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Off-the-cuff sports chat with sports reporters.

May 20, 2012

ACC baseball tournament field set; FSU, UNC top two seeds

Atlantic Division champion Florida State and Coastal Division champion North Carolina are the top two seeds for the ACC baseball tournament, which runs Wednesday through Sunday at NewBridge Bank Park.

FSU (43-12, 24-6 ACC) is in Pool A, along with No. 4 Virginia (36-16-1, 18-12), No. 5 Clemson (32-24, 16-14) and No. 8 Georgia Tech (33-24, 12-18).

UNC (42-13, 22-8) is the No. 2 seed, joined in Pool B by No. 3 N.C. State (38-15, 19-11), No. 6 Miami (34-19, 16-14) and No. 7 Wake Forest (32-22, 13-17), which played its way into the tournament by sweeping Clemson this past weekend.

Under the pool-play format, each team will play one game against each of the other three opponents in its division Wednesday through Saturday. The two teams with the best records within their brackets will advance to the title game on Sunday, with the winner earning the ACC’s automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.

Game times Wednesday through Saturday are set for 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7 p.m, and Sunday’s championship game will begin at noon.

All eight teams in this year’s ACC championship field are ranked among the top 40 of the most recent NCAA RPI report. Florida State held a No. 1 national ranking in two major national polls last week, while UNC was ranked as high as No. 7, N/C. State as high as No. 13, Virginia as high as No. 19 and Miami as high as No. 21.

 

Fans can still purchase tickets to next week's competition. Complete books to all 13 games are available, as well as individual game tickets. Online ticket information can be found at http://www.theACC.com/championships/12-baseball-tix.html or by calling 336-268-2255.

All 13 games of this year’s ACC Baseball Championship will be televised for the sixth straight year. RSN will carry 12 total games on Wednesday through Saturday. Please check theACC.com for local affiliates and stations. Sunday’s noon championship game will televised nationally by ESPN2.

All games will live-streamed via the Internet by ESPN3.

2012 TOURAMENT SCHEDULE
Wednesday, May 23
11 a.m. – Florida State vs. Georgia Tech
3 p.m. – NC State vs. Miami
7 p.m. – North Carolina vs. Wake Forest
Thursday, May 24
11 a.m. - Virginia vs. Clemson
3 p.m. – North Carolina vs. Miami
7 p.m. – NC State vs. Wake Forest
Friday, May 25
11 a.m. – Virginia vs. Georgia Tech
3 p.m. – Florida State vs. Clemson
7 p.m. – Miami vs. Wake Forest
Saturday, May 26
11 a.m. – Clemson vs. Georgia Tech
3 p.m. – Florida State vs. Virginia
7 p.m. – North Carolina vs. NC State
Sunday, May 27
Noon – Championship Game

Practice Times – Tuesday, May 22
10-10:50 a.m. – Miami
11-11:50 a.m. – Wake Forest
12-12:50 p.m. – NC State
1-1:50 p.m. – North Carolina
2-2:50 p.m. – Clemson
3-3:50 p.m. – Georgia Tech
4-4:50 p.m. – Virginia
5-5:50 p.m. – Florida State
(Practices are open to the media and to the public)

Here's the complete bracket.

 

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May 18, 2012

NC State football: Two players earn scholarships, three opt not to return

Two former walk-ons have earned scholarships, while three players have opted not to return to N.C. State's football team, coach Tom O'Brien announced Friday.

Zach Gentry, a senior linebacker from Raleigh, and Tyler Purvis, a junior fullback from Reinhold, Pa., were awarded scholarships for the upcoming season.

Gentry was the team leader in special teams tackles and ranked second in special teams snaps last season, while Purvis saw action in 11 games at fullback and on special teams, hauling in two touchdown catches against Georgia Tech.

“These two young men have worked hard on and off the field,” O’Brien said in a release. “We look forward to their continued contributions to our team in 2012.”

Redshirt junior safeties Donald Coleman and Dean Haynes have both decided to transfer, while quarterback Brian Taylor has decided to stay at N.C. State but stop playing football.

