Triad Pro-Am Info

So, I took a trip over to the Triad Pro-Am with no idea what to expect or even where to go to see the games. I left very pleasantly surprised and figured I'd post some general info for anybody that wants to go (there's a post on day one action coming later today).

First off, the games are at Forsyth Country Day School in Lewisville (about 5 minutes west of Winston Salem). The games are played in 2 locations. The main gym (CAC) is at the "Upper School". The smaller gym (LIV) is just a short walk away. Just go through the doors opposite the entrance to the main gym and walk down the hill towards the middle school. There are plenty of roster sheets available in the main entrance. However, the only schedule was posted outside of the main gym. So, I'd advise printing one off for yourself or else you'll find yourself asking "What team is this?".

Admission is completely free. Come and go as you please. Sit where ever there's an open spot. There's a concession stand open that benefits the Triad Hoops Academy. Since I didn't buy anything, I don't know if the prices were high or not.

The games are two 20 minute halves with about a 5 minute halftime. There are refs that call fouls but are not calling it especially close. There are no coaches. The guys just sub themselves in and out. The game pace can get a little out of control at times. There are lots of pick & rolls and drive & dish plays.

So there are the basics. If you're really wanting to see basketball in July, it's worth the trip. The games are played on Monday & Thursday throughout July with a tournament at the end.

Summer League Basketball

Almost the entire UNCG roster, along with several former players, will be playing summer basketball at the Triad Pro-Am League at Forsyth Country Day in Lewisville (just west of Winston Salem). This camp was previously known as the Rusty Larue Basketball Academy until Rusty took an assistant coach position at Wake Forest. So, It's now being run by Triad Hoops Academy.

Here's a quick rundown of the UNCG players. You can find the complete rosters here and schedule here.

Bibs Downtown
- Montel Smith
- Kendall Toney
- Brian Cole (Incoming)
- Donald Moore (Former Player)

Champion
- Mike Hardiman
- Korey VanDussen (Incoming)
- Darius Sellers

Farm Bureau
- Elhanan Bone
- Ben Stywall
- Kyle Randall (Incoming)

Mecedes Benz
- Ray Bristow (Former Player)

Mountain Fried Chicken
- Travis Stokes

Page's Screen Printing
- Ricky Hickman (Former Player)

Triad Hoops
- Pete Brown
- Brandon Davis

University Dental
- Brandon Evans
- Taylor Hoffer (Incoming)
- Sean Spooner

I'm not sure if these games are open to the public. I will post it here if/when I find out. This camp is pretty close to my house. If it is open to the public, I may take a trip over.

UPDATE: Here's a post about this tournament on the WFU blog Blogger So Dear. Apparently the tournament is free and open to the public. I have emailed the Triad Hoops to verify this info.

Eargle at Youngstown State and N&R commentary on Bobb

Here are two interesting articles that have shown up since I left for vacation a week ago.

The first is from TribToday.com and is discussing former UNCG forward Damian Eargle. Apparently, Eargle has enrolled in summer school at Youngstown State and is going to be playing with the Penguins. According to the article, though, he hasn't signed the LOI with YSU yet.

Harding coach Steve Arnold said Eargle has left Greensboro and enrolled in summer classes at YSU. Eargle chose Greensboro over YSU before during his senior season with the Raiders.

Arnold said Eargle left because he was homesick.

Eargle is participating in open gyms at YSU, but has not signed a letter of intent with the Penguins. If and when Eargle does sign with YSU, he will have to sit out this coming year because of NCAA transfer rules.

The second article is from the News & Record discussing former UNCG athletics director Nelson Bobb. Obviously the author has his own thoughts on Mr. Bobb and shares them well. I have never made a comment on this whole thing because I don't feel like I know enough of the background to make an informed statement about it at all. Except to say that Bobb did a great job for UNCG for a long time.

I do wish he'd have kept his thoughts on the coliseum move and football to himself, though.

The school recently announced it would move basketball games to the cavernous Greensboro Coliseum. There are additions to the baseball stadium and improvements to the basketball practice facility, all happening under Bobb's watch. The move to the coliseum wasn't his idea. "I think it's great for the
community and for the coliseum," he said. "It's an outstanding opportunity. I just hope they don't look back in two or three years and ask 'What were they smoking?' "

He fears that success at the coliseum will bring on the inevitable talk of football, something he swore would never be allowed on his watch.

He fears UNCG will lose its soul to athletics, something he fought against from the day he arrived at a school known for not having football, known for its quaint traditions and slow, steady, logical growth.

***BTW, there's a comment at the bottom of the article that irritates me. The person who advocates getting rid of all college athletics has a right to make that point. However, if you read any North Carolina newspaper online, you'll see this same person make this exact same point over and over again. Nothing new or groundbreaking. Just this same "quit paying coaches, administrators blah blah blah" over and over again.

There's no point here except that for me to say that I'm just constantly annoyed by having to read this person's babble.

UPDATE: The N&R link was broken. I fixed it. Sorry.

Judski Promoted, Gipson Hired

According to this article on the UNCG Athletics website, Brian Judski has been promoted to the No. 2 assistant spot and Corey Gipson has been hired. All of this shuffling took place because Kevin Easley left to join the staff at High Point University.

Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there!

New UNCG Season Brochure (Updated)

Here are some scans of a brochure that's available at the UNCG ticket office. Big thanks to John for sending these to me. As you can see, there look to be some really affordable ticket plans. Also, it looks like being a member of the Spartan Club will pay off for anyone interested. There are some cool promotions being planned with Thirsty Thursday and free parking with the purchase of 2 season tickets.

UPDATE: The UNCG Athletics website now has this article up as it's "splash" page. The article takes you to a place where you can reserve your tickets and also it lays out exactly what everything costs, including the free parking with season tickets. I think that alone makes season tickets really worth the price. There is nothing worse than having to deal with the irritation of parking. If they could get a part of the lot reserved, there's no telling how much extra I'd be willing to pay.

4 ACC Opponents in the Coliseum (Update)

The News & Record is reporting that UNCG will play home games against 4 ACC schools this upcoming season in addition to out of conference games against East Carolina and Princeton. Maryland, Clemson, Wake Forest & NC State will play the Spartans in their new home, the Greensboro Coliseum.

According to the article, the schedule is not completely finalized yet. There are possibilities of several of these games appearing on TV.

"I know there's been some interest from Raycom with us making this move," Hirschman said, "and when you're playing those caliber opponents, there's also some interest from ESPNU.

"Let's face it: We want to be on television as much as we can. So you want to keep the door open. And when you do that, you don't want to tell your fans, 'We're playing this team on this date at this time' when TV could move that game two weeks."

UPDATE: Here's what fans of NC State and Clemson are saying on their Scout.com forums.

Taking a Break

Since we've crossed over into June (and just went over 4,100 in site hits, thanks) I think we can say that things are really winding down until fall. I've got several vacations planned over the next two months, and I haven't really had much to post this past month anyways.

So, I think I'm going into a little hibernation mode. I will make some posts when something of note happens. I thought about writing one big wrap-up post, but then thought better of it. Do I really need to rehash 5-25? I would rather just wait a couple of months to write some posts based on the excitement of a great recruiting class and moving to the coliseum.

In the meantime, I'm working on a new layout for the site with some new graphics. Don't forget to keep up with things over at UNCG Fans.