N.C. State opens ahead of Duke, UNC in AP Top 25 basketball poll

N.C. State has not opened a basketball season ranked ahead of both North Carolina and Duke in 37 years.

That changed Friday.

The Wolfpack is ranked No. 6 in the preseason AP Top 25, two spots ahead of Duke (No. 8) and five spots ahead of the Tar Heels (No. 11). The 1974-75 preseason poll is the last time State was voted ahead of both of its Triangle rivals to start the season.

N.C. State returns four starters from a 24-win team which reached the Sweet 16. Coach Mark Gottfried's second team was also picked to win the ACC for the first time since '75 and is ranked No. 6 in the country by the coaches in the USA Today poll.

It's the first time N.C. State has opened the season in the top 25 since the 2007-08 season. That season, former coach Sidney Lowe's second team, ended in disaster with nine straight losses and a 15-16 record.

The Pack had not been ranked higher than UNC in the preseason top 25 since 1984-85.

It's the 10th time N.C. State has been ranked in the preseason top 10 since the ACC was formed in 1953 but first time since 1975. All three teams with David Thompson in the 1970s opened the season in the top 10, with the 1974-75 team as the preseason No. 1.

It's the 17th straight season Duke, which is coming off of a 27-7 season, has been ranked in the preseason top 15. The Tar Heels, 32-6 a season ago, have been ranked in the preseason top 15 in nine of coach Roy Williams' 10 seasons with eight times in the top 10.


AP TOP 25

The top 25 teams in The Associated Press' preseason college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, 2011-12 final records, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and 2011-12 final ranking:

  Record  Pts  Prv

1. Indiana (43)  27-9  1,592  16

2. Louisville (20)  30-10  1,568  17

3. Kentucky (2)  38-2  1,453  1

4. Ohio St.  31-8  1,292  7

5. Michigan  24-10  1,290  13

6. NC State  24-13  1,270  —

7. Kansas  32-7  1,210  6

8. Duke  27-7  1,094  8

9. Syracuse  34-3  1,062  2

10. Florida  26-11  936  25

11. North Carolina  32-6  904  4

12. Arizona  23-12  902  —

13. UCLA  19-14  840  —

14. Michigan St.  29-8  789  5

15. Missouri  30-5  664  3

16. Creighton  29-6  622  19

17. Memphis  26-9  539  —

18. UNLV  26-9  488  23

19. Baylor  30-8  486  9

20. San Diego St.  26-8  463  22

21. Gonzaga  26-7  384  —

22. Notre Dame  22-12  297  —

23. Wisconsin  26-10  285  14

24. Cincinnati  26-11  120  —

25. Florida St.  25-10  101  10

Others receiving votes: Murray St. 59, VCU 58, Saint Louis 46, Texas 46, Minnesota 40, Butler 33, Pittsburgh 32, Saint Joseph's 25, Marquette 23, Tennessee 15, Oklahoma St. 14, Kansas St. 12, Georgetown 9, New Mexico 9, Ohio 9, Miami 8, Saint Mary's (Cal) 6, West Virginia 6, Davidson 5, Drexel 5, N. Iowa 5, Valparaiso 3, Lehigh 2, Stanford 2, Colorado St. 1, Oral Roberts 1.

Davidson's Red/Black scrimmage is Saturday

The Davidson Wildcats will hold their annual Red/Black scrimmage Saturday at 2 p.m. in Belk Arena.

The scrimmage is open to the public. Admission is free.

South Carolina recruits son of all-time leading scorer

COLUMBIA, S.C. - South Carolina will soon have another McKie on the basketball court as the son of all-time leading scorer BJ McKie has committed to the program.

BJ McKie said on Twitter his son Justin chose the Gamecocks and new coach Frank Martin starting next fall. BJ McKie played at South Carolina from 1995 through 1999 and finished with 2,119 points, first on the school's career list. He is the Gamecocks only player in history to surpass 2,000 points.

Justin McKie is a 6-foot-4 guard who plays at Irmo High. He also received college interest from Memphis, Murray State and Winthrop among others.

BJ McKie is an assistant coach at Charleston Southern. He helped the Gamecocks to two NCAA tournaments and their only Southeastern Conference regular-season championship in 1997.

- Associated Press

Carrier Classic to be televised nationally

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. - NBC Sports Network will televise nationally the Carrier Classic preseason college basketball event being held next month on the South Carolina coast.

The event is being played on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown at the Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum in Mount Pleasant.

Organizers said Monday the men's game between Ohio State and Marquette will be aired live on the network at 7 p.m. Nov. 9.

The women's game between Ohio State and last year's national runner-up Notre Dame will be shown in a delayed telecast at 11 p.m.