Haynes and Coleman were both listed as backups to boundary safety Earl Wolff on the spring depth chart, and both played mainly on special teams last season.

Coleman, from Detroit, graduated last Saturday and will be eligible to play immediately after his transfer. Haynes, from Tunnel Hill, Ga., and Coleman were both two-star recruits in the Wolfpack's 2009 signing class.

Taylor, a redshirt freshman who was listed third on the spring depth chart behind Mike Glennon and Tyler Brosius, was a three-star recruit out of Angier's Harnett Central High.

Coming Sunday: Meet UNCG's Kenyans

Above: UNCG runners Paul Katam, left, and Paul Chelimo, center, with friend Gilbert "Eto'o" Kemda, play a video game in their home. The spring semester is over for Katam and Chelimo, who are entered in the NCAA East Preliminary for track and field May 24-26 in Jacksonville, Fla. (staff photo by Nelson Kepley).

Coming in Sunday's Sports section:

Paul Chelimo, Paul Katam, Abraham Kemboi and Mike Koech have traveled from Kenya’s Rift Valley to UNCG to further their running careers, with the added bonus of earning college degrees. The drive they achieved in making it through a competition-rich environment in Kenya has helped them put up fast times in America, along with learning skills they hope to use to benefit their home country.

Staff writer David Morrison will tell their story.

May 17, 2012

Guilford, Greensboro out of contention at D3 men's golf championships

Greensboro, barring a miracle, will not repeat as Division III men's golf national champion.

Neither will Guilford win its first title since 2005.

Both teams put up high scores during the third day out of four at the championship tournament at Howey-in-the-Hills on Thursday, with the Quakers falling from third to 11th thanks to an 18-over 306 and the Pride climbing two spots to 12th after a 13-over 301.

Neither is in shouting distance of leader Oglethorpe, which is at 3-over for the tournament, 34 shots up on Guilford and 36 up on Greensboro.

Fayetteville's Methodist (19-over) is a distant second to Oglethorpe.

On the individual leaderboard, Guilford's Noah Ratner is tied for 12th at 5-over, 14 shots behind leader Anthony Maccaglia of Oglethorpe.

Greensboro's Kirk Mitchell is tied for 20th at 6-over.

Here's the team leaderboard, as well as a look at Guilford and Greensboro's golfers:

Team scores (par 288-288-288 -- 864)

1. Oglethorpe 285-292-290 -- 867
2. Methodist 291-300-292 -- 883
3. Transylvania 308-288-296 -- 892
4. Redlands 295-301-297 -- 893
5. Claremont Mudd Scripps 289-307-300 -- 896
6. Texas-Tyler 300-295-303 -- 898
7. Wittenburg 309-293-297 -- 899
7. St. John Fisher 302-294-303 -- 899
9. Illinois Wesleyan 299-297-304 -- 900
9. La Verne 308-293-299 -- 900
11. Guilford 300-295-306 -- 901
12. Greensboro 296-306-301 -- 903
13. Huntingdon 309-289-306 -- 904
14. Gustavus Adolphus 301-297-307 -- 905
15. Christopher Newport 289-308-312 -- 909

11. Guilford 300-295-306 -- 901
(par 72-72-72 -- 216)
T12. Noah Ratner 78-71-72 -- 221
T26. Mitch Robinette 74-73-77 -- 224
T48. Andrew Thompson 73-76-80 -- 229
T61. Dusty Roberts 76-79-77 -- 232
69. Nicholas Shedd 77-75-82 -- 234

12. Greensboro 296-306-301 -- 903
(par 72-72-72 -- 216)
T20. Kirk Mitchell 75-77-70 -- 222
T31. Ben Nihart 75-76-74 -- 225
T57. Scott Novicki 78-74-79 -- 231
T61. Joshua Hudgins 73-81-78 -- 232
T61. Nick Peoples 73-79-80 -- 232

(Check out the entire leaderboard here.)

