So says WRAL.com's Tim Hall, who claims that State's recruiting class of Ryan Harrow, C.J. Leslie and Lorenzo Brown will take the Wolfpack to the Elite Eight.
My take: I don't know Mr. Hall, but I will say this -- State will be much improved and should make an NCAA appearance for the first time since Sidney Lowe took over the program.
But the Elite Eight? I have a pretty good friend and GlaxoSmithKline Holiday Invitational colleague at WRAL -- Nick Stevens -- and I'm sure he'll let me know if they drug-test over there ... 'cause there ain't no way State's class is better than Carolina's class of Harrison Barnes, Reggie Bullock and Kendall Marshall.
Tim writes that Harrow, Leslie and Brown -- all Glaxo alums from 2009, by the way -- will be counted on more than Barnes, Bullock and Marshall, but I disagree with that notion, too. It's very, very possible that all six of those players will be starting for their respective teams when the season begins (or at least by midseason).
My feeling is that UNC -- which returns more talent than State, by the by -- will be top 3 (and perhaps No. 2) in the ACC next season while State will be top 5. Both will make the NCAA Tournament, but UNC has much, much more talent and better coaching than the Wuffies.
"Iron Man 2" brought in $53 million of box office receipts in the U.S. over the weekend to hold onto No. 1 for a second straight week. The movie held off yet another remake of "Robin Hood", which finished with $37.1 million.
Third through fifth were "Letters To Juliet" ($13.8 million), "Just Wright" ($8.5 million) and "How To Train Your Dragon ($5.1 million).
My take: I'm kind of surprised by this for two reasons -- 1) "Robin Hood" did better than I thought it would because 2) why the heck would someone want to make another "Robin Hood" movie? I have absolutely, positively zero desire to see it, on DVD or at the movies. Now ... I still haven't seen "IM2", but I will see it before it leaves theaters.
The iPod shuffle
Armageddon It -- Def Leppard
St. Jimmy -- Green Day
When I'm Gone -- 3 Doors Down
A Sort Of Homecoming -- U2
Because of You -- Nickelback
P.S.: A follow-up to my East Coast Wings review-- went by ECW after the K-Tribe game yesterday to watch the end of the Celtics-Magic Game 1 playoff ... and the DirecTV was out. So, no, the HB and I didn't stay; we went by Pizza Hut for a carry-out and then went home to watch the remainder of the game.
Yes, the restaurant is getting a ton of customers -- in fact, the parking lot was packed yesterday. But if this kind of stuff continues to happen, it's not going to be long before it's back to Ham's customer levels.
I have received a lot of feedback on my review, particularly about the poor customer service, and it's this simple -- it's got to get better at ECW, or it's going to be one-time-and-out for customers. Maybe they need to look into getting Suddenlink Cable instead of DirecTV, if weather is going to knock out games.
Don't get it twisted, bloggees -- I want this place to succeed. There's nothing remotely like this in Kinston and I've been begging for a legitimate sports bar/restaurant in town since I got here in October 2002. But if you're not going to have sound for games -- or if the TVs are out for big games -- you're not REALLY a sports bar/restaurant, are you?
Doggone it, meant to get this up on the ol' blog earlier, but I'm a guest on Talking Sports with Gattis Hodges, which runs from 5 to 6 p.m. today on First Media Radio stations, FM-98.3 in Murfreesboro, FM- 97.9 in Roanoke Rapids and ESPN Radio AM-1230 in Roanoke Rapids.
My interview will air around 5:35, also former Roanoke Rapids HS and current UNC kicker/holder Trase Jones will join Gattis on the show.
Check it out; we talk a lot about the Glaxo, about Kinston High School basketball and our views on the national health care debate. OK, maybe not the last one.
Thanks to faithful bloggee Trey Kiger for this nugget: the Kinston boys' basketball team is ranked No. 58 in the nation, according to Scout.com's Top 100 poll. The Vikings are the third-best team from North Carolina, behind Arden Christ (No. 12) and Huntersville Hopewell (No. 51).
Other North Carolina schools in the poll include Charlotte United Faith Christian Academy (No. 74), Greensboro Dudley (No. 90) and Raleigh Word of God (No. 91). The Vikings face Dudley at 7 p.m. on Saturday in Chapel Hill at the Dean Dome.