Event organizers said earlier this year they would like to make the classic a permanent event in South Carolina.

- Associated Press

Easiest college class? Twitter has answers

Late Night with Roy details set

CHAPEL HILL -- Doesn't seem like all that long ago that I was in a locker room in St. Louis, conducting interviews after North Carolina's final game of the 2011-12 season. And now the 2012-13 season is upon us. That's especially clear now, after UNC announced the details of Late Night With Roy.

As I'm sure you know, Late Night is the Tar Heels' annual celebration of the start of basketball practice. It's also an excuse, I'm told, to watch Roy Williams partake in some skits and a bit of fun.

Here's hoping his recent surgery won't hamper any of that.

The details for the 2012 version of Late Night With Roy:

When: Friday, Oct. 12 at 7:30 p.m.


Where: Dean E. Smith Center


Admission: Free


TV: Streamed live on ESPN3

Parking: $10 per automobile. No parking for Late Night will be available prior to 4 p.m. Approximately 300 spaces will become available 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. in the Rams Head Deck. Parking will then be on a first-come, first-served basis in the Rams Head Deck as spaces become available toward the end of the work day. The Craige Deck will open at 4 p.m. Parking will become available at 5 p.m. in the Manning and Bowles Lots and in the Jackson Deck. Disability parking will be in the Williamson Lot.

Follow @LateNightwRoy on Twitter for behind-the-scenes planning and the official countdown to the start of the UNC basketball season. Be a part of the conversation on Twitter by using the hashtag #LNWR2012.

So there you have it ...

-- Andrew Carter

N.C. State approves raises for Mark Gottfried, Elliott Avent

Mark Gottfried's contract got an automatic two-year extension when N.C. State made the NCAA tournament last March. The second-year basketball coach got a $750,000 raise on Friday for the Wolfpack's 24-win season which ended in the Sweet 16.

Gottfried will make $1.95 million annually, which ranks third among ACC coaches, behind Duke's Mike Krzyzewski and North Carolina's Roy Williams.

The N.C. State Board of Trustees approved raises for both Gottfried and baseball coach Elliott Avent, who led his team into the final 16 of the NCAA tournament.

Gottfried's supplemental income went from $450,000 per year to $1.2 million under the new deal, which runs through the 2017-18 season. His base salary of $750,000 per year remains the same.

N.C. State went 24-13 in Gottfried's first season reaching the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2006 and the Sweet 16 for only the second time since 1989. His original contract, signed in April 2011, called for an automatic two-year extension if he made the NCAA tournament in either of his first two seasons.

Avent led N.C. State's baseball team to a 43-20 finish and a spot in the Super Regional round in the NCAA tournament. Avent received a $25,713 raise which brings his annual guaranteed compensation to $219,125 and his contract was extended one year, through the 2015 season.

- Joe Giglio

UNC's Roy Williams uses jewelry to impress recruit Julius Randle

John Calipari is a difficult man to beat these days on the college basketball recruiting trail. If the Kentucky coach seems to be able to land any prospect he wants, well, there’s a reason for that. He usually does.

Which is maybe why North Carolina coach Roy Williams traveled to Texas with a bunch of jewelry.

According to USA Today, Calipari on Tuesday traveled to Plano, Texas to visit Julius Randle, a 6-foot-9 forward who some recruiting analysts believe is the best prospect in the class of 2013. During the visit, the newspaper reported, Calipari showed off the ring he won when Kentucky won the national championship back in April.

And yes, Randle was impressed, USA Today reported.

Not to be outdone, though, Williams packed 30 rings when he visited with Randle. There were the national championship rings, presumably, that he and the Tar Heels won in 2005 and 2009, and various rings from Final Fours and conference championships over the years.

About all the jewelry, Randle told USA Today this:

“When coach Williams opened the case you almost couldn't look directly in it for fear of going blind. It was crazy.”

Carolyn Kyles, Randle’s mother, was also apparently impressed by Williams’ hardware.

She told USA Today, “Yeah, coach Williams was ready for coach Cal with those rings. He got him there.”

But will Williams get Randle? Stay tuned …

- Andrew Carter

2012-13 UNC basketball schedule: First impressions

North Carolina on Monday released its 2012-13 basketball schedule. It includes, of course, trips to Maui, Indiana and Texas and, for the first time, 18 ACC games.

After taking some time to evaluate the schedule, here are some initial thoughts:

First impression: Good schedule. Any fan of any ACC school has to like the new 18-game schedule, which is arriving a season early in anticipation of the arrival of Pitt and Syracuse. But for now, it means that UNC will play a home-and-home with all three of the in-state ACC schools, which is the way it should be. The non-conference schedule is attractive, with trips to Hawaii for the Maui Invitational and to Indiana and Texas.