 

ACC releases early season football schedule, championship game time

The ACC football season starts with N.C. State playing Tennessee in Atlanta on Aug. 31 at 7:30 p.m. and ends with the Atlantic and Coastal division winners squaring off in the conference championship game Dec. 1 at 8.

The conference released its early season football schedule -- along with Thursday night games on ESPN -- and championship game time Thursday, giving viewers an idea of when and on which networks ACC teams will be playing over the first three weeks of the season.

Here's how Duke, North Carolina, N.C. State and Wake Forest's schedules are shaping up (non-conference away game times and networks are not determined by the ACC):

Duke
Sept. 1 vs. FIU, 7 p.m. (ESPN3)
Sept. 8 at Stanford, TBA (TBA)
Sept. 15 vs. North Carolina Central, 7 p.m. (ESPN3)

UNC
Sept. 1 vs. Elon, 12:30 p.m. (ACC Network)
Sept. 8 at Wake Forest, 3 p.m. (RSN)
Sept. 15 at Louisville, TBA (ABC, ESPN or ESPN2)
Nov. 15 at Virginia, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)

N.C. State
Aug. 31 vs. Tennessee in Atlanta, 7:30 p.m. (ESPNU)
Sept. 8 at Connecticut, TBA (TBA)
Sept. 15 vs. South Alabama, 6 p.m. (ESPN3)

Wake Forest
Sept. 1 vs. Liberty, 6:30 p.m. (ESPN3)
Sept. 8 vs. UNC, 3 p.m. (RSN)
Sept. 15 at Florida State, noon (ESPN or ESPN2)
Oct. 25 vs. Clemson, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Nov. 17 at Notre Dame, 3:30 p.m. (NBC)

The championship game will be played Dec. 1 and air on ABC at 8 p.m. or ESPN at 7:45.

Read the entire release here.

ACC baseball tournament picture: Wake has work to do

The ACC baseball tournament comes to NewBridge Bank Park next Wednesday-Sunday.

With eight teams out of 12 making the cut, here's how things look going into the final weekend of conference play, which runs today through Saturday, plus the ledger of who's playing who this weekend:

1. Florida State        22-5
2. North Carolina     19-8
3. N.C. State             18-9
4. Virginia                  16-11
5. Clemson               16-11
6. Miami                     14-13
7. Georgia Tech        11-16
8. Virginia Tech         11-16


9. Wake Forest         10-17
10. Boston College  9-18
11. Maryland              9-18
12. Duke                    7-20

If the tournament started today…

Division A: Florida State, Virginia, Clemson, Virginia Tech
Division B: North Carolina, N.C. State, Miami, Georgia Tech

This weekend's matchups

Duke at Boston College
Clemson at Wake Forest
N.C. State at Florida State
Virginia at Maryland
Virginia Tech at North Carolina
Miami at Georgia Tech

UNC, N.C. State and Duke pretty much have their tournament fortunes sealed, though the Wolfpack have a little room for posturing.

The Tar Heels are Coastal Division champs and locked into the No. 2 seed. The Blue Devils are out.

The Wolfpack can finish anywhere from third to fifth depending on what goes down this weekend. If it stays third, it remains in Division B. If it falls to fourth or fifth, it goes to Division A.

Things are a bit trickier for Wake Forest.

The Demon Deacons have to win at least one game from Clemson this weekend in order to have any chance of making the ACC tournament.

And they have to make the ACC tournament to have any chance of latching onto an NCAA regional.

Even though Wake Forest sports a pretty solid RPI -- it's ranked No. 40 -- that conference record is a blemish, and regional projections have them on the outside looking in.

Obviously, the more games the Demon Deacons win this weekend, the better.

And they also should become big Miami, UNC, Virginia and Duke fans this weekend, just in case.

Here's how Wake's tournament picture looks:

Wake Forest (29-22, 10-17 ACC)

If Demon Deacons sweep … they finish 13-17. Can end up as high as No. 7 seed, or as low as No. 9 if both Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech sweep. Hold tiebreak over both teams if they should take 2 of 3 and all tie for 7th.

