In the first game of the 2010 N.C. Pro-Am Thursday night Tracy Smith got to team up with incoming freshman CJ Leslie and two NC State recruits, Rodney Purvis and Joseph Uchebo. The four put on a show — Leslie and Smith both scored 20+ points — but fell to Team Hendrick of Durham in overtime.
The team likely missed two of its members who weren’t in attendance as incoming freshmen Ryan Harrow and Lorenzon Brown missed out on day one action in Durhma due to freshman orientation in Raleigh.
While some of you may be saying “huh?” at the thought of these guys missing an opportunity to play and give fans a bit of preview of what to expect, I say more power to them for sticking to responsibilities and going to orientation. They started classes just this week so it’s kind of refreshing to see people concerned with the “college experience” rather than being consumed by the basketball team already. There are more games in the Pro-Am and will be several other opportunities for Brown and Harrow to team up with Smith and Leslie. Check the schedule and rosters to plan your trip to NCCU’s McLendon-McDougald Gymnasium.
That being said, the highlights from last night are pretty impressive. CJ Leslie continues to prove that he has a different level of athleticism compared with his peers. That will help the Wolfpack from the first time he steps on the court. From all the different highlights I have seen (not just from the Pro-Am) his defensive athleticism and ability could help more than his offensive game. He’s not a polished low post scorer, at least not yet. Working with the coaching staff and practicing with Tracy Smith should help, but I’m not sure yet what kind of scorer Leslie is going to be right away.
In other news from Thursday night’s action, John Wall apparently made an appearance. Hooray! I understand Wall is a big-time name and that he’s from the Raleigh area, but is his mere presence worth lengthy stories from local news outlets? Oh yeah, Jerry Stackhouse and two-time NBA Champion Josh Powell were also there.
Stars come out for N.C. hoops league
It was opening night, but the S.J.G. Greater NC Pro Am summer basketball league appeared to be in midseason form Thursday night at N.C. Central’s McLendon-McDougald Gymnasium.
Not all of the big names were in attendance, but there were still plenty of stars on the court who put on quite a show for the near-capacity crowd.
“The first night is usually slower,” said Chuck Jones, one of the league’s directors. “Some of the NBA guys don’t play until after the July 4th holiday, some of the college players aren’t here because they don’t start summer school until next week, and usually the crowd’s smaller because the community doesn’t know we’ve gotten started.”
