North Carolina State University Athletics
Behind the Scenes With Tony Haynes: The Mailbag
4/23/2002 12:00:00 AM | Pack Athletics
April 23, 2002
By Tony Haynes
So many letters, so little time. Because of a busy baseball broadcast schedule, golf, Wolfpack Club meetings, golf, daily web site maintenance and golf, I've not done a good job of keeping up with your comments and questions to Gopack.com. So, at the risk of escalating my handicap, I've decided to respond to some of your e-mails.
Joe B. asks, Why weren't Ray Robinson and Willie Wright selected in the NFL Draft over the weekend?
Joe, It had to be a disappointing weekend for Ray and Willie. Both players invested a lot of time and energy into their workouts for NFL scouts and, for the most part, they did well. All too often, the NFL people rely too heavily on their stopwatches when making personnel decisions. I heard former Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson say during the draft that Michael Irvin ran a rather average time of 4.6 seconds in the 40-yard dash, yet he became one of the best receivers in the NFL. Irvin wasn't a burner but he sure was a heck of a football player. The same can be said for Ray Robinson and Willie Wright. While he doesn't have blazing speed for a tailback, Robinson does have good vision, excellent quickness and the ability to break arm tackles. He also catches the football extremely well. Wright, who ran the 40 in 4.8 seconds for NFL scouts, is viewed as an undersized tight end by NFL standards. At 248 pounds, he'll need to find an offense that utilizes an H-back type of player who moves around a lot. And here's something the stopwatch didn't register: Willie Wright probably has as good a set of hands as any player that was drafted last weekend. Hopefully, not being drafted could work to the advantage of both players. Like former Wolfpack linebacker Clayton White who made the Giants as an undrafted free agent last year, Robinson and Wright are now free to shop their services around to teams that employ offenses that are compatible to their strengths as football players.
I am absolutely disgusted with your publication. The most recent swimsuit issue was indecent. Ruth B., Orlando, Florida.
Ruth, I think you have the wrong e-mail address. You may want to send your comments to Sports Illustrated. However, I must agree with you. When I first saw this year's swimsuit issue, I was stunned. How could they place pictures of such scantily clad models in a sports publication? Quite frankly, my eyes couldn't believe what they were seeing, which prompted a review of the issue 16 or 17 times before I angrily tossed the magazine aside.
Will NC State athletic director Lee Fowler be back on the Division 1 Men's Basketball Committee next year, Josh B., Raleigh.
No Josh, Lee will not be back on the committee next season. His five-year term officially comes to an end in September. That's not to say, however, that the committee won't have an NC State flavor to it in 2002-03. Former Wolfpack basketball player, basketball coach and athletics director Les Robinson will serve at least one more year. And there's always a chance that Robinson, now the AD at the Citadel, could have his term extended by one year in order to serve as chairman in 2003-04. Succeeding Fowler as the chairman of the committee next year will be Arizona athletics director Jim Livengood.
Do you think Anthony Grundy will be selected in this year's NBA Draft? William R., Charlotte.
Well, even if he isn't drafted, Grundy should have a better than even chance to stick somewhere. At 6-3, he will likely be asked to play the point in the NBA. Actually, he might have an advantage over someone like Maryland's Juan Dixon, who never played point guard in college. As Pack fans know, Grundy did see action at the point, especially in his sophomore and junior years. Along with being an above average passer, Grundy sees the court well and has an uncanny ability to get his shot off in traffic. And of course, he's a terrific defender. But perhaps his greatest attribute is a savvy for the game that isn't easily taught. NC State coach Herb Sendek often makes mention of Grundy's "basketball IQ." "Clever" is the word Wolfpack assistant Larry Hunter uses to describe a player that led the Pack in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals and minutes played last season. NBA scouts will question Grundy's ability to knock down perimeter shots on a consistent basis, an area in which he's made tremendous strides in just the last 12 or 15 months. Grundy will have a chance to put his skills on display when he participates in the annual pre-draft camp in Chicago later this spring.