Teams that Kinston has faced this season appear in the poll, including Neumann-Goretti of Philadelphia (No. 10), Gonzaga of Washington, D.C. (No. 18) and Rice of New York City (No. 25).
There are four teams in the top 100 that appeared in this year's Glaxo: United Faith, Word of God, Kinston and Rice.
Kentwood, out of Covington, Washington, fell out of the poll after being at No. 35; Kinston faces Kentwood at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 16 in Springfield, Mass., at the Basketball Hall of Fame.
A couple of Kinston basketball-related notes: I will be in Chapel Hill blogging live from the Dudley game and also in Springfield, Mass., blogging live from the Kentwood game.
Scorers (14 ppg or better)41 -- Nashika Williams, Northern Durham35 -- Danielle Butts, Winterville South Central34 -- Bethany Collins, ApexRebounds (6 rpg or more)29 -- Danielle Butts, Winterville South Central15 -- Haley McCorkle, Winterville South Central15 -- Heather Muller, Apex15 -- Adrienne Simmons, Raleigh Broughton14 -- Sierra Solomon, Raleigh Broughton14 -- Nashika Williams, Northern DurhamAssists (4 apg or more)10 -- Jenna Frush, Northern Durham10 -- Amber Nichols, Raleigh BroughtonSteals (3 spg or more)8 -- Danielle Butts, Winterville South Central8 -- Nashika Williams, Northern DurhamBlocks (2 bpg or more)6 -- Haley McCorkle, Winterville South Central
BOYS
Scoring (14 ppg or more)Any player tht scores 60 points or more in a GSK tourney is honored in the program81 -- Reggie Bullock, Kinston73 -- Ian Miller, Charlotte United Faith Christian Academy69 -- Weston Murphy, Apex67 -- C.J. Leslie, Raleigh Word of God65 -- Luke Cothron, Red Springs Flora MacDonald60 -- Ryan Harrow, Marietta, Ga., Walton52 -- Jacoby Davis, West Charlotte52 -- Brian Richardson, Wilson Greenfield48 -- Julius Hamilton, West Charlotte 47 -- Jerome Seagears, Red Springs Flora MacDonald46 -- Paris Roberts-Campbell, Charlotte United Faith Christian Academy45 -- Jeremy Jeffers, Wilson Greenfield44 -- Kadeem Jack, Harlem, N.Y., Rice44 -- T.J. Warren, Durham Riverside43 -- Dallas Best, Kinston43 -- Lanerryl Johnson, Marietta, Ga., Walton43 -- Tyrrel Tate, Raleigh Millbrook40 -- Tyler Lewis, Forsyth Country Day*39 -- Alberto Munoz, Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons*30 -- Donald Johnson, Garner*29 -- Nick Sink, Forsyth Country Day*28 -- Justin Artis, Southern Wayne*30-point games (these players will be honored in the GSK program)35 -- Ryan Harrow (Marietta, Ga., Walton vs. Raleigh Millbrook)32 -- Ian Miller (Charlotte United Faith Christian Academy vs. Red Springs Flora MacDonald)30 -- Reggie Bullock (Kinston vs. Garner)Rebounds (7 rpg or better)36 -- Reggie Bullock, Kinston26 -- Luke Cothron, Red Springs Flora MacDonald26 -- Donzell Hill, Raleigh Millbrook26 -- C.J. Leslie, Raleigh Word of God26 -- Darrick Martin, Red Springs Flora MacDonald26 -- Weston Murphy, Apex26 -- Melvin Tabb, Raleigh Enloe25 -- Jared Blakney, Raleigh Enloe23 -- Kamren Belin, Marietta, Ga., Walton23 -- Julius Hamilton, West Charlotte22 -- Hanner Perea, Charlotte United Faith Christian Academy14 -- Nick Sink, Forsyth Country Day*Assists (4 apg or better)12 -- Emanuel Chapman, Raleigh Enloe12 -- Mike Fogg, Apex12 -- Dory Hines, Kinston11 -- Tyler Lewis, Forsyth Country Day*Steals (2 spg or better)8 -- Ryan Harrow, Marietta, Ga., Walton8 -- Shi'Chee Moore, Raleigh Millbrook7 -- C.J. Leslie, Raleigh Word of God6 -- Charles Ashley, Raleigh Enloe6 -- Dallas Best, KinstonBlocks (2 bpg or better)10 -- Kadeem Jack, Harlem, N.Y., Rice10 -- C.J. Leslie, Raleigh Word of God7 -- G'Mitri Rice, Marietta, Ga., Walton7 -- Darrick Martin, Red Springs Flora MacDonald6 -- Peter Jurkin, Charlotte United Faith Christian Academy5 -- Kamren Belin, Marietta, Ga., Walton4 -- Stephon Drane, Garner* * denotes played on team that was eliminated after two games
I haven't forgotten about the final stats update from the 2009 GlaxoSmithKline Holiday Invitational -- just been super-busy. Hope to have it by tomorrow (along with the final update from the pick 'em contest).
