North Carolina State coach Sidney Lowe says he is excited about the possibilities that could await his fifth season with the Wolfpack.

The Wolfpack bring back an All-Atlantic Coast Conference performer in Tracy Smith, several experienced returnees in Javi Gonzalez and Scott Wood and a recruiting class that ranks among the nation’s top groups.

With that lineup, the pressure will be on Lowe to finally get the Wolfpack to the NCAA tournament for the first time since his arrival four years ago. But Lowe also says he is excited that Wolfpack fans are holding high expectations for the upcoming season.

Lowe also says he met with incoming athletic director Debbie Yow on Monday for their first significant discussion since she was hired last week.Read More:Mync.com

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The Tar Heels overcome personnel losses, a shallow bench and poor shooting to get back to the top of the ACC after a 0-2 start in the league. Now, UNC may get Tyler Zeller back Wednesday

CORAL GABLES, FLA. — Was it really only a month ago that North Carolina was wondering how to dig its way out of an 0-2 ACC hole?

After a 69-65 victory at Miami on Sunday night, the third-ranked Tar Heels now are shoveling dirt over the rest of the league.

With five games left in the regular season, UNC (23-2, 9-2 ACC) now holds a two-game stranglehold over second-place Duke (7-4 ACC), which lost at Boston College on Sunday — and at least a 2 1/2-game lead over everyone else.

In addition, coach Roy Williams said during his Monday night radio show he “would not be surprised if Tyler [Zeller] did play Wednesday night against North Carolina State,” according to Insidecarolina.com. The return of the freshman 7-footer, who was expected to redshirt after a wrist injury, would add depth to a bench that could use it.

How much he would be able to contribute remains in question. But after a stunning home loss to Boston College and a stumble at Wake Forest in January, the Tar Heels find themselves back to where everyone anticipated they would be — on the inside track to the top seed in the ACC Tournament and an NCAA Tournament berth in nearby Greensboro as a No. 1 seed.

“We just refocused ourselves, took a different approach to every game,” shooting guard Wayne Ellington said. “When we started out 0-2, we knew that it was a marathon, and if we took care of ourselves, we’d be fine.

Ellington insisted there haven’t been huge changes within the team, but subtle ones have made an impact:

* Point guard Ty Lawson, after being totally outplayed by BC’s Tyrese Rice and Wake’s Jeff Teague in the two losses, has played more aggressively. With his winning 3-pointer at Florida State, his 21-point second half at Duke and a key 21-point performance at Miami, he has played himself into league player-of-the-year consideration. When he’s driving to the basket and connecting from the outside, Lawson and UNC are hard to beat.

* With the notable exception of its win over Virginia, UNC has shot better. That point holds especially true for Ellington, who made only four of his 14 3-pointers in the two losses. In his past eight games, he buried 27 shots from behind the arc.

* The 0-2 start in league play became a wake-up call that opponents were going to bring their best every game. As Williams would say, the Tar Heels could not afford to “tiptoe through the tulips” and learned the hard way to take every opponent seriously.

“I think we let up a little bit [in the two losses],” Lawson said. “Everybody was talking about how we were the best team and stuff like that … We were thinking we were playing real well and let teams sneak up on us.”

The players insist they won’t let that happen again, especially after hearing about the weekend upsets of Duke and Clemson. To that end, the Tar Heels still need to work on two particular areas:

* PERIMETER DEFENSE: Miami senior Jack McClinton (35 points) became the third guard this year to light up Carolina for 30 points or more, showing again how much UNC misses stopper Marcus Ginyard, who is out for the season with a foot injury.

Read More:News & Observer

CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina’s men’s basketball team, a Final Four favorite, will play for the first time this season against Vanderbilt — on Nov. 2 at the Smith Center.

But it’s not on the preseason schedule.

You can’t buy a ticket. It won’t be on TV.

And the score will never be made public — if one is even kept.

“We can’t publicize it, can’t let fans in, can’t give out any stats,” said UNC associate athletic director Larry Gallo, who wouldn’t even name the opponent, place or date.

So: Shhhhhhh.

