WASHINGTON — The Wolfpack managed to squeeze in a little sight-seeing Thursday before practice for today’s NCAA Tournament game.
West Rowan’s Scooter Sherrill said N.C.State took a brief ride around the city, seeing the Pentagon —including where the hijacked plane hit on Sept. 11 —and checked out a few other monuments.
“I really want to go to the White House,”reported Sherrill, who’s never been to D.C. before. “I mean, inside the White House.”
State stands just six wins away from a national championship — and the personal invite from President Bush that goes along with the title.
Not that the Wolfpack are dreaming quite that big, of course. After making their first appearance in 11 years, the Pack are just happy to be a part of the Tournament.
“Not to be there last year hurt real bad,”Sherrill said. “I can’t wait to get started.”
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remember me? Sherrill played in the 2000 McDonald’s All-American game with Michigan State’s Marcus Taylor.
They haven’t talk to each other yet this week, although Sherrill says he plans to chat it up this afternoon —maybe.
“I don’t know if he’ll talk to me after we whip their tails,”Sherrill said with a big laugh.
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no respect: N.C. State didn’t celebrate wildly when its name showed up Selection Sunday. After all, the Pack knew an NCAA bid was in the cards.
State’s spirits weren’t buoyed any, however, when the CBS announcers commented on the possible UConn-Michigan State matchup in the second round.
“The announcers said that it could be a rematch of Connecticut and Michigan State right after it came out,”Pack freshman Julius Hodge said. “Right there, that really set us off. I really didn’t say much because it was a happy moment for us, but inside it was just burning me up.”
When the Pack reported to practice on Tuesday, the matter wasn’t forgotten.
“I’m pretty sure it made a couple people mad about it,”senior Anthony Grundy said. “It really lit a fire under a lot of people.”
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first time: In past years, television announcers could’ve said anything they wanted about N.C.State and gotten away with it — none of the Pack watched.
“When you’re not part of it, you kind of ignore it,”Grundy said of the selection show. “That’s what we did the past years.”
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happy hodge: Hodge, State’s exuberant freshman, sported a bright red ski cap after practice Thursday.
It didn’t have a Wolfpack logo on it. It was a Yankees hat his brother Steve sent him from Hodge’s native New York.
“He wasn’t going to send me a Carolina blue one!” Hodge said, explaining why the hat wasn’t blue.
When asked how he was enjoying his first tournament experience, Hodge said he was busy sorting out the minor details like tickets for his family. It’s too soon, he reported, for this week to soak in yet.
“I haven’t really taken it all in. I’ll probably do that when I’m about 45 sitting out in a chair in Cancun or something,”he said. “Right now I’m totally focused on beating Michigan State.”
When he’s not thinking about retirement, of course.
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is that legal? Since the Spartans aren’t seeded No. 1 in the tournament this year, head coach Tom Izzo was asked about the different feel for his team.
“Normally, the No. 1 seed gets the nicest hotel,” he said with a laugh. “Thank God for Gary Williams, he let me move in with them.”
Izzo explained that Williams let Michigan State stay in the same hotel as the top-seeded Terrapins, “probably because most of their fans are staying at home in their nice comfortable beds.”
And it’s not really a conflict for the two teams to be hanging out in the same lobby because they wouldn’t meet until the next round of games.
“Since there’s no way we’ll play each other for a while no matter how well we do,”Izzo said, “I told him he owes me a little luck, so rub up and down against me. He did, so hopefully that will work.”
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