and we develop a dislike for one another. Their team has been so much fun to watch during this run and has been such a great story coming from the national media shadows of UNC and Duke in their own backyard. I literally felt good for their fans seeing them get there by going through Duke. Their Final Four drought was nearly as long as ours (1983) and they had to sit back and watch their rivals down the interstate dominate the college basketball spotlight over the past 40 years. This had to feel GREAT for them.
In 2004 I went on a college basketball road trip in early February. I managed to score a ticket to Duke/UNC at Chapel Hill so I planned to drive down there to experience that rivalry. I stopped in Cincinnati on the way to watch UC play at Xavier, then drove down to Chapel Hill the following day. The night I stayed in Chapel Hill was the night before the game and I became aware that Wake Forest was playing at NC State the night before so I scored a ticket to that just to see that experience. That experience was pretty cool. It is a very different experience though as they play in a huge arena that they share with the NHL Carolina Hurricanes. Wake was ranked and NC State had a tournament team as well and NC State pulled out the W in a very tightly-contested game. All the NC State fans I encountered were fun and very hospitable.
And finally regarding NC State, we played them just 2 seasons ago at, I think, Barclays Center in New Jersey. It was the game after Harper beat us with the halfcourt shot to knock us out of our first-ever stint at number 1. They led us for much of the game if I'm not mistaken and we managed to win it in overtime. Wasn't a good season for them I don't think but they gave us one hell of a game that day. And Zach would've played in that one so they have seen him a little before although I don't know how many players they still have around from that game.
In 2004 I went on a college basketball road trip in early February. I managed to score a ticket to Duke/UNC at Chapel Hill so I planned to drive down there to experience that rivalry. I stopped in Cincinnati on the way to watch UC play at Xavier, then drove down to Chapel Hill the following day. The night I stayed in Chapel Hill was the night before the game and I became aware that Wake Forest was playing at NC State the night before so I scored a ticket to that just to see that experience. That experience was pretty cool. It is a very different experience though as they play in a huge arena that they share with the NHL Carolina Hurricanes. Wake was ranked and NC State had a tournament team as well and NC State pulled out the W in a very tightly-contested game. All the NC State fans I encountered were fun and very hospitable.
And finally regarding NC State, we played them just 2 seasons ago at, I think, Barclays Center in New Jersey. It was the game after Harper beat us with the halfcourt shot to knock us out of our first-ever stint at number 1. They led us for much of the game if I'm not mistaken and we managed to win it in overtime. Wasn't a good season for them I don't think but they gave us one hell of a game that day. And Zach would've played in that one so they have seen him a little before although I don't know how many players they still have around from that game.