Under a strange NCAA rule, Division I teams such as UNC can only scrimmage against other Division I teams if it is done in secret — doors locked, no media, no fans, no official scoring. Even when it’s conducted in a public building.

Typically, the top teams in the nation play two exhibition games against lower-division schools, foreign teams or club squads.

But teams can substitute an “informal practice scrimmage,” as it is called in NCAA rules, for a preseason exhibition. The caveat: The only people allowed in are coaches, players and staff members necessary to conduct the workout. Recruits making official visits can also attend.

The (secret) practice rule has been around for about a decade. Wake Forest, for instance, scrimmaged UNC-Greensboro last year and has another conspicuous blank spot on its current preseason schedule. Davidson, which scrimmaged at Texas last season and made a deep run in the NCAA Tournament, will make a return trip to Austin in the coming weeks. Vanderbilt has also done it for the past few years.

But the private workout will be a first for the Tar Heels, who are looking to pit All-American Tyler Hansbrough and point guard Ty Lawson against better players than any Division II or III team can provide. Vanderbilt lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last season and finished 26-8 under coach Kevin Stallings, a longtime friend of UNC coach Roy Williams.

Practice for NCAA teams officially begins at 5 p.m. today. The Tar Heels open the regular season on Nov. 15.

“[The private scrimmage] gives your guys an opportunity to practice against a top-ranked team, and sometimes to travel, be on the road, to go through the same routine and environment that you hope you’re going to see during the regular season,” said Davidson coach Bob McKillop, whose Southern Conference Wildcats have quietly worked out against a Division I foe for the past six seasons. He said he was not allowed to name the who and when of those opponents.

Why all the the secrecy? That remains unclear. NCAA spokeswoman Gail Dent said in an e-mail: “The motivation of the bylaw is the concern over the demands placed on student-athletes and the games/scrimmages they play.”

Exhibition games, she added, are similar to regular-season games which require media, and post- and pregame responsibilities. But not private scrimmages.

Read More:News & Observer

INSIDE THE GAME

Duke coach David Cutcliffe was surprised to see Duke execute poorly and play passively on offense in the loss at Georgia Tech, considering the team had such a good week in practice. “Which concerns me,” Cutcliffe said Sunday. “Something isn’t correlating. We have to address it quickly.” In the past, he has turned up the heat on a daily drill called an inside drill. Backs and the O-line run inside plays against linebackers and the D-line. “We can’t afford to beat ourselves up too much,” Cutcliffe said. “But we need some full-speed contact to gain a little confidence running the football.”

GAME BALLS

P KEVIN JONES, WR RAPHAEL CHESTNUT: Duke would have lost the field-position battle much sooner than late in the third without strong work from both. Getting more hang time than in recent weeks, Jones averaged 39.2 yards on eight tries — a long day for a punter. Chestnut stopped one return for negative yardage and downed another at the Tech 2.

PENALTY MARKERS

DEFENSE FOR 15-YARD PENALTIES: It’s tough to criticize a defense that kept Tech out of the end zone as long as it did. But the Devils agreed a roughing-the-passer call on DL Vince Oghobaase and pass interference on CB Jabari Marshall hurt. They represented another 30 yards the offense couldn’t make up on the other end, putting more pressure on the D, which pressed harder, then made mistakes, etc. Vicious cycle.

Read More:News & Observer

Tar Heels hope to stay grounded

CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina is back in The Associated Press Top 25 for the first time since November 2001. And the No. 22 Tar Heels hope they have finally found the running attack to keep them there.

Converted safety Shaun Draughn accounted for 109 of UNC’s 146 rushing yards during Saturday’s 38-12 blowout against then-No. 24 Connecticut. Draughn is just the second Tar Heels player this season – and first tailback – to exceed 100 rushing yards in a game.

Coach Butch Davis reiterated Sunday that the Tar Heels (4-1) need all three of their running backs — including Greg Little (three carries for 6 yards Saturday) and Ryan Houston (three carries, 39 yards, one touchdown)– to play well in order to be successful. Even so, it appears that Draughn, a sophomore from Tarboro who had netted just 97 yards total in his previous four games, has earned the right to be a bigger part of the attack.

