ACC Morning Five: 10.05.11 Edition

Posted by mpatton on October 5th, 2011

  1. ESPN: two (and a half) ACC schools will be represented during ESPNU’s coverage of college basketball’s Midnight Madness on October 14. Coverage starts at 9 PM EDT. ESPNU will cover eleven schools’ official season kickoff, including Duke, North Carolina, (future ACC member) Syracuse and defending national champion Connecticut. Stuart Scott will be holding down the fort at the Dean Dome, while Lou Canellis and announcing legend Bill Raftery will be at Cameron Indoor Stadium. My one disappointment is Raftery won’t be joined by rap aficionado and Duke alumnus Jay Bilas, which would truly make for must-see TV.
  2. The Collegiate Times: Virginia Tech‘s student newspaper takes an in-depth look at the university’s dynamic duo of compliance, Tim Parker and Bert Locklin. The Hokie journalists also manage to throw in a couple of warranted jabs at conference rivals Miami and North Carolina for their respective compliance struggles. The article is a great look at the men behind the curtain who normally only make the news when there’s been a major violation.
  3. Palmetto Sports: Clemson has an official visit scheduled with point guard Adonis Filer of Chicago.  According to Rivals.com, the 6’3″ Filer is a top 150 player who already has offers from Baylor and Oregon State, but definitely hasn’t made a decision. He noted his final decision “will come down to where I feel comfortable and the amount of playing time I’m going to be looking at my first year.” My guess is Filer would see a good bit of playing time right away with the Tigers.
  4. Washington Post – Terrapins Insider: Maryland basketball legend and subject of ESPN’s 30 for 30 “Without Bias” (a must-watch for any hoops fan), Len Bias is being inducted into the Washington Metropolitan Basketball Hall of Fame along with Maryland announcer Johnny Holliday on November 9. Bias’ tragic cocaine overdose, immediately following being taken second overall in the NBA Draft by the Boston Celtics, forced the country to come to terms with the drug’s rampant use amongst athletes in the mid-to-late 1980s.
  5. Winston Salem Journal: Wake Forest baseball player Kevin Jordan is back in practice. In one of the most amazing stories you’ll ever hear about in sports, Demon Deacon coach Tom Walter donated a kidney to Jordan last year. On seeing Jordan back in action, Walter exclaimed: “This is the best day of my coaching career […] I mean by far. Just to see him back out here doing what he loves to do.” This stands in stark contrast with all of the cut-throat recruiting, oversigning and general dishonesty so often reported in college sports.
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