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SORTS
Black Ink Sports presents the ACC Preview
By DAVID SQUIRES
Sports Editor
Here it is sports fans! What
you’ve all been waiting for! The
BLACK INK AUantic Coast Con
ference Preview. Included are
previews of each team, an All-ACC
team, ACC Player of the Year, an
All-ACC Rookie team, ACC Rookie
of the Year and an ACC Poll.
The BLACK INK ACC basketball
poll was chosen by the seven voting
members of the BLACK INK
sports staff. Each member ranked
the teams individually. The final
poll was decided when the votes
were tallied on a 7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis
(example: 7 points for first place, 6
points for second place, etc.).
1. North Carolina
2. Duke
3. Maryland
4. N.C. State
5. Virginia
6. Wake Forest
7. Clemson
49 points
37
36
21
20
18
15
Each writer also selected five
players for the BLACK INK All-
ACC team. The results are as
follows: (no. of votes are in
parenthesis.)
First Team
Phil Ford North Carolina (7)
Rod Griffin Wake Forest (7)
MikeGminski Duke (6)
Hawkeye Whitney N.C. State (3)
Clyde Austin N.C. State (3)
ACC Player of the Year: Phil Ford,
North Carolina
Second Team (All members of the
second team received 2 votes
except Jo Jo Hunter who received
1).
Gene Banks
Albert King
Mike O’Koren
Jim Spanarkel
Jo Jo Hunter
All Rookie Team
Gene Banks
Albert King
A1 Wood
Pete Budko
Jeff Lamp
Duke
Maryland
North Carolina
Duke
Maryland
Duke
Maryland
North Carolina
North Carolina
Virginia
ACC Rookie of the Year: Gene
Banks, Duke
Play ball! The BLACK INK Sports
Staff: David Squires, Editor; Ray
Perry, Assistant Editor; Super
writers: James Alexander, Greg
Clay, Orlando Dobbin, Skip
Foreman, Ricky Sharpless, and
Sheila Smith-Cameron.
4
i
^1
Norm Sloan to start anew
The Black Ink All-ACC basketball team: Phil Ford (UNC) and
Rod Griffin (Wake Forest) led the balloting with seven votes each.
Mike Gminski (Duke) was next with six votes, followed by Hawkeye
Whitney and Clyde Austin (N.C. State) with three votes each.
The Terrapins have talent
By RAY PERRY
Sports Writer
The 1977-78 edition of the N.C. State
basketball team will be drastically dif
ferent from the one that finished 17-11 a
year ago. Five players, all starters at one
time or another, left school in the spring
with some eligibility remaining. Most
notable among them is All-American
Kenny Carr, who prefers to shoot baskets
in West Los Angeles for gold this year than
to shoot baskets in West Raleigh for red.
Faced with a do-or-die situation Coach
Norm Sloan brought in ten new players.
“I’m very pleased with our recruiting,”
said Sloan. “We’re bringing in players who
should give us immediate help and also
provide us with both depth and size.”
Leading the way for the youthful
Wolf pack are a couple of Sophmores: 6-5
forward Charles “Hawkeye” Whitney, the
ACC co-rookie of the year last season, and
quicker than quick 6-2 guard Clyde “The
Glide” Austin. Joining Austin in the back-
court is 6-6 Tony Warren, a junior from
Raleigh. The other forward spot is
currently filled by Kendal Pinder, a 6-7
junior college transfer, who has looked
good in pre-season drills. But look for 6-7
Art Jones, 6-5 Ken Montgomery, and the
steady Warren to see plenty of action at
the forward position opposite Whitney.
An improved 7-2 Glenn Sudhop and 6-11
freshman Craig Watts will share the pivot.
Kenny Matthews, a 6-3 former Washington
(D.C.) Dunbar star looms as the team’s
sixth man but he could move into a star
ting role before the season is over.
Forward Joe Stiltner, guards Pete
Keefer, Keith Almond, Donnie Perkins (an
ex-North Pitt luminary) and Craig Davis,
the only senior on the squad, round out the
Wolfpack roster.
The ‘Pack’ will field the youngest team
in the ACC, if not the nation, and it is for
this reason (inexperience) that the area
sportswriters picked them to finish last.
Dean Smith warned, “The league is so
balanced that it’s as hard to pick who’ll
finish last as it is to pick who’ll finish
first.”
It’s a safe bet that Stormin’ Norman and
the boys will be a force to reckon with
come tournament time.
Says the baby-faced Austin, “We’re
ready this year.” Added Warren, “Let’s
take it to the court!”
By GREGORY CLAY
Sports Writer
The big news in College Park this year is
the coming of the “King”—that is Albert
King. New York has a reputation of being a
wonderland for producing outstanding
talent with such notables as Butch Lee of
Marquette and Julius Erving now with the
Pliiladelphia 76’ers. Albert King, a 6’7”
forward is considered to be the best
prospect out of that area since Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar.
If Lefty can keep his holdover in school
this year, Maryland has the potential to
dominate anybody in the country.
Returning are three starters from last
year’s team. Steve Sheppard, the Terps’
leading scorer last season, graduated and
Brad Davis signed as an underclassman in
the NBA’s hardship draft.
Lawrence Boston, a strong inside man,
who was second to only Rod Griffin in field
goal percentage last year returns. Larry
Gibson, the team’s leading rebounder with
8 per game a year ago, returns at the
center position. Mike Davis, who played
forward and center last season, gives the
Terps good backup strength. Now, with the
addition of Mr. King, Lefty’s front-hne can
challenge any in the country. Maryland’s
recruiting genius also came up with
Ernest Graham of nearby Baltimore, Md.
and Dunbar High School. He is 6’8” and
one of the top freshmen in the country.
But Lefty’s hunters didn’t stop there.
They went to Steelton, Pennsylvania and
found a 6’2” guard named Greg Manning.
Manning is considered to be an out
standing shooter and an excellent
penetrator. Jo Jo Hunter and Billy Bryant
return from last year’s backcourt. Bryant
broke his wrist last year which provided
Hunter to step in to fill the void. They’re
both sophomore now and have valuable
experience under their belts.
In College Park, Lefty has a great team
on paper. He has a strong rebounding front
court and a high-scoring backcourt. They
have everything you could ask for. But the
Terps have been rich in talent for a
number of years and couldn’t use it to their
advantage. Maybe they have too much
talent, which can sometimes be a problem.
There seems to be dissension on Lefty’s
teams of the past. His players either play
wildly or with no intensity at all. James
Tilman quit the team after many run-ins
with Driesell and was suspended on one
occasion for subordination. Brad Davis
went pro and Brian Magid also opted to go
elsewhere.
If Lefty can find that unique blend and
combine all of that talent and control his
team on the court, then Maryland will be
overpowering. But, if not, Lefty will
assume his yearly position of being an also
ran. Albert King and others may give the
fans some anxious moments but it may be
just a waste of time if the Terps’ sup
porters want what it’s all about in the
end—an ACC championship.
Black Ink, Black Ink, Black
Ink. No matter how you say it, it
always comes out goodlj