Russian recruit chooses Sendek over Wolfpack

Score a recruiting victory for former N.C. State coach Herb Sendek over his former school.

Ruslan Pateev, a 6-11 Russian player for Montverde Academy in Florida, chose Sendek's program at Arizona State over N.C. State and Florida State on Wednesday, the first day of the national signing period.

Montverde coach Kevin Sutton said Pateev had "three great schools to choose from."

"He felt very comfortable when he went out there (to Arizona State) to visit," Sutton said.

Because of distance, Sendek and N.C. State don't often compete on recruits. But a couple of years ago Sendek did beat N.C. State on Jamelle McMillan. He's the son of former N.C. State player and current Portland Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan.

-- Ken Tysiac

Hansbrough 'extremely doubtful' for opener

CHAPEL HILL — Forward Tyler Hansbrough is "extremely doubtful" to play in Saturday's season opener against Penn, coach Roy Williams said today in a prepared statement.

"We’ve made the decision to hold Tyler Hansbrough out of action a little longer," Williams said in the statement. "It’s extremely doubtful that he would play against Pennsylvania, and I emphasize extremely doubtful. We will continue to evaluate him and have more information when it becomes available."

Hansbrough has been sidelined since the last week of October with a stress reaction — which is a precursor to a stress fracture — in his right shin.
The senior has played all 108 games the Tar Heels have played the previous three seasons, and is 123 points away from breaking Phil Ford's school scoring record.

— Robbi Pickeral

Tar Heels on regional Sports Illustrated cover

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Is Heels' Watts ready to Jump Around?

CHAPEL HILL — For the North Carolina seniors, part of grooming freshman for the basketball season is helping them understand the plays, pushing them on defense, encouraging them to speed on the court.

But for Danny Green, there’s an extra responsibility: teaching someone to “Jump Around.”

Now that the swingman is in the starting line-up, he’s looking to pass the torch on his frenetic, hopping, twisting, grinning, pre-game routine in front of the bench that was born to the beat of the House of Pain song.

His leading candidate: Justin Watts, a 6-foot-4 guard from Durham.

“He’s a real happy-go-lucky kid who likes to get out there and dance, especially when we go out and stuff,’’ Green said Saturday. “ … He’s a dancer, so in my book, he’s close to earning that positio for sure. … Dancing all the time, he reminds me a little bit of me.”

Watts hasn’t quite earned the nod yet, partially because he injured his knee in Friday’s practice and was in a suit for Saturday’s exhibition game. When the song came on, the reserves were rather still as Green walked onto the court. Eventually, a few of the guys moved bobbed their heads and shimmied their upper bodies, but there was no true jumping around, Danny style.

“I missed it a little bit,’’ said Green, who will start only the second regular-season game of his career when the No. 1 Tar Heels play Penn this Saturday. “As soon as the music started, Coach looked at me, waiting to see what I was going to do. He knows I can’t dance on the floor, so hopefully someone will take over eventually.”

— Robbi Pickeral

Freshman C.J. Williams shows poise

With perfect timing Thursday night, N.C. State freshman C.J. Williams sprinted through the lane while teammate Ben McCauley had the ball on the block.

McCauley, a senior center, always has been known for his passing. During a 94-65 win in N.C. State’s exhibition opener over Fort Valley State at Reynolds Coliseum, Williams demonstrated that he knows how to take advantage of McCauley’s best trait.

Williams got open for a feed from McCauley and made an easy layup for perhaps his most impressive play on a night when he started as a freshman.

“If you don’t have the ball in your hands, it doesn’t mean you can’t score,” Williams said. “Someone can make a pass, and you’re right there. Every time I pass the ball into the post, I try to cut. Maybe I’m open. And that also frees up Ben. If my man stays with me, there’s nobody on that side. It’s one-on-one for Ben. And I’ll take Ben one-on-one any day.”

Before the preseason started, N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe spoke glowingly of Williams’ ability to move without the ball and his knowledge of the game. Sometimes those phrases are coachspeak for a guy who’s not athletic enough to make an impact.

Early on, at least, that appears not to be the case with Williams. Though he wasn’t highly recruited out of Jack Britt High in Fayetteville, Lowe said Williams was well coached by Ike Walker.

Williams’ knowledge has landed him in the starting lineup at the shooting guard spot vacated when senior Courtney Fells moved to small forward. In the exhibition opener, Williams looked comfortable as he hit a couple short jumpers and finished with eight points, two assists and no turnovers.

“He’s just a solid basketball player,” Lowe said. “Doesn’t make a lot of mistakes. He’s very poised as a freshman. . . .He just knows how to play.”

A solid game against a Division II opponent doesn’t necessarily predict great things against ACC foes for a freshman. But if Williams keeps playing smart basketball, there’s probably a spot for him in the rotation on an N.C. State team that needs backcourt help. – Ken Tysiac

Tar Heels tip off at 5:30 p.m. Saturday

CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina's basketball exhibition game against UNC-Pembroke on Saturday will tip off at 5:30 p.m. at the Smith Center. That follows UNC's noon football game against Georgia Tech at Kenan Stadium.

Wolfpack makes noise in recruiting

Although N.C. State finished last in the ACC last season and was picked ninth in the conference’s annual preseason media poll, there is plenty of buzzing in recruiting circles about coach Sidney Lowe’s efforts for the Class of 2009.

During a conversation about another subject Monday morning, veteran All-Star Sports analyst Bob Gibbons brought up the Wolfpack.

