December 3, 2011
JP GIGLIO (N&O)
Pack’s Vandenberg sidelined with shoulder injury
N.C. State forward Jordan Vandenberg has missed the past two games with a shoulder injury, Wolfpack coach Mark Gottfried said Friday.
Vandenberg, a 7-foot junior, is day-to-day, Gottfried said, but the coach hopes the forward will be able to play against Stanford on Sunday.
Vandenberg has averaged 2.4 points and 3.6 rebounds in five games with one start. There have been preliminary discussions about Vandenberg using a medical redshirt this season, Gottfried said, but the coach’s preference is to get Vandenberg back on the court this season.
David Scott (Charlotte Observer)
ACC championship offers Tech revenge
The rematch gives the Hokies a shot at revenge.
But it also provides the Clemson Tigers a chance to salvage something from a season that once held the realistic aspirations of a top-five national finish to something that could end instead with a mid-tier bowl game in a spot like Atlanta or Orlando, Fla.
That’s not what the TIgers were planning on.
“We were 8-0,” said Tigers coach Dabo Swinney on Friday. “People start pressing. There’s always things to improve upon, but until you do, you’re just sledding uphill.”
GoPack.com
Baseball Inks 15 Players In Fall Signing Period
NC State baseball coach Elliott Avent announced today the signing of 15 players to national letters of intent during the November 2011 signing period.
Avent and assistant coaches Tom Holliday and Chris Hart looked to follow up last year’s nationally ranked recruiting class by seeking both immediate help and long-term depth with this year’s signees. In particular, the Wolfpack addressed the age-old baseball axiom that you can never have enough pitching by inking 10 pitchers, eight of them righthanders. The Wolfpack also signed three outfielders, a catcher and an infielder.
“I believe we’ve recruited extremely well the last several years, and this is another outstanding class,†Avent said. “I’ve said many times that there are really great things happening here at NC State, and I have to give much of the credit to Tom Holliday and Chris Hart for helping to get that message across to recruits. The young men we’ve signed this fall are good baseball players, but they’re also good students and will be good representatives of NC State who want to win both on and off the field.â€
Brett Friedlander (starnewsonline.com)
ACC should make Charlotte permanent title game site
Commissioner John Swofford announced Friday that the ACC Championship football game will remain in Charlotte through at least the next two years.
It’s a decision that shouldn’t have had to take a lot of thought.
After struggling to sell tickets in Jacksonville and Tampa for the first five years of its existence, the league has sold out the title game in each of its first two seasons in North Carolina. That includes this year’s matchup between Virginia Tech and Clemson, scheduled for Saturday night at Bank of America Stadium.
GoPack.com
Inside Wolfpack Sports
In today’s episode, Don Shea sits down with junior forward Richard Howell before State travels to California to play Stanford.
GoPack.com
Pack Heads West To Face Cardinal
NC STATE-STANFORD, THE SERIES: This will be the first-ever meeting between NC State and Stanford in basketball. All-time NC State is 14-10 against Pac-12 schools.
OFFENSIVE PRODUCTION: NC State ranks second in the ACC in scoring offense at 78.3 points per game. North Carolina leads the league in the category with an output of 84.0 points per contest.
Akula Wolf (BackingthePack.com)
Rivals.com Ranks The Major Conferences’ Hoops Recruiting Hauls
This is old news, apparently, but I only found it when I saw Gottfried’s mug on Yahoo!’s college basketball front page earlier this afternoon. Rivals took stock of the recruiting efforts by all of the major conferences and placed the ACC at #1. Let’s check in on poor Khloe Kardashian:
The ACC was the recruiting winner of the conferences following the early signing period for the 2012 class. Five teams from the conference rank among the nation’s top 25 recruiting classes. Surprising N.C. State currently has the conference’s top class.
Barry Jacobs (accsports.com)
Lessons Learned From The Big Ten/ACC Challenge
Andrew Skwara (accsports.com)
ACC Championship Game Preview
Hokies, Tigers still have lots to play for
There’s lots of talk of how little the conference title games matter this weekend, but you won’t hear any of it from Clemson or Virginia Tech.
Sure, their rematch in Saturday’s ACC title game won’t have any effect on who plays for the national title, but there is still plenty at stake for both sides.
For Clemson, it’s not only a chance to end a late-season slide, but to win its first ACC title since 1991. A win also means an automatic spot in its first BCS bowl game, while a loss could mean going to the Champs Bowl instead.
Virginia Tech can not only win the ACC for the second straight year, but also get revenge on the only team who managed to beat the Hokies this year – Clemson won 23-3 in Blacksburg on Oct. 1. It’s also a chance for the Hokies to win their 12th game, a mark that has never been reached in program history.
Bret Strelow (FayObserver.com)
Trip west will give N.C. State’s Mark Gottfried chance to see son Brandon, who plays tight end at Stanford
N.C. State’s trip west to play Stanford on Sunday will be a family affair for Wolfpack coach Mark Gottfried.
Mark’s oldest child, Brandon, is a sophomore tight end on Stanford’s football team. He plans to attend the game with several friends and sit near the visiting bench in Maples Pavilion.
“He told me he’s going to have a Wolfpack T-shirt on behind the bench – we’ll see – he and all his buddies,” Mark said Friday.
Brandon’s mom (Elizabeth), younger sister and three younger brothers all plan to make the trip to Palo Alto, Calif.
