As you are painfully aware, NC State lost to the University of Miami, on Sunday afternoon by a score of 67-66 to provide the Hurricanes with their first Atlantic Coast Conference win (in their very first attempt).
As I was doing some research related to the Hurricanes I came across some NBA-related facts that I found very interesting:
* The Miami basketball program has produced a total of seven NBA players in its history . By contrast, at one point in the early 1990s (right after the Jimmy V years), NC State had 13 players participating on NBA rosters at a single point in time, ssecond only to North Carolina and tied with Georgia Tech.
* Currently, the Wolfpack has only a single former alum on an NBA Roster; Valvano recruit and 13-year veteran, Tom Gugliotta.
* Currenlty the Hurricane program program boasts two alums on NBA Rosters, James Jones and John Salmons.
* Since joining the ACC almost a decade ago, Herb Sendek has managed to send no players to NBA rosters. (Of course, we don’t count players like Damien Wilkins who leave the program and then ultimately make the league).
* By contrast, Frank Haith boasts six current NBA players that he recruited and coached: T.J. Ford (Milwaukee Bucks), Joshua Howard (Dallas Mavericks), Chris Owens (Memphis Grizzlies), Darius Songaila (Sacramento Kings), Calvin Booth (Seattle Sonics) and Rodney Rogers (New Jersey Nets).