“He’s got some real quickness, some explosiveness; he’s got some speed,” Davis said after Carolina matched last year’s win total. “Prior to this season, he was an unknown commodity; we had no idea what he would bring to the football team. He’s protected the ball well, and he’s run the ball well and he’s making some plays.”

Quarterback Cameron Sexton said the tailbacks and offensive line “made it a mission to be better” against the Huskies.

“We’re winning games, but these guys are hearing, ‘We can’t run the football, we can’t run the football,’ and [they] were getting tired of hearing about it,” Sexton said. “So I think those guys said, ‘We’re going to go run the football. We need to do it.’ ”

And they did it from the beginning.

After UNC’s first offensive series of the game — during which Little rushed once for no gain — Draughn entered for the second series and carried four times for 27 yards, pushing the Tar Heels into field-goal range.

Davis said Draughn was inserted early because “he played well against Miami; he popped a big, long run against Miami that was unfortunately called back by a holding call. Somewhat like how the quarterback situation went against Miami – he got in, he got hot. He made some runs, and we kind of stayed with it from that standpoint.”

A shuffle along the offensive line might have been a factor. Lowell Dyer made his first start of the season at center, allowing Aaron Stahl (who had missed time in practice after having two wisdom teeth removed) to shift back to left guard. Alan Pelc started there, in place of the injured Bryon Bishop, but Stahl was in the game early at the position he played last season.

Draughn, who also scored on a 39-yard touchdown sprint in the third quarter, said the line and tailbacks didn’t do anything different from early in the season. “We’re just getting better at it,” he said.

“We always make an emphasis on running the ball, because we need to have two threats coming in.”

Read More:News & Observer

Tar Heels dominated game against Rutgers after so-so win over McNeese State

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – North Carolina coach Butch Davis was pleased by his team’s dominating Thursday night performance at Rutgers Stadium.

But what might bode the brightest for the Tar Heels’ continued rebuilding effort — and their ACC opener against Virginia Tech next weekend — is what they did before the 44-12 victory.

“The preparation we had prior to tonight’s ballgame was about as good as we’ve had in the 18 months I’ve been a head coach,” Davis said after his team broke its 20-game losing streak outside the state of North Carolina.

“We were very disappointed in ourselves and the way we played a week ago against McNeese State, and I think our players really responded.”

Davis said the coaches were tough on the players after UNC’s unimpressive season-opening victory Aug. 30. The Tar Heels went full speed, he said, and “we had four practices last week that were probably harder than any practices we had during training camp. It was old-school football; we went out and we worked and we hit and we tackled; we did a lot of stuff. And they responded.”

Indeed, the Tar Heels players credited the focused, sometimes grueling workouts for their most lopsided victory since beating Duke 52-17 in 2001.

Although the defense gave up 383 yards, the Scarlet Knights didn’t convert a play of more than 25 yards and finished 0-for-9 on third downs. Most important: UNC’s secondary was noticeably more physical than in Week 1, making hard hits and snagging four interceptions — something they focused on during the previous 10 days on the practice field.

“If the scout team gained one yard, we got blessed out about it,” said cornerback Kendric Burney, who grabbed one of the picks.

UNC still didn’t have an individual 100-yard rusher, but the offensive line was more cohesive and consistently opened more holes. The Tar Heels gained 157 yards on the ground, and quarterback T.J. Yates was sacked only once.

Another product of some intense workouts.

“Coach Davis was jumping everybody,” tailback Shaun Draughn said after a practice several days after the McNeese State win. “All that losing — that mentality — we need to get it out of our head.”

Read More:News & Observer

DURHAM – In years past, Duke’s football team would not have defeated Navy on Saturday in Wallace Wade Stadium.

Instead of a 41-31 Duke win, here’s what would have happened:

* Navy would have forced a couple of turnovers late.

* The Blue Devils defense would have gone into a surrender posture during the fourth quarter.

* What few fans in the stadium at kickoff would have found relief from the steamy heat at halftime, never to return.

* The little things would have gone the other way — the Navy way — and Duke would have gladly settled for the consolation of a competitive loss.

