Midnight Madness from the Observer

Midnight to bring basketball madness... sorry you'll have to sign in there if you want to see it, links don't work and I know the O gets ill about cutting & pasting of stories and photos.

One interesting note of MM at UNC Wilmington, a student lottery for the opportunity to PURCHASE two tickets for the UNC Chapel Hill contest in Myrtle Beach. The Seahawks must need the money badly not to be able to comp 2 tickets to a student.

 

maybe all the bitching has helped. I have seen about 5 49er hoop articles the last month.

 

and though it was the same article, we did get better coverage than Carolina.

 

Wait until tomorrow's edition, Austin. How's Mrs. Austin doin' these days?

 

:applause: :applause: :applause:

 

Hey metro, just read this Midnight Madness story and choke for a while... Big Four set for Midnight Madness.

 

im too lazy to register at any more papers. copy paste please.

 

For metro...

Big Four set for Midnight Madness
By Tom Berry, High Point Enterprise Staff Sports Writer
10/17/2003

For college basketball teams, hope springs eternal in the fall.
Just as the leaves change in mid-October, many Atlantic Coast Conference fans turn from another mediocre football season to the possibility of basketball greatness.

That's certainly the case at Duke, North Carolina and N.C. State, all of whom open basketball practice on Saturday at their respective Triangle-area campuses. The Blue Devils and Tar Heels host Midnight Madness workouts when Friday night becomes Saturday morning, while the Wolfpack gets going at a more conventional time several hours later.

With the regular season still more than a month away, anticipation and expectations will never be greater than right now. Most everyone is still healthy, still academically eligible and still a highly-rated high school star ready to explode onto Tobacco Road.

The explosion appears most likely at Duke, where the Blue Devils return four starters from a team that went 26-7 and won the school's fifth consecutive ACC Tournament. And the new starter may be the team's best player, 6-foot-8 freshman Luol Deng.
Deng is a big reason Duke is ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in most early polls and considered a favorite with Connecticut to win the NCAA championship.

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski refuses to downplay Deng, the nation's second-best high school player last season after NBA rookie LeBron James.

"Luol is going to be one of the best players, not only on our team but in the conference and the country," Krzyzewski said on Thursday afternoon. "Why hide it? He's going to be outstanding right away."

How outstanding?

Capable of repeating what Carmelo Anthony did last season as a freshmen in leading Syracuse to the national title?

"I'm not saying Luol will do exactly that, but I will say he probably is as talented as Carmelo," said Duke senior Nick Horvath. "Luol is as talented as anyone I've ever played with."

The Blue Devils gush with talent, from guards Chris Duhon, J.J. Redick and Daniel Ewing to forwards Shavlik Randolph, Shelden Williams and Horvath. Duhon and Redick have lost weight, while the three forwards added muscle.

The 6-10 Randolph has gone from 210 pounds to 240, and offseason hip surgery eliminated his painful foot and ankle problems from last season. Horvath is approaching 260 pounds, Williams 245.

Duhon and Horvath, the team's only recruited seniors, feel this season reminds them of 2001. That's when a young team of 2000 matured into NCAA champions the next season behind Shane Battier, Mike Dunleavy and Jason Williams.

"Hopefully we'll do the same thing," Horvath said.

Expectations are equally high in Chapel Hill, where Roy Williams takes over for embattled Matt Doherty and welcomes every key player from last season. Sophomore forward David Noel already is looking toward the Final Four in San Antonio.

"This team is real good. This team is national championship bound," Noel boasted. "I just feel like if we go out and do the things we need to do, we will definitely be playing in San Antonio."

There are reasons for UNC fans to be excited. Raymond Felton, Rashad McCants and Jawad Williams are all-star candidates, and center Sean May has completely recovered from the broken foot that forced him to miss almost all of last season.

"Hopefully we'll bring North Carolina basketball back to what it's been in the past," said May, who has trimmed down from 272 pounds to 259.

Roy Williams refuses to talk about national titles and Final Fours, pointing out that the Tar Heels have lost 36 games over the past two seasons and no team member has played in an NCAA Tournament game. Also, the only scholarship freshman is Reyshawn Terry of Winston-Salem Reynolds, whose stock dropped throughout his senior season.

Still, UNC ranks among the top ten in many preseason polls.

"It is surprising to be picked that highly," Roy Williams said. "Maybe people think some miracles are going to happen."
A miracle won't bring back N.C. State center Josh Powell, who declared for the NBA Draft after his sophomore season but wasn't selected. To complicate matters, the Wolfpack will be without center Jordan Collins until December apparently because of academic reasons.

But State still has All-American candidate Julius Hodge, experienced seniors Marcus Melvin and Scooter Sherrill and healthy sophomore forward Illian Evtimov.

Evtimov missed all of last season after wrecking his knee during an exhibition game. He proved to be one of the Wolfpack's most versatile players as a freshman.

"Illian has been given full clearance to practice on Saturday morning," said State coach Herb Sendek. "He's a very important player to us, obviously.

"Not only is he a good player in his own right, he makes players around him better."

The best keeps coming from ACC players and coaches in October. Hope springs eternal in the fall - at least until the first defeat.

 

The athletic department has finally got it right,

a guy and a girl with big mouths were shouting "come and get you Midnight madness tickets, win free t-shirts"! There were at the giant dildo, and I could hear them coming between Barnard and Macy. Kudos.

It sure beats the past where a couple of guys would just wait for people to walk up to them and ask what's going on.