Until then, enjoy the excellent work of former Arendell Parrott Academy -- and renowned videographer -- Webb Wellman's video recap of this year's GSK.
My take: Outstanding, as always. Webb will be the official videographer of the 2010 GSK.
My favorite parts included -- of course -- Reggie Bullock, but I love that Webb got some Dallas Best in there, too. C.J. Leslie was a monster, but two others that stood out to me were Forsyth Country Day's Tyler Lewis and Charlotte United Faith Christian Academy's Ian Miller, who has signed to play at Florida State. On Miller's last dunk on this video, he nearly hit his head on the rim!
Webb -- keep up the great work, young man!
One of the greatest things about being the media coordinator at the GlaxoSmithKline Holiday Invitational (well, besides hanging out with Nick Stevens and Jonathan Massey) is the chance to meet some movers and shakers in college and prep basketball.
Mike LaPlante is certainly one of those guys. He's a recruiting guru who works for ESPN.com and Scouts, Inc., and one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet. Mike was at the Glaxo the final three days of the tournament and he filed a report from the tournament -- check it out here.
The coolest part of the article -- to me, at least -- was being mentioned in his article. Yep, that's me in there: Byron Chanks.
Yes, Ryan Herman and Chris Yates are giving me a really hard time about it, although it's all in fun.
Check out the article-- then you, too can poke the bear!
Yeppers, Glaxo fans and old bloggees -- I'm taking today off for the most part, so it'll probably be tomorrow or the next day before I post the final 2009 GSK stat leaders and the standings following Week 19 of our blog pick 'em.
However, here's the final video wrap-up of the GSK from WRAL and highschoolOT.com's Nick Stevens -- one of the best in the business. We're joined by my assistant media director for the GSK, Jonathan Massey.
I've also added the Kinston post-game presser and KHS highlights.
Enjoy ... and Happy New Year!
The final wrap:
Kinston's presser:
Highlights:
END OF FIRST QUARTER: United Faith 17, WOG 13
2:28 2Q -- UF 35, WOG 19
1:09 2Q -- UF 41, WOG 20
HALFTIME: United Faith 43, Word of God 22
Scoring leaders: Word of God -- Dezmine Wells 9, C.J. Leslie 4, Joel Kindred 4. United Faith -- Ian Miller 19, Paris Roberts-Campbell 9.
END OF THIRD QUARTER: United Faith 55, Word of God 42
2:17 4Q -- United Faith 67, Word of God 52
FINAL: United Faith 71, Word of God 59
Charlotte United Faith Academy made its first appearance in the GlaxoSmithKline Holiday Invitaitional a success as the Falcons won the Summit Hospitality Group championship over Raleigh Word of God, 71-59.
The Falcons had little difficulty with the Holy Rams, jumping out to a 43-22 halftime lead.
Florida State commit Ian Miller earned Most Valuable Player honors by leading United Faith with 26 points and four assists. He finished with 73 points in the three games of the GSK, ending up with the most points in the 2009 Glaxo for all 16 boys teams.
Paris Roberts-Campbell earned an all-tourney nod and finished with 15 points, while Peter Jurkin logged 11 points for the Falcons.
The Holy Rams were led by C.J. Leslie's 25 points -- 21 of which came after halftime. Leslie was named the tourney's Most Outstanding Player, in the process becoming the first player in the Glaxo's 38-year history to be named all-tournament three straight years.
Dezmine Wells finished with 14 points for Word of God, whose coach, Erasto Hatchett, was suffering flu-like symptoms at the end of the game and missed the beginning of the post-game press conference. Hatchett joined the end of the presser, though, and said he felt his team grew during this week's GSK.