But Duke is no longer the Duke of old, and certainly not the Duke football program of the past several years. Such is the influence of first-year coach David Cutcliffe, who quickly has convinced one of the country’s most downtrodden programs that there can be no real comfort in defeat.

“We’re a different team,” star receiver Eron Riley said. “Last year, when we played them, we lost [46-43], but we thought we were the better team. It’s about how you close the deal. We didn’t do that then. Now, we can.”

So different are the Blue Devils that they now will take a 2-1 record into this week’s open date.

The one loss — 24-20 against Northwestern — hardly was the sort of embarrassment that Duke fans have come to expect, and accept, and there’s not strong reason to think the Blue Devils can’t move on to 3-1 and 1-0 in the ACC when they face Virginia here on Sept. 27.

Heck, Cutcliffe is probably no more than three or four more wins away from wrapping up ACC Coach of the Year, and he’s doing it without Sarah Palin serving as an assistant or with a single pit bull wearing lipstick on the defensive line.

“They’re getting it done; give them credit,” said Navy’s first-year coach Ken Niumatalolo. “Coach Cutcliffe has done a great job of getting them to believe in what they’re doing.”

What Cutcliffe is doing isn’t all that exotic. Yes, he has opened up the passing game more than was the case under previous coach Ted Roof, but Duke quarterback Thaddeus Lewis is still a ball-control passer who looks first to Riley (three touchdown receptions against the Middies) and then to various other short-route receivers.

The Duke ground game still doesn’t scare anyone, but it is productive enough to keep opponents honest.

Read More:News & Observer

The three UNC players who were testing their status in the NBA draft all said they would return to campus for next season, setting the Tar Heels up for a national title run.

Point guard Ty Lawson, forward Wayne Ellington and last year’s sixth man, Danny Green, withdrew their names from the draft Monday, the deadline for doing so. The players had entered the names in the draft, but did not hire agents to leave open the possibility of returning to school.

In statements released by UNC, the players spoke of a desire to capture the national title, something that eluded the Heels this season in a Final Four loss to Kansas.

Said Ellington: ““I am looking forward to working toward our goal of winning a national championship.”

“I look forward,” Lawson said, “to playing next season and trying to win a national championship.”

Coach Roy Williams said he supported the players’ decisions, no matter what they had been. Williams had been involved in talking with NBA teams about where the players might be drafted.

“Everyone should have the right to be evaluated in terms of possibly reaching his dreams,” Williams said in a statement. “I feel strongly that all of these young men will eventually be NBA players. The timing was just not exactly right at this point.”

The three join All-America center Tyler Hansbrough, who earlier announced he would return to UNC for his senior season.

Lawson, a rising junior, has averaged 11.3 points and 5.4 assists in his first two seasons

Read More:News & Observer

(ARA) – Warmer weather brings more outdoor sports – and with them, the increased risk of eye injury. Every year in the United States more than 40,000 sports-related eye injures require emergency room attention, with almost half happening to people younger than 15. The majority of these injuries could be prevented simply by using appropriate protective eyewear when playing sports.

“Even if they’re just playing a quick pickup game in the park, eye protection should be a major concern for kids,” says Florida optometrist and former University of Miami football player Dr. Pat Del Vecchio. “This is very important when playing certain sports – like baseball, basketball or football – where there is a higher risk of eye injury.”

When choosing eye protection for children, first make sure the eyewear is specifically designed for sports, Del Vecchio advises. Conventional frames and lenses can shatter and turn a small impact into a sight-threatening injury. “The eye protection should also be comfortable and not obscure vision during the game” he adds. “If it doesn’t meet these two criteria, then kids just aren’t going to wear it.”

While on-field collisions remain the most frequent cause of sports-related eye injuries, sometimes the playing field itself can be the culprit. Playing outdoors kicks up dust and dirt that can adhere to the eye and cause scratches or even more severe problems. This is a particular concern for young contact lens wearers. For these situations, Del Vecchio recommends taking along a multi-purpose solution in case you need to remove your lenses. “A good multi-purpose disinfecting solution, like OPTI-FREE RepleniSH MPDS, removes the irritants, and is an effective way to kill the germs that can cause eye infections,” he says.

