well thats the only good news on Tracy I've heard in awhile. Maybe he didnt sign an "LOI", but signed one of those pseudo-LOI's that Hodge signed....? Either way if Sid is talking about him for next years squad, then my fears are pretty much alleviated...

Oh and all of those talking heads in the media who downplay the loss of Wright are full of it, I don't care who says what. Wright was going to improve after last year too: thats why he's in the NBA now. If they had kept him they would be sicknasty this year. Now, they have to bank on Ellington living up to his hype and someone else filling in that slot that wright left. Who will step up to adaquately replace wright for them this year? hmmm? Those are BIG (bat-eared) shoes to fill, I tells ya...

5/4/2007 12:16:04 PM

if i had heard this a week ago, i'd be ecstatic. at this point, i'm over it.

5/4/2007 12:53:37 PM

Ok?

Come 8 months from now we're going to be glad to have this guy on the bench backing us up.

5/4/2007 1:26:41 PM

i'm glad to have him, i just don't care about the letter anymore.

5/4/2007 1:59:48 PM

any idea on what the hold up was?

5/4/2007 2:17:12 PM

Quote :

"Come 8 months from now we're going to be glad to have this guy on the bench backing us up."

Yessir. I think he will get alot of PT in games when we can afford to go big in order to let Costner move out to a guard spot and pop 3's for us. We may actually be a decent offensive rebounding squad for once. A good 3pt shooting team that dominates the offensive glass = upset special in the making.... We just need a solid PG to distribute the ball well and we are a matchup nightmare for many of our smaller opponents all of a sudden....

5/4/2007 2:34:35 PM

haha I don't think Costner will be moving to a guard spot

5/4/2007 2:49:42 PM

Quote :

"A good 3pt shooting team "

Outside of Atsur and Costner at times.....I didn't see any 3 shooting.

Fells is so inconsistent and Grant's 3 shot is terrible most of the time.

5/4/2007 2:49:47 PM

yea, id rather see costner down low, he seemed more reliable in the post than he was outside shooting 3's

5/4/2007 2:50:50 PM

i'm guessing he meant SF, not guard

[Edited on May 4, 2007 at 2:53 PM. Reason : a]

5/4/2007 2:52:51 PM

if costner plays guard at all next season, i'll give you $100.

5/4/2007 2:53:47 PM

Yeah, that's a really dumb statement. It's not like you can't shoot 3s from the 4/PF slot.

Remember Marcus Melvin?

Anyways, gg on Tracy Smith for riding with the Pack.

5/4/2007 2:57:06 PM

Remember Marcus MelvinCostner last year?

5/4/2007 2:58:37 PM

^^Yep. My bad, so much for posting between meetings @ work. Costner could never hang with ACC guards, especially on D. We killed em with the pick and roll to the hoop last year, but this year we can also pick Costner's defender near the top of the key (he wont have to live down low for rebounds nearly as much this year) to free him up or leave a smaller guard on him (mismatch heaven). He could shoot right over em a la Marcus Melvin. (though Costner is way better than Melvin already)

5/4/2007 4:00:24 PM

Quote :

"Outside of Atsur and Costner at times.....I didn't see any 3 shooting."

Horner. He was our best 3 shooter.

I expect him to be first or second off the bench next year.

5/4/2007 4:05:24 PM

^ I disagree.

He's a tweener. Not quick enough to guard little guys not big enough to guard big guys.

He does have a pretty good jumper but other than that he's not much more than an effort guy.

I think his role gets reduced now that we have more talent/depth.

5/4/2007 4:20:38 PM

if he bulks up a little over the summer, i could see it happening

5/4/2007 4:30:39 PM

http://www.wral.com/news/state/story/1384325/

5/4/2007 5:12:18 PM

^I think that's football recruiting, but very sad. Sucks when people are taken so young.

5/4/2007 5:15:51 PM

^^

[Although a junior, he received recruiting letters from several colleges and universities, including North Carolina State, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Harvard, Brown and North Carolina State University, Carter said.]

Apparently North Carolina State and North Carolina State University are two different schools.

5/4/2007 5:18:44 PM

oh shit, I didn't even think about football for some reason

5/4/2007 5:25:11 PM

^

haha, maybe because for the first time in a long time, we have a legitmate chance of accomplishing something significant in basketball

too bad the same thing can't be said for football--> Not that I'm hating on O'brien, I'll just believe it when I see it

5/4/2007 5:32:14 PM

I would rather see horner get quicker, not bigger. It's like when brackman tried to get bigger -- he got slower, less athletic, and suckier.

[Edited on May 5, 2007 at 12:57 AM. Reason : sdf]

5/5/2007 12:55:47 AM

by the end of the season horner looked to be about as tall as costner and mccauley. i expect him to come off the bench for costner, they play a pretty similar game. horner more facing the basket, but close enough.

[Edited on May 5, 2007 at 2:04 AM. Reason : he can't really back you down yet like he needs to be able to, but give him a chance.]

5/5/2007 2:04:16 AM

I agree with ^^ and not so much with ^

I'd like it if Horner grew into the same type of player that Marcus Melvin was for us: a tall, lean guy who could hit a shot from anywhere on the court, inside or outside

we have plenty of inside presence coming in next year and Horner has a sweet enough shot as a big man to REALLY wind up being an opponent's gameplan changer. If he were to come in for Costner, Hickson, McCauley or Smith next year and change our entire "big man" presence by not pounding the ball inside, but staying out on the perimeter and hitting 3's in the opposing center or PF's face, then we will have a big advantage

5/5/2007 3:01:14 AM

melvin tall and lean? wtf. the only thing the two have in common is 3 point shooting. Melvin was also a pretty good rebounder

5/5/2007 3:07:42 AM

i guess their games aren't really as similar as they were in my head when i posted that, but what i mean is horner can get the ball on the perimeter and either shoot from there or take it into the paint and score. and costner starts on the perimeter a lot of the time, but shoots the 3 probably less than horner. that's all i meant.

5/5/2007 3:08:14 AM

Yeah, and Melvin had a way goofier grill ...I doubt Horner will ever surpass Melvin's numbers, he just isnt as athletic, but then again we have him for 3 more years....

5/5/2007 8:45:35 AM