Post by aggiejazz on Jul 2, 2009 9:52:32 GMT -5
Summer hoops at NCCU tips off
http://heraldsun.southernheadl...ports/18-1177365.cfm
BY JOHN McCANN : The Herald-Sun Jul 2, 2009
NCCUEaglePride.com
Durham -- So I'm sitting in the ballroom at Croasdaile Country Club, right?
Everybody's real mellow and casual. Members of the Durham Sports Club are kicked back in that fine room by the golf course's ninth hole.
And N.C. Central basketball coach LeVelle Moton has 'em in stitches. Dude ain't even cussing!
Moton's going on about growing up in the projects and food stamps and how he rose from it all to become NCCU's head hoops man. The crowd is digging it.
And then the thought occurs to me that these guys in the Durham Sports Club, as much as they're loving on Moton, are the sort of gentlemen who sit in seats at Cameron Indoor Stadium and the Dean E. Smith Center, not McLendon-McDougald Gymnasium.
So I'm thinking that a play Moton -- this will be his first season as a college head coach -- needs to draw up is one that'll set a high screen up there around Fayetteville Street and lead the UNC and Duke crowds down Lawson Street to watch NCCU play.
Now, Moton's strategy for this probably is a lot like his philosophy for signing top recruits such as former Raleigh high-school phenom John Wall, who blew a kiss at NCCU before saying "I do" to Kentucky's John Calipari.
(Uh, you do know that marriage to Calipari is going to end in a separation real soon, don't you?)
Anyway, Moton's not scared to go after kids like Wall. The coach likens it to that real fine, sure-enough tough honey that ends up with a cat that's a long way from being Denzel Washington simply because the dude had enough swagger to ask her out.
NCCU sports information director Kyle Serba has the same sort of approach for getting Tar Heel and Blue Devil types to come check out the Eagles -- open thy mouth.
"Invite 'em," Serba said.
That works. That and getting out there and talking with folks, which is what Moton has been doing -- and doing it quite well, too.
"Coach, I can honestly say that's one of the finest presentations we've had in a long time," Durham Sports Club member Tommy Hunt said after Moton spoke during the luncheon.
Years ago, former NCCU football coach Rod Broadway was the Durham Sports Club's guest speaker. Club member John Fletcher was in the house that day and eventually wound up at O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium to watch some NCCU football, along with a few other club members.
"Had a blast," Fletcher said.
So it's about exposure. It's about branding and letting folks know that NCCU assistant basketball coach Ray Martin was right there assisting the legendary Jim Valvano that year N.C. State won it all.
It's about folks understanding that the late, great NCCU basketball innovator John McLendon long ago stamped the school's footprint on Tobacco Road with his fast-break and four-corners offensive concepts.
Folks need to understand that Moton now is a Division I peer of UNC coach Roy Williams, who called him from the Final Four en route to winning the national title to congratulate him on getting the NCCU gig. And Moton bounces stuff off N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe. And Moton's had some sit-downs with Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski.
So Moton's in. Now it's time to win. He's not predicting victories but will tell you that his players will leave it all on the floor.
Now, to get a feel for what it's like inside NCCU's gym, you may check out the summer league tipping off this evening at 6 p.m., the Greater N.C. Pro-Am. It won't cost you anything to get inside to watch college and pro players do work.
But all I can do is invite you.
You may contact John McCann at jmccann@heraldsun.com or (919) 419-6601.
http://heraldsun.southernheadl...ports/18-1177365.cfm
BY JOHN McCANN : The Herald-Sun Jul 2, 2009
NCCUEaglePride.com
Durham -- So I'm sitting in the ballroom at Croasdaile Country Club, right?
Everybody's real mellow and casual. Members of the Durham Sports Club are kicked back in that fine room by the golf course's ninth hole.
And N.C. Central basketball coach LeVelle Moton has 'em in stitches. Dude ain't even cussing!
Moton's going on about growing up in the projects and food stamps and how he rose from it all to become NCCU's head hoops man. The crowd is digging it.
And then the thought occurs to me that these guys in the Durham Sports Club, as much as they're loving on Moton, are the sort of gentlemen who sit in seats at Cameron Indoor Stadium and the Dean E. Smith Center, not McLendon-McDougald Gymnasium.
So I'm thinking that a play Moton -- this will be his first season as a college head coach -- needs to draw up is one that'll set a high screen up there around Fayetteville Street and lead the UNC and Duke crowds down Lawson Street to watch NCCU play.
Now, Moton's strategy for this probably is a lot like his philosophy for signing top recruits such as former Raleigh high-school phenom John Wall, who blew a kiss at NCCU before saying "I do" to Kentucky's John Calipari.
(Uh, you do know that marriage to Calipari is going to end in a separation real soon, don't you?)
Anyway, Moton's not scared to go after kids like Wall. The coach likens it to that real fine, sure-enough tough honey that ends up with a cat that's a long way from being Denzel Washington simply because the dude had enough swagger to ask her out.
NCCU sports information director Kyle Serba has the same sort of approach for getting Tar Heel and Blue Devil types to come check out the Eagles -- open thy mouth.
"Invite 'em," Serba said.
That works. That and getting out there and talking with folks, which is what Moton has been doing -- and doing it quite well, too.
"Coach, I can honestly say that's one of the finest presentations we've had in a long time," Durham Sports Club member Tommy Hunt said after Moton spoke during the luncheon.
Years ago, former NCCU football coach Rod Broadway was the Durham Sports Club's guest speaker. Club member John Fletcher was in the house that day and eventually wound up at O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium to watch some NCCU football, along with a few other club members.
"Had a blast," Fletcher said.
So it's about exposure. It's about branding and letting folks know that NCCU assistant basketball coach Ray Martin was right there assisting the legendary Jim Valvano that year N.C. State won it all.
It's about folks understanding that the late, great NCCU basketball innovator John McLendon long ago stamped the school's footprint on Tobacco Road with his fast-break and four-corners offensive concepts.
Folks need to understand that Moton now is a Division I peer of UNC coach Roy Williams, who called him from the Final Four en route to winning the national title to congratulate him on getting the NCCU gig. And Moton bounces stuff off N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe. And Moton's had some sit-downs with Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski.
So Moton's in. Now it's time to win. He's not predicting victories but will tell you that his players will leave it all on the floor.
Now, to get a feel for what it's like inside NCCU's gym, you may check out the summer league tipping off this evening at 6 p.m., the Greater N.C. Pro-Am. It won't cost you anything to get inside to watch college and pro players do work.
But all I can do is invite you.
You may contact John McCann at jmccann@heraldsun.com or (919) 419-6601.