Ultimately, the most important tip of all is to see your eye doctor at least once each year, Del Vecchio says. “Your eyes need to be taken care of just like any other piece of athletic equipment. As a former athlete, I can tell you they are the most important part of any sport, so a yearly visit to the eye doctor can identify any problems early, help maintain healthy vision and ensure you’re able to keep your eye on the ball.”

Quick Tips for Protecting Your Eyes

* Wear protective eyewear. Do not substitute ordinary glasses for appropriate protection. Sports-protective eyewear is specifically tested to meet rigid impact standards.
* Know your eye safety options. If you are not sure what protection works best, visit your eye doctor to see what is available.
* Add eye protection to other protective gear. If you are playing a sport that requires a helmet, consider wearing a helmet with full face protection.
* Take out contacts before getting in the water. Don’t wear your contact lenses while swimming. Certain organisms present in the water can attach to contact lenses and can cause eye infections. Remember to always care for your contact lenses with a Multi-Purpose Disinfecting Solution, like OPTI-FREE RepleniSH.
* Protect your eyes from the sun. To prevent eyes from being over exposed to UV rays, give your eyes a break by wearing sunglasses when not playing on the field.

It was a trying year for N.C. State basketball coach Sidney Lowe. The Pack finished 15-16 in his second season, closing with nine straight losses. There also were serious issues he had to deal with away from basketball. On Thursday, Lowe talked with staff writer Chip Alexander.Q: What do you think N.C. State fans want from you and the basketball program?

A: I think they want a winner. Bottom line, they want a winner. With the tradition and history we’ve had, the national championships, we’ve had runs where we’ve really been good consistently, year in and year out, and I think they want to get back to that point. So that every year they know we’re going to be in the hunt. Whether it’s in the hunt for the ACC championship or in the hunt for the NCAA.

Q: Every year is a big year for a coach, but in your mind how big is next year for you given this past season?

A: It’s a very important year. They’re all important, but any time you’re coming off of a tough year that next year is important. But I think you still have to keep things in perspective, in terms of where you are and what you’re trying to do.

It’s like injury situations. If Farnold [Degand] doesn’t get hurt last year, who knows what we would have done this past year and we wouldn’t be discussing having a tough year. So we have to be healthy. But it’s an important year. It’s important because, you know what, we don’t want to come back and duplicate what we did this year.

I know a lot of people were disappointed this year. I know my AD [athletic director Lee Fowler] was disappointed. But I’ll tell you that no one hurt more than I did.

Q: You had so much happen in the last year away from basketball [Lowe’s father died and his mother suffered a heart attack. Lowe’s oldest son, Sidney II, still must face felony charges of kidnapping, possessing drugs and armed robbery stemming from a shooting incident last March in Greensboro]. Did that affect any basketball duties, practice time, game preparation, recruiting, your concentration, anything like that last season?

A: Not really. Because I’ve always been this way, and I try to tell my players the same thing, that when I have something to do, that’s what I’m focused on. This is my job and this is going to take precedence right now.

I never, ever, bring a personal situation to work. Anyone who has been around me will tell you, inside I’m going to be dying but you’re going to get the same smile, get the same hello, the same greeting. I don’t do that. I don’t think it’s right to bring your personal life to work with you and have other people have to adjust to your mood that day. I don’t think that’s right.

So, no, it didn’t. When I got away from the office, I dealt with that. But I still watched the same amount of film, had the same meetings, the same everything. I kept it the same.

Q: How rough has the year been? Has it almost been too much for you to stand at times?

A: It’s been a very rough year. My dad passing, certainly that was very tough on me. But I thought about the good times. My dad lived a long life and was a great father. In the background, not saying too much, but proud and wore his N.C. State hat everywhere he went.

Q: A lot of people were concerned about you because of your dad’s death, but also because of your son. …

A: And that means a lot. So many people have come to me and expressed themselves to me and it means a lot. You worry, but that’s when I get away from it. I can’t say [the job] is therapy for me but this is my focus. I have one son there and I have 13 or 14 here. I just came to work and never let it interfere with my work

Read More:News & Observer