If Demon Deacons take 2 of 3 … they finish 12-18. Can finish as high as seventh if Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech win one or fewer games and Boston College and Maryland don’t sweep. Could finish as low as No. 11 if Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech win two or more and Boston College and Maryland both sweep.

If Demon Deacons take 1 of 3 … they finish 11-19. Can finish as high as seventh if Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech are swept and Boston College and Maryland win one or fewer. Can finish as low as No. 11 if Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech win one or more and Boston College and Maryland win two or more.

(Here’s the doomsday, five-way tie scenario, because Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Maryland and Boston College could conceivably all tie for seventh. In that case, Virginia Tech would be No. 7, Boston College No. 8 and Wake Forest No. 9)

If Demon Deacons are swept … they finish 10-20. Can finish as high as ninth, miss tournament.
 

May 16, 2012

Guilford moves up to 3rd in D3 golf national championships; Greensboro barely makes cut

Guilford improved its position from a tie for ninth to a tie for third on the second day of the Division III men's golf championship tournament at Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla., but couldn't gain any ground on leader Oglethorpe.

The Quakers shot a 7-over 295 on Wednesday to vault themselves into a tie for third with Texas-Tyler at a two-day total of 595, a full 18 shots back of Oglethorpe (577).

Fayetteville's Methodist (591) is in second, while Transylvania, Redlands, Illinois Wesleyan, Claremont Mudd Scripps and St. John Fisher are all tied for fifth (596).

Greensboro, the defending champion, made the cut for the final two days by one stroke (602), after shooting an 18-over 306 on Wednesday.

The Pride are tied with Wittenburg for 14th place.

Here's the leaderboard, as well as a look at Guilford and Greensboro's golfers:

Team scores (par 288-288 -- 576)

1. Oglethorpe 285-292 -- 577
2. Mehodist 291-300 -- 591
3. Guilford 300-295 -- 595
3. Texas-Tyler 300-295 -- 595
5. Transylvania 308-288 -- 596
5. Redlands 295-301 -- 596
5. Illinois Wesleyan 299-297 -- 596
5. Claremont Mudd Scripps 289-307 -- 596
5. St. John Fisher 302-294 -- 596
10. Christopher Newport 289-308 -- 597
11. Gustavus Adolphus 301-297 -- 598
11. Huntingdon 309-289 -- 598
13. La Verne 308-293 -- 601
14. Greensboro 296-306 -- 602
14. Wittenburg 309-293 -- 602

T3. Guilford 300-295 -- 595
(par 72-72 -- 144)

T17. Mitch Robinette 74-73 -- 147
T33. Noah Ratner 78-71 -- 149
T33. Andrew Thompson 73-76 -- 149
T56. Nicholas Shedd 77-75 -- 152
T95. Dusty Roberts 76-79 -- 155

T14. Greensboro 296-306 -- 602
(par 72-72 -- 144)

T47. Ben Nihart 75-76 -- 151
T56. Kirk Mitchell 75-77 -- 152
T56. Scott Novicki 78-74 -- 152
T56. Nick Peoples 73-79 -- 152
T82. Joshua Hudgins 73-81 -- 154

(Check out the entire leaderboard here.)

ACC spring meetings wrapup: More FSU chatter, playoff talk and a five-day hoops tourney

The ACC spring meetings wrapped up in Amelia Island, Fla., today without all that much fanfare.

Well, except for what former FSU linebacker and board of trustees member Derrick Brooks said on Tim Brando's radio show. But that, technically, didn't happen at the ACC meetings, just on the periphery.

Read on for bullet points and links:

 -- FSU talks didn't come up at the meetings: Except for a conversation with Seminoles president Eric Barron that commissioner John Swofford said was "very positive" in which Barron reaffirmed FSU's commitment to the ACC.

When asked if the ACC was worried about FSU jumping to the Big 12, Swofford said, '"I don't deal with hypotheticals. I deal with what's tangible."

Meanwhile, on talk radio, former Seminoles All-American linebacker and board of trustee member Derrick Brooks said on Tim Brando's radio show Wednesday that, in his understanding, it's the Big 12 reaching out to FSU, not the other way around.