"This is just a stepping stone to what our actual goal is in February and that's a state championship," Hatchett said. "We're going to continue to grow as a team."
Boxscore:
Word of God 13 9 20 17 -- 59
United Faith 17 26 12 16 -- 71
WOG: Johnson 3, C.J. Leslie 25, Daniels 6, Kindred 7, Dezmine Wells 14, Wright 2, Caroway 2. UF: Rooks 4, Green 4, Paris Roberts-Campbell 15, L. Miller 2, Ian Miller 26, Mikic 3, Peter Jurkin 11, Perea 6.
A special thanks to JUSTIN HILL, who will be handling play-by-play duties tonight...
7:00 pm -- 13 minutes on the clocks. We should be tipping off in the next 20 minutes.
7:10 pm -- *UNI WATCH Update* Kinston will be the away team for tonight's game, and will wear their forest green jerseys, with white lettering and gold trim. Rice is sporting white, with green numbering and gold trim.
7:12 pm -- Former Kinston basketball and football standout, and current University of North Carolina defensive end, Quentin Coples is sitting behind the Vikings bench for tonight's championship games.
7:16 pm -- National Anthem is out of the way, starting lineups to follow.
Starting linups -- Kinston -- Dory Hines, Dallas Best, Mike Tyson, Josh Benoit, Reggie Bullock. Rice -- Devaughn Reid, Kevin Nascimento, Shane Southwell, Jermaine Sanders, Kadeem Jack.
First Quarter
6:13 -- Kinston 2, Rice 0. Layup by Best
3:33 -- Kinston 9, Rice 0.
2:48 -- Kinston 11, Rice 0. Kinston just forced another turn over. Rice's coach has yet to call a time out.
2:03 -- Kinston 11, Rice 2. The Raiders Emmanuel Andujar scores on a fast break.
1:51 -- Kinston 12, Rice 3. Sanders hits one of two free throws.
0:16 -- Kinston 14, Rice 3. Best is stealing the show early on.
0:00 -- Kinston 14, Rice 5.
Reggie and Dallas both have five points at the end of the quarter.
Second Quarter
7:50 -- Kinston 17, Rice 5. Bullock nails a three from the right corner.
7:00 -- Kinston 19, Rice 7. Kinston has forced to charges early in the championship game.
5:56 -- Kinston 19, Rice 9.
5:43 -- Kinston 19, Rice 11. The Raiders don't look like a team that should be down by eight right now. Just not a lot of shots are falling. Thehave committed six fouls already though (Kinston with one).
5:12 -- Kinston 21, Rice 11. Bullock spins in the lane and finishes with his left hand.
4:30 -- Kinston 23, Rice 16. Southwell hit both free throws to make it a seven point game.
3:02 -- Kinston 25 , Rice 19. Rice was on a 8-to-2 run, and had cut the lead to four, before Bullock hits two free throws.
2:12 -- Kinston 27, Rice 19. Best hits two free throws.
1:47 -- Kinston 27, Rice 22. Shots are starting to fall for the Raiders.
1:19 -- Kinston 29, Rice 22. Rice has committed nine fouls, Kinston's free throws are keeping the Raiders at bay.
0:00 -- Kinston 31, Rice 26.
First Half Stats
Points
Kinston -- Bullock 14, Best 9, Hines 4, Tre' Jones 2, Tyson 2.
Rice -- Andujar 9, Jack Middleton 5, Southwell 4, Sanders 3, Melvin Johnson 3, Richard Council 2. 19 of Rice's 26 points are off the bench.
Hines and Bullock have 5 rebounds a piece for the Vikings. The Raiders are led by Middleton with 4.
Third Quarter
7:50 -- Kinston 34, Rice 26. Bullock starts the half with a three.
5:42 -- Kinston 39, Rice 30. Bullock with another three. Up to 20 for the game, 77 for the tournament.
4:44 -- Kisnton 41, Rice 35.
4:01 -- Kinston 41, Rice 38. Jack's free throw finishes a three point play to pull with in three.
3:00 -- Kinston 41, Rice 41.
2:35 -- Kinston 41, Rice 43. Two free throws give the Raiders the first lead of the game.
2:23 -- Kinston 43, Rice 43. Rice goaltend.
1:48 -- Kinston 46, Rice 45.