“N.C. State has positioned themselves where this may be just wishful thinking, but they apparently have a shot at John Wall and Derrick Favors,” Gibbons said.

Wall, a 6-foot-4 point guard Raleigh’s Word of God Christian Academy, is the top-ranked player in the class by rivals.com. Favors is a 6-9 center from Atlanta who’s ranked No. 1 in the class by many other recruiting analysts.

Gibbons said he has a “gut feeling” that Wall will choose N.C. State rather than Memphis or Baylor. But he said even if Lowe doesn’t get either of those marquee players, he will have a solid class.

Lowe (above, coaching his team this fall) has commitments from 6-4 combo guard Lorenzo Brown of Roswell, Ga.; 6-7 forward Richard Howell of Marietta, Ga.; and 6-5 shooting guard Scott Wood of Marion, Ind.

“It’s a very good class,” Gibbons said. “It doesn’t have that star power, but Richard Howell is very underrated nationally. He could have a major impact as a freshman.”

– Ken Tysiac

UNC is unanamous No. 1 in Top 25 poll

For the first time since USA Today took over the coaches poll in 1991, a team is the unanimous preseason No. 1 pick.

Surprise!

North Carolina is No. 1 in the USA Today college basketball preseason Top 25. The Tar Heels are a unanimous choice, receiving all 31 votes and they are the first team to start back-to-back seasons as the No. 1 team in the land.

North Carolina returns its starting lineup from last season's Final Four team and added three McDonald's All-Americans. The Tar Heels are one of four ACC teams ranked in the top 25. Duke is picked No. 5, Miami is No. 16 and Wake Forest is No. 24. The full list with last year's record:

1. North Carolina (36-3)
2. Connecticut (24-9)
3. Louisville (27-9)
4. UCLA (35-4)
5. Duke (28-6)
6. Pittsburgh (27-10)
7. Michigan State (27-9)
8. Texas (31-7)
9. Notre Dame (25-8)
10. Purdue (25-9)
11. Gonzaga (25-8)
12. Memphis (38-2)
13. Tennessee (31-5)
14. Oklahoma (23-12)
15. Arizona State (21-13)
16. Miami (23-11)
17. Marquette (25-10)
18. Georgetown (28-6)
19. Florida (24-12)
20. Davidson (29-7)
T21. USC (21-12)
T21. Wisconsin (31-5)
23. Kansas (37-3)
24. Wake Forest (17-13)
25. Villanova (22-13)
Also receiving votes: UNLV (27-8) 60; Saint Mary's (25-7)59; Ohio State (24-13) 54; Baylor (21-11) 47; Xavier (30-7) 27; Syracuse (21-14) 23; LSU (13-18) 19; Texas A&M (25-11) 19; Arizona (19-15) 18; Virginia Tech (21-14) 15; Brigham Young (27-8) 13; West Virginia (26-11) 10; Siena (23-11) 8; Washington (16-17) 8; Kentucky (18-13) 7; Vanderbilt (26-8) 7; Oklahoma State (17-16) 4; Clemson (24-10) 2; Washington State (26-9) 1.

Ga. Tech coach: Shorter season sensible

Just when you think you’ve heard it all, a college basketball coach offers to give back a portion of his salary.

Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt said he’d do it if the NCAA would shorten the college basketball season. It starts Nov. 10 in the ACC with Presbyterian at Duke.

Hewitt would prefer to start after Thanksgiving and play fewer games.

“You want to pro-rate my salary, go ahead,” Hewitt said. “I would do it tomorrow. Because it just puts a lot of stress on our guys.”

In 2006, the NCAA approved a 27-game regular-season schedule, plus an "exempt" tournament that can be up to four games. Teams that don't play an exempt tournament can play 29 regular-season games. Previously, teams played a 26-game regular season and were limited to two exempt tournaments in a four-year period. Now teams can play 31 games every season.

Hewitt said the extra games increase pressure on young men who already are struggling to manage challenging academic and athletic responsibilities.

“I do find it interesting that we talk out of both sides of our mouth about the need to graduate and the need to make sure the grades are good,” Hewitt said. “And we keep increasing the standards, but we don’t give the kids any more time to be successful.”

Following Georgia Tech’s run to the 2004 NCAA championship game, Hewitt emerged as one of college basketball’s most passionate reformers. He is the only Division I coach on a coalition of experts from across the basketball landscape who have begun an initiative to improve youth basketball in the United States.

He is a member of the NCAA’s Academic Enhancement Group, which is attempting to develop strategies to improve classroom performance in men’s basketball.

Shortening the schedule is one strategy that he believes makes sense.

“We’re putting the kids in a very, very tough spot with the amount of class time we ask them to miss,” Hewitt said. “We really infringe on their preparation time for first-semester final exams.”

– Ken Tysiac

Davidson names team captains

Davidson has picked its team captains for the upcoming season, and if your captain is your team leader, the Wildcats are in great shape -- they have four.

The duties will be shared by senior guard Max Paulhus Gosselin, senior forward Andrew Lovedale, junior guard Stephen Curry and junior forward Stephen Rossiter. The captains are picked through a vote of the players and coaching staff.

Curry, of course, is expected to be the dominant scorer again despite switching from shooting guard to the point this season. Lovedale, following a strong NCAA tournament performance, is being counted on for frontcourt scoring and rebounding. And Paulhus Gosselin and Rossiter, both strong defenders, are expected to add to their offensive numbers with offseason improvement and increased playing time. -- Stan Olson