North Carolina State University Athletics
Haynes' World: Louisiana Lightning Strikes
2/1/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
NC State basketball coach Herb Sendek almost caught lightning in a bottle when he inserted freshman Trey Guidry into Wednesday night's game at Wake Forest. Make that "Louisiana Lightning" in a bottle.
Prior to his coming out party against the Deacons, the 6-2 Baton Rouge native had averaged exactly 2.1 minutes per game against ACC competition. On Wednesday, however, Guidry took full advantage of his 23 minutes by scoring a career-high 15 points. The three ball is the freshman's calling card, and against the Deacs he poured in 5-of-6 six from the arc.
In the end, Louisiana Lightning's thunder was stolen by Broderick Hicks, whose stunning three with five seconds left in regulation gave Wake Forest a chance to redeem itself in overtime. But as crushing as the 74-69 defeat may have been for the Wolfpack, perhaps Guidry gave himself, his teammates and his coaching staff something to feel good about.
There was once another Guidry from Louisiana who inherited the nickname "Louisiana Lightning." When he was a hard-throwing lefthander for the New York Yankees in the late 1970's, Ron Guidry was one of baseball's best pitchers. All Guidry did in 1978 was to go 25-3 for a team that would win its second straight World Series title.
Now NC State fans can only hope that Louisiana Lightning II has arrived on the scene. Maybe Trey Guidry will blister the nets the way Ron Guidry once wore out Thurman Munson's catcher's mitt.
For the record, his full name is Charles Raymond Guidry III. The name Trey has nothing to do with his ability to shoot jump shots from 19'-9". He is, after all, Charles Raymond the THIRD.
At this stage of his career, Trey Guidry is much more comfortable playing basketball than he is entertaining questions from the media. Following most games, he sits quietly at his locker and gets dressed while many of his older teammates handle inquiries from the scribes. But moments after the game at Wake, Guidry was surrounded by more than a dozen media types who seemed energized by his stunning performance. To say the least, it was a new an overwhelming experience for a youngster who was born just 18 years ago.
Unfortunately, NC State now has the distinction of being the best 10-9 team in the country. What other 10-9 team could play Duke, North Carolina, Virginia and Wake Forest down to the wire? But for this group, there is no consolation in being just competitive. No broadcaster, no writer and no fan can fully understand the depth of pain Guidry and his teammates felt after victory eluded their grasps in Winston-Salem. They are, after all, the ones who laid it on the line for 40 minutes against the 12th ranked team in the country.
But as usual, the sun came up the next day and there was yet another game to prepare for. And as long as there are other days and other games to look forward to, there's always a chance that Louisiana Lightning could strike once again.
