Around the turn of the last decade — the 1990s decade — NC State alums dotted the rosters of NBA teams. Names like Nate McMillan, Charles Shackleford, Vinny Del Negro, Chucky Brown…even Chuck Nevitt were competing in the league and representing the Pack faithful well.
At that time, three Atlantic Coast Conference programs had the most alumni on NBA rosters than any other programs in the country– UNC led the way, followed by NC State and then Georgia Tech. I can’t remember the exact numbers…but it was something like 13 to 12 to 11 at one point.
You know the interim story of the last 15 years — gross mismanagement, guilt-ridden campus administrations, overzealous academic restrictions, administrators with undue loyalty to individuals instead of the programs, etc. etc. This has created a current-day-situation where NC State has but a handful of former players in the NBA – some of which don’t even want to claim the program and one (Damien Wilkins) who chose to finish his college career at another school.
Of course, we all believe that Sidney Lowe’s presence is about to change this landscape. Until then, we have to live viacariously through others.
With this said – if you haven’t been following some of the work the N&O’s ACCNow Blog has been doing regarding a hypothetical UNC vs Duke alumni competition, then you may enjoy this enhanced version of their work that includes Arizona, Kansas and UConn. It’s interesting stuff that junkies will enjoy.