1:01 -- Kinston 46, Rice 45. Two missed free throws by Rice. Bryan has remarked this game is looking very similar to the state championship against Trinity two years ago. Where Kinston stormed out to a 13-0 lead, before pulling out a close win.
0:00 -- Kinston 46, Rice 45. Bullock's three with a half second left is waved off.
Fourth Quarter
At least eight minutes of Kinston High basketball in 2009. Here we go...
The Vikings have let teams come back from double digit deficits to take the lead in the past two nights.
6:21 -- Kinston 46, Rice 45. Sloppy basketball to start the fourth quarter.
5:48 -- Kinston 48, Rice 45. And with that said, Best's break away leads to a dunk, followed by a Raider turnover.
5:00 -- Kinston 48, Rice 45. Andujar's misses two free throws.
4:43 -- Kinston 48, Rice 47. Johnson can't finish the and-one, trails by 1. Rice has missed five straight free throws.
3:41 -- Kinston 48, Rice 51. Kadeem Jack's dunk give the Raiders a one-point lead.
2:49 -- Kinston 50, Rice 53. Jack grabs the missed Raiders shot and finishes with the dunk. Raiders largest lead of the game is three.
2:00 -- Kinston 52, Rice 53.
1:38 -- Kinston 54, Rice 53. Dory Hines lay up give the Vikings the lead.
1:04 -- Kinston 54, Rice 53. Bullock has now missed his second dunk of the tournament. Subsequently he missed to follow ups from underneath the basket. The lead remains at one.
0:15 -- Kinston 54, Rice 53. The Raiders only have 6 team fouls. Bonus from here on out.
0:12 -- Kinston 54, Rice 53. Benoit shooting one-and-one.
0:10 -- Kinston 54, Rice 53. Rice time out after Benoit's shot rolls around and then out.
0:0? -- Rice 55, Kinston 54. Southwell hit a 18 footer with one-second on the clock. Referees are conferring whether or not the Vikings got a time out in time.
The referees have places three tenths of a second on the clock. The Vikings have to throw the ball the length of the court and tip the ball in. 0:00.3 is not enough time to catch and shot.
Baseline pass is deflected. Rice Raiders win the Shavlik Randolph Foundation Invitational championship. The Raiders are 6-0 all-time in the Glaxo Smith Kline Tournament.
Tournament awards and stats to come soon...
Story (courtesy of Ryan Herman)
Harlem (N.Y.) Rice's Shane Southwell's 18-foot game-winning field goal with .03 seconds left Wednesday capped a furious second-half Raiders' rally and led them to a come-from-behind 55-54 win over Kinston in the championship game of the Shavlik Randolph Foundation Invitational.
Southwell, who was one of three Rice players in double figures with 10 points, brought the ball up with 10.8 seconds to play. With his back to the basket and Kinston's Reggie Bullock guarding him, he spun to hit right and threw up an off-balance leaner that caught nothing but the bottom of the net.
Kinston (7-3), which was led by Bullock's game-high 24 points, had one more opportunity with 3/10 of a second left but Dory Hines' inbounds pass was deflected, sending the Raiders (7-1) into a frenzy.
The shot was a culmination of a rally after Rice fell behind 11-0 to start the game and trailed 14-5 after the first quarter. Of its first 26 points, the Raiders' bench scored 19.
Kinston watched as Rice went on a 15-10 run to start the third period and earn the game's first tie at 41 with 3:12 left in the quarter. From that point on, there was one tie and four lead changes.
Josh Benoit missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 12.1 ticks left, which would have given the Vikings a two-point lead. Instead, Kadeem Jack, who scored 11 points, grabbed the rebound and called a timeout with 10.8 seconds left.
Dashawn Suber led the champions with 14 points. Rice, which is now 6-0 all-time in the GSK, won its second title. Bullock, who was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, recorded his third straight double-double with 10 rebounds. Dallas Best added 13 points for Kinston and Hines scored 10.
Boxscore:
Rice 5 21 19 10 -- 55
Kinston 14 17 15 8 -- 54
Rice: Shane Southwell 10, Emmanuel Andujar 14, Nascimento 2, Sanders 6, Johnson 5, Kadeem Jack 11, Middleton 5, Council 2. Kinston: Jones 2, Dory Hines 10, Dallas Best 13, Benoit 3, Reggie Bullock 24.
