NC State Basketball
NC State Began the Tradition of Cutting Down the Nets
It’s fitting that the NC State Men’s Basketball team has had the opportunity to cut down the nets twice this postseason. The first being when they won the 11th ACC Championship, and the second being when they advanced to their 4th Final Four.
The reason it’s fitting for the Wolfpack to cut down the nets in celebration, is because they were the first to ever do so.
Back in 1947, when NC State defeated UNC 50-48 to win the Southern Conference Title in his first season as the Wolfpack’s Head Coach, with no ladder available, he asked his players to hoist him on their shoulders so he could cut down the nets. It wasn’t the first time Case had ever cut down the nets. In Indiana, as a prestigious high school basketball coach, he had done so on four occasions after winning the state title.
What Case did in 1947, began a tradition that has run throughout college basketball ever since.
Jimmy V, followed in the footsteps of Case, and cut down the nets a few times himself. An interesting fact about Valvano, is that he would have his teams practice cutting down the nets at the beginning of the season, so they could envision being champions.
My second part of motivation is dream. Do you still dream? I still dream. I dream all the time, I watch that film a lot, I also for my players we have one practice every year, they come up on the court, there’s no balls, there’s no drills, all we do is practice cutting the net. I have golden scissors, they carry each other up, they carry me up, I cut the last one. We do that, we film it, we go up and watch it, then we watch us at 83′ doing it, we see the reality, we see the dream. – Jimmy V
According to reports, NC State is adding UMASS’ Brett Nelson as an Assistant Coach.
Sources: Brett Nelson is leaving UMass to join Kevin Keatts’ staff at NC State as an assistant.
Matt Figger — who worked for Frank Martin at both South Carolina and Kansas State — will replace Nelson in Amherst.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) May 15, 2024
Nelson was only at UMASS for 1 season under Frank Martin. Prior to that, Nelson was the Head Coach at Holy Cross for 4 seasons, posting a 27-84 record.
Prior to taking the Head Coaching mantle at Holy Cross, Nelson was at Marquette for 5 seasons, spending the first 3 as an Assistant Coach, and the final two as an Associate Head Coach. Prior to Marquette, Nelson also served as an Assistant Coach at Ball St., Drake, Arkansas and Marshall.
Before coaching basketball, Nelson played for the University of Florida from 1999-2003. He was All-SEC twice, and earned Third Team All-American honors. When he left Gainesville, he was the Gators’ all-time leader in three pointers made, and ranked 2nd in steals.
As a Senior in High School, Nelson was a McDonald’s All-American.
Power Forward Ernest Ross announced this morning that he is returning to NC State for his final year of eligibility.
View this post on Instagram
Last Friday, Ross committed to UTSA after entering the Transfer Portal on April 17th, but it looks like he had a change of heart over the past couple of days.
NC State has been in desperate need to add a Big out of the Portal. They have hosted ECU’s Ezra Ausar and Georgia’s Frank Anselem-Ibe, but neither of them have found a home yet. With the addition of Ross, NC State has added depth in the Frontcourt, and unless something changes, their roster is full with 13 scholarship players.
Ross played in 14 games this past season, averaging 3.4 minutes per contest. After playing in 34 games last season, averaging 11.4 minutes per contest, Ross saw his participation dip to a career low this season, but that didn’t for a second break his infectious personality. On the sideline, you could count on Ross every single game to be the heart and soul of the Wolfpack on the bench. To watch a player who played as little as he did, care as much as he did, makes me super proud that this young man represented NC State so well.
Ross was a consensus 4-star player in NC State’s 2021 recruiting class, with 247Sports ranking him as the #60 overall player nationally. ESPN ranked him as the #5 overall player in the state of Florida.
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