Revenge factor: The Jan. 12 game at Florida State is the obvious one that coach Roy Williams and his players might have circled on their calendars. It comes almost exactly one year to the day that UNC suffered that 33-point loss at Florida State last season. The Tar Heels will also have a chance to enact some payback against UNLV, which provided the Heels with their first loss last season. The Rebels visit the Smith Center on Dec. 29.

Toughest stretch: During the non-conference portion of the schedule, UNC will face its toughest stretch in mid-to-late November. Just a week into the season, the team will travel cross country to play at Long Beach State on Nov. 16, which has won at least 22 games in each of the past two seasons. Then the Heels go to Hawaii for the Maui Invitational and when they return from that they go back on the road for a game at Indiana on Nov. 27.

In the conference, the final five games aren’t likely to be easy. Three of them are against N.C. State, Florida State and Duke – though UNC will play all of those games at the Smith Center. The Heels also go on the road to Clemson and Maryland. Both those teams have a lot of question marks, but Clemson and Maryland can be difficult places to play even when the home team isn’t all that great.

Make up ground: An ACC schedule never offers all that much room for make-up ground, but UNC has a good chance to get off to a solid start, at least. After that game at Florida State on Jan. 12, UNC hosts Maryland and Georgia Tech. As it stands now, the Heels should be favored by double-digits in both of those games. The next game, at N.C. State, will be difficult but UNC follows that with perhaps its “easiest” road game of the conference schedule, at Boston College.

Lucky, or unlucky, break: Let’s go unlucky. Not only does UNC have to play N.C. State and Duke twice, but the Heels also play Miami and Florida State twice, and both of those teams should factor into the conference race. Virginia Tech, Clemson and Boston College could all serve to boost UNC’s conference win total, but the Heels play each of those teams only once.

By the way: UNC's "Late Night with Roy Williams" is set for Oct. 12, a Friday. An official time has yet to be determined, but it will probably be around 8ish, I'm told. Stay tuned for further details.

- Andrew Carter

2012-13 schedule analysis: N.C. State Wolfpack hoops

Nonconference: Miami (Ohio), Penn State, Providence or UMass, UNC-Asheville, at Michigan, Connecticut, Cleveland State, Norfolk State, Stanford, St. Bonaventure, Western Michigan, UNC-Greensboro

ACC home-and-away: UNC, Duke, Boston College, Georgia Tech, Clemson, Wake Forest, Florida State

ACC home only: Virginia Tech, Miami

ACC road only: Maryland, Virginia

Highlights: The nonconference matchups with Michigan (Nov. 27) and UConn (Dec. 4), and the ACC games against UNC at home (Jan. 26) for ESPN's GameDay, and at Duke (Feb. 7).

Lowlights: The ACC wheel spun and landed again on two games each with Georgia Tech and Boston College.

Bottom line: N.C. State made the NCAA tournament last season on the strength of its nonconference schedule. There won't be as many big games outside the ACC this season, but the schedule is loaded with RPI-helpers and experienced tournament teams.

The ACC schedule will be tougher, with two games each against Duke and FSU (after only one last season) but it's also spread out more evenly.

Last year, N.C. State went through lulls with seemingly meaningless games (BC-GT-Wake) and then had a Duke-FSU-UNC stretch. This year, the games that will be of interest — Duke, UNC, FSU — have more space to them which should add up to a better rhythm to the season.

2012-13 schedule

Nov. 9    Miami (Ohio)
Nov. 15    x-Penn State
Nov. 16    x-Providence/UMass
Nov. 18    x-San Juan Tip-Off
Nov. 23    UNC-Asheville
Nov. 27    @ Michigan
Dec. 4    y-UConn
Dec. 8    z-Cleveland State
Dec. 15     Norfolk State
Dec. 18    Stanford
Dec. 22    St. Bonaventure
Dec. 29    Western Michigan
Dec. 31    UNC-Greensboro
Jan. 5    @ Boston College
Jan. 9    Georgia Tech
Jan. 12    Duke
Jan. 16    @ Maryland
Jan. 20    Clemson
Jan. 22    @ Wake Forest
Jan. 26    UNC
Jan. 29    @ Virginia
Fe. 2    Miami
Feb. 7    @ Duke
Fe. 10    @ Clemson
Feb. 16    Virginia Tech
Feb. 19    Florida State
Fe. 23    @ UNC
Feb. 27    Boston College
March 3    @ Atlanta
March 6     Wake Forest
March 9    @ Florida State

Notes: x-Puerto Rico Tip-Off, San Juan, Puerto Rico; y-Madison Square Garden, New York; z-Reynolds Coliseum