"If the Big 12 is coming after us, there's no doubt we're going to listen," Brooks said on the radio show. "Hopefully, by the Big 12 flirting with us, courting us, it gives the ACC credibility."

CBSSports.com's Brett McMurphy managed to flag down elusive, no-commenting FSU athletic director Randy Spetman and get this out of him: "I don't know where Derrick got that."

What does it all mean? As always, nobody really knows.

 -- The ACC hoops tournaments will be Wednesday-Sunday, have all 14 teams: Also on the subject of things nobody really knows about -- when Syracuse and Pittsburgh will be able to join the ACC.

When they do, though, the conference has a plan for how it will incorporate them into the ACC basketball tournaments.

All 14 teams will get in, Swofford said, and the event will stretch to five days, with seeds 11-14 playing on Wednesday and the rest of the tournament unfolding Thursday-Sunday.

Swofford also said how the nine-game conference football schedule will work out, with Atlantic teams having five home games in odd years and Coastal teams having five home games in even years.

 -- The ACC, indeed, favors a conference-championship model for a four-team BCS playoff: Although, as I pointed out Monday, that would not have made much of a difference versus a top-four model for the ACC since 2005.

And, oddly enough, it's different from the stance Swofford took just two weeks ago.

Go figure.

For more bullet points, check out the ESPN ACC blog's rundown.

Caroline Lind: "Visualizing the Perfect Race"

Above: Greensboro native Caroline Lind.

If we're sitting in the boat with Greensboro native Caroline Lind, we like our chances.

A lot.

The 2008 Olympic gold medalist in rowing in the women's eight talks about the perfect race in a video posted at NBCOlympics.com. Click here to see it.

May 15, 2012

Greensboro golf 6th, Guilford 9th after Day 1 of championship tournament

Greensboro and Guilford are both safely within the cut range after Day 1 of the Division III championship tournament, but have some work to do to contend for a national title over the next three days at Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla.

The Pride, the defending national champions, are in sixth place at 8-over (296) and the Quakers, who came within a stroke of winning in 2010, are in a two-way tie for ninth at 12-over (300).

Oglethorpe (3-under, 285) is four shots clear in the lead, followed by Claremont Mudd Scripps and Christopher Newport (both 1-over, 289), Fayetteville's Methodist (3-over, 291) and Redlands (7-over, 295).

The field is cut to the top 15 teams -- plus the top six individuals not on a qualifying team -- after Wednesday's second round.

Greensboro is nine shots clear of the current cut point, and Guilford is five shots up.

Guilford's Andrew Thompson and Greensboro's Joshua Hudgins and Nick Peoples are all tied for 20th place individually, at 2-over (74).

Oglethrope's Anthony Maccaglia and Claremont Mudd Scripps' Brad Shizegawa are in the lead at 4-under (68), followed by Methodist's Andrew Bateman and Mike Wesko and Christopher Newport's Brian Jaeger (2-under, 70).

Here's a look at the team scores, along with how Greensboro and Guilford's golfers fared on Day 1:

Team scores (par 288)

1. Oglethorpe 285
2. Claremont Mudd Scripps 289
2. Christopher Newport 289
4. Mehodist 291
5. Redlands 295
6. Greensboro 296
7. Illinois Wesleyan 299
7. LaGrange 299
9. Guilford 300
9. Texas-Tyler 300
11. Gustavus Adolphus 301
12. St. John Fisher 302
12. St. Thomas (Minn.) 302
12. Central (Iowa) 302
15. Nebraska Wesleyan 305

6. Greensboro 296
(par 72)
T20. Joshua Hudgins 73
T20. Nick Peoples 73
T44. Kirk Mitchell 75
T44. Ben Nihart 75
T84. Scott Novicki 78

T9. Guilford 300
(par 72)
T20. Andrew Thompson 73
T30. Mitch Robinette 74
T57. Dusty Roberts 76
T68. Nicholas Shedd 77
T84. Noah Ratner 78

(Check out the entire leaderboard here.)

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