North Carolina State had won the game. Penn State had gone down in the deciding contest of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. The Wolfpack had saved the ACCfrom embarrassment. A capacity crowd was delirious.
So why was N.C. State’s top recruit, Scooter Sherrill, so frustrated in the locker room afterward?
Maybe because the Wolfpack freshman had played just 11 minutes, three in the second half. He had not been a factor.
A week later, on Dec. 5, N.C. State beat UNC Greensboro. Scooter had played all of three minutes.
Pack fans, who have embraced Scooter, chanting his name each and every time he rises from the bench, wondered aloud why he wasn’t playing more. Fans back in Rowan County were pestering his West Rowan High coach Mike Gurley, demanding to know what was going on. And Scooter was even doing some heavy thinking about the situation.
He wanted to get in touch with his cousin — Kannapolis football legend Nick Maddox — who knows all about being a high school All-American and seeing limited time as a freshman (at Florida State).
The bottom line in everyone’s mind was this:McDonald’s All-Americans in the Atlantic Coast Conference are supposed to play more than three minutes against a Southern Conference team.
Aren’t they?
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Imagine Scooter turning on the tube and watching guys like Zach Randolph starting at Michigan State. Omar and Taliek Brown starting at St. John’s and Connecticut. Chris Duhon getting significant time at Duke. Darius Miles already in the pros, making millions.
It had to hurt the ol’ ego of a fellow McDonald’s All-American.
“Ifelt bad,” Scooter says now. “Iwanted to come here and play early but it didn’t happen like that. Yeah, I was kinda down but I told myself to stay patient and keep working hard.”
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Now, flash forward to last week. North Carolina State beat Georgia Tech. Scooter played just three minutes in the second half and 14 overall.
But this is a new year and Scooter flashes that gold tooth a lot more these days. Things have happened. Little by little, he has made his mark.
For instance, in a loss to Duke, he left a lasting impression by one-handing a rebound and dunking it through the hoop. Even his buddy Duhon was oohing and ahhing over that one.
In a loss to Clemson last weekend, he pulled the Wolfpack to within two late in the game by hitting consecutive bombs from 3-point land.
In each game, he was in the lineup late, during crunch time, with the games on the line.
What had Scooter learned since the Penn State win on Nov. 29? That big reputations coming out of school don’t mean much. You have to prove yourself.
“Everybody’s quick and strong in the ACC,” Scooter admitted. “Defensively, it’s real hard. I wasn’t considered a great defensive player when I got here. But I feel like I’m getting better.”
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When it was discovered that starting guard Archie Miller has a stress fracture, Scooter knew this was going to be his time. He was going to get his minutes.
“We’re missing Archie and that’s part of the reason I’m playing more,” he said after the Tech win Tuesday, where he finished with two points and two assists. “But I’ve been working out extra before practice. I feel like my shot is getting better every day and my playing time is going to increase. The coaches are telling me I’m getting better.”
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Scooter has already played in hostile ACCarenas and he is adapting. He loved the atmosphere at Clemson’s Littlejohn Coliseum.
“Watching Duke and Carolina on TVlast year at Littlejohn, Icouldn’t wait,” he said. The crowd there is so intense and so loud. The fans are right on top of you.”
The deafening roar couldn’t prevent Scooter from bringing the Pack within 67-65 with his long 3s. Clemson eventually held on 72-69, dropping State to 0-3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference standings.
“We thought we were going to win but that’s how it goes sometimes,” Scooter said. We shouldn’t have been in that situation.
“But we look at it this way. We played bad and barely lost.”
The Pack crawled out of the ACCcellar against a Tech team that had already beaten Wake Forest, UCLAand Kentucky.
“We had that look in our eye,” Scooter said. “We had to show everybody that while we were down a little, we were still going to play hard. We needed this. It’s a real confidence booster.”
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As far as that monster jam against Duke a week earlier?
I still haven’t seen it yet,” Scooter laughed. “Everybody tells me about it every day around campus.”
That dunk, which assures Scooter of being on the year-end highlight film, along with the two 3-pointers against Clemson, finally let it sink into his head:You are still that same All-American with All-American talent. And the All-American minutes might not be far behind.
Scooter would love nothing better than to have another big game this afternoon when the Pack travels to Cole Field House in College Park to face the 12th-ranked, 12-4 Maryland Terrapins at 1:30 p.m.
“Maryland is supposed to be one of the best teams in the country but we’re going to show them — just like we showed Georgia Tech.”
Now, that’s the Scooter Sherrill we remember, right?
The kid from Rowan County is not only back making plays like a confident All-American, he’s back to talking like one, too.
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Ronnie Gallagher is the sports editor of the Post.
Ronnie