Another trip to Chapel Hill ended bitterly for N.C. State Saturday, coming just two weeks after the Wolfpack was blown out by Duke in Durham. Such excursions within the Triangle have been brutal for State in recent years, with an 11-game losing streak in the Dean Smith Center and 16 straight in Cameron Indoor Stadium, respectively.
The Wolfpack, offensively confused and appearing reverent of the tepid Smith Center crowd, initially found its niche in Chapel Hill with dribble penetration—particularly from junior guard Desmond Lee. N.C. State shot almost 66 percent in the second half, yet still lost by 14 points. That was an improvement of sorts, as State wilted in Durham and received a 35-point drubbing.
The loss to Carolina dropped State to 14-8 overall and 4-5 in the ACC. Some might suggest that the Wolfpack lost to its rivals because N.C. State is a young team in the process of building. That belief has merit.
However, the current Tar Heel team is not the Dean Smith-coached juggernaut that romped through the ACC and hoarded time-outs on the rare occasion the game was still in doubt in the final minutes. This year’s UNC team has seven losses and is an inconsistent squad that does not shoot well.
North Carolina and Duke have bludgeoned the Wolfpack since the early 1990s when the N.C. State basketball program was placed on probation, and the University punished itself out of a chance to be competitive. UNC has won 38 of the last 47 meetings with State and the Blue Devils have taken 40 of the last 48. Both proudly tout their statistical dominance over N.C. State whenever the Pack comes to town.
From the fans, State gets it worse. On Saturday in Chapel Hill, UNC students mocked N.C. State with the “Not our rivals” chant that has become a staple in its arsenal of quips, conveniently oblivious to the fact North Carolina has separated itself from State on the hardwood during a time when it reportedly fielded some athletes who were not encumbered by the rigors of academic study.
The lack of self-awareness also extends to Durham, where the students gave its tried-and-untrue “If you can’t go to college, go to State” cheer two weeks ago. They also whipped out their traditional “culture, agriculture” comparison of Duke versus N.C. State, blissfully forgetting that the game came only days after President Obama made a visit to State’s campus in Raleigh to announce the University will lead the $140 million Next Generation Power Electronics National Manufacturing Innovation Institute, which is completely unrelated to cow-tipping.
It is a common misconception among basketball followers that prior to N.C. State’s woes after Jim Valvano’s tenure, the Wolfpack was on level terms with its neighbors.
This is only half-true. With two national championships, along with a slew of Southern Conference and ACC titles, State was indeed comparable with North Carolina but was actually better than Duke, which had yet to claim a single national title at that point.
Duke has since claimed four national championships and UNC has countered by winning three. For good measure, the Tar Heels also include a mythical title from 1924, before the inception of the NCAA Tournament in 1939, in its vain attempt to stay ahead of the Blue Devils in the race to hang the most banners.
During that same time after Valvano’s tenure, N.C. State’s efforts to change the perception of its student-athletes have provided the school with only two trips to the Sweet Sixteen NCAA tournament.
Both Triangle ACC schools west of Raleigh have also had off-the-court issues in recent years. North Carolina remains defiant in its perpetual struggle against the infinite number of rogues that have sullied its reputation during an academic scandal. Even Duke had two former players, Corey Maggette and Lance Thomas, who may have or actually did receive some form of impermissible benefits.
The investigation of UNC is limited to news outlets, and the probe into Duke’s players just seemed to fade away without a conclusion or, for that matter, even a search for one.
When facing its potential violations, neither had the fortitude to forsake athletic glory for a noble cause, which is ironic since Carolina had the gumption to do so in the 1960s, when it named Dean Smith its head coach after being placed on probation by the NCAA. At least the N.C. State basketball program, for all of its struggles against its neighbors in recent years, still has its dignity.
The aura of perceived superiority from Durham and Chapel Hill has seeped into State’s psyche. But when the time comes for State to travel to Chapel Hill or Durham, the Wolfpack would do well not to give its Triangle neighbors any added reverence. Perception is relative, and if N.C. State truly starts to believe it is equal to or better than Duke and UNC, then it will be.
