1. Raleigh News & Observer: Rodney Purvis had to fight for his eligibility. As part of the first graduating class at Upper Room Christian Academy, the NCAA took an extra long look at Purvis’ academic record before clearing him to play in mid-September. Teammate Lorenzo Brown tried to keep Purvis optimistic — throwing a barb at North Carolina while he was at it: “Plus, with the whole UNC thing, if they got off, how could he not [be eligible]?”
2. Charlotte Observer: Speaking of Purvis and the Wolfpack, NC State and Mark Gottfried want to keep their momentum going from the end of last season. With all of the hype surrounding the team, it’s hard to remember that many thought NC State should be left out of the NCAA Tournament thanks to a schedule lacking in quality wins. We know NC State has the talent and experience, but can it make the leap to become a top-10 team?
3. The Seventh Floor: Miami blogger Jerry Steinberg took the time to rank the position players around the conference. His rankings are detailed and interesting, though I like NC State’s front line better than Miami’s (they’re miles better at running the floor and don’t have as many no-shows) and Duke and North Carolina should be ahead of Maryland (Mason Plumlee gets a bad rap, and McAdoo has the chance to be a bona fide star). Still definitely worth a read.
4. RoundballChat.com: Some optimism for the Eagles! That’s right, Scott Shirley thinks Boston College will be one of the top 100 teams in college basketball. This would obviously be a huge improvement over last season, which is to be expected with almost everyone returning. The players to really watch are Patrick Heckmann and Ryan Anderson.
5. Keeping It Heel: Dexter Strickland will be back on the hardwood, which means good things for North Carolina’s defense. What remains to be seen is how much he trusts that rehabilitated knee. Recovering from knee injuries generally takes close to a year with nearly as much time going into getting confidence back as letting it physically heal. This could be tough on Strickland, whose greatest strength lies in his quickness and agility.

mpatton (576 Posts)

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 9th, 2012 at 6:01 am by mpatton and is filed under acc, microsites, morning 5. Tagged: boston college, dexter strickland, mark gottfried, miami, nc state, north carolina, rodney purvis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.