North Carolina State University Athletics
Worth the wait
1/21/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 21, 2005
BY TIM PEELER
Ilian Evtimov is brave, no question. He left home at the tender age of 14, saying good-bye to his basketball-crazy family in France so he could travel to the United States to pursue basketball and the chance at a college scholarship, just like his older brother Vasco did.
He thinks he knows America. He even thinks he knows the national pastime, having played baseball during his PE classes in high school. And he thinks he can hit Andrew Brackman.
"Yeah, definitely I think I can,'' Evtimov said. "Well, maybe not his best shot, his usual 95 miles per hour. But I would like to try sometime."
No one is here to burst Evtimov's bubble about standing in the batter's box to face his basketball teammate, whose 6-foot-10 frame cuts an imposing figure in his other line of work, as a Major League pitching prospect. When basketball season is over, Brackman will take his 93 mile-an-hour fastball and his nasty knuckle curve to the baseball diamond, becoming the most talked about forward-pitcher combo player since Tim Stoddard helped N.C. State win two ACC basketball titles, three ACC baseball titles and the 1974 NCAA basketball championship.
Evtimov is an over-achiever. Remember when a recruiting analyst rated him as the ACC's worst incoming freshman four years ago? He's turned out better than anyone expected. So who's to say that he can't grab a bat, dig himself into the batter's box and slam a fat pitch into centerfield?
Brackman, for one.
"Ilian thinks he can hit me," Brackman said with a wry laugh. "I've heard that from a lot of people."
But Evtimov isn't afraid to try. Not much anyway.
"One thing that does scare me is if he mis-throws the ball and hits me in the knee," said Evtimov, who has had several surgeries on both knees during his career. "I asked him if that ever happens. He smiled and said, `Oh, yeah, it happens all the time.' "
Perhaps Evtimov has never seen Nuke LaLoosh take out the mascot in "Bull Durham." And maybe that's why there won't be a long line of his basketball teammates in the on-deck circle waiting to take a few cuts against Brackman.
"Nah, I can't play baseball a lick," said Julius Hodge. "Coach Sendek can vouch for that, after we played softball a couple times when I first got here."
Neither will Engin Atsur. Growing up in Turkey, the sophomore guard has limited experience with Brackman's other game.
"I don't try to understand it," Atsur said. "I'm not really that interested. I am not trying to understand it. I am going to go and watch him, just for Andrew, but not for the baseball."
In his brief time as a basketball player, Brackman has become a crowd and team favorite, averaging 9.6 points and 5.1 rebounds in his 21.1 minutes per game. He's got a sneaky sense of humor, he goes all-out on every play and he has well-developed shooting and ball-handling skills that have allowed him to contribute immediately to Herb Sendek's basketball program.
With that success, Wolfpack fans can't wait to see him pitch this spring, when basketball season is over and Brackman joins Elliott Avent's baseball program. Brackman has already begun preparations for that transition, with a once-a-week throwing program. In coming weeks, he will start long-tossing to start the process of getting his arm in pitching shape and then he will begin throwing some in the bullpen.
Stoddard, who spent 15 years pitching in the majors, said he never did any baseball workouts during basketball season.
"I tried once, but the coaches found out and I got yelled at," said Stoddard, who is now an assistant coach at Northwestern.
And back then, head baseball coach Sam Esposito was one of Norm Sloan's basketball assistants. That won't be a problem now, because Sendek and Avent are close friends and they have agreed to share Brackman's talents. That's why the two flew to Brackman's hometown of Cincinnati last summer on the day of the Major League baseball draft, to assure the young pitcher that he would be able to play both sports at N.C. State.
For now, however, Avent knows that Brackman's top priority is basketball.
"His first priority, as far as I am concerned, is basketball," Avent said. "If he was only playing three minutes a game, or not contributing much in basketball, it might be different. But we know what kind of a beating his body is taking by playing against ACC competition, and we want him to be completely ready and in baseball shape before he starts pitching for us."
That probably won't be until mid-April, said Avent, whose team is now practicing for its Feb. 4 opener against Delaware State. That's a time the coach looks forward to, when his team begins the second half of its ACC season.
"We expect, in the same way he has done with basketball, that Drew will come in and give the baseball team an added boost of energy," Avent said. "To be able to add a pitcher of his caliber at that time of the season is huge for us."
Bringing Brackman to Raleigh will help out even more next year. Last Novemer, Avent signed Brackman's Moeller High teammate Eric Surkamp, a big lefthander who combined with Brackman last year to lead Moeller to a 28-3 record and the school's fourth Division I state championship. Brackman was 7-0 for the team, while Surkamp was 10-0 and both were recently named to the all-time team at a school that has produced a school that produced Major Leaguers Ken Griffey Jr., Barry Larkin and the Bell brothers, Mike and David.
"They were the one-two punch for that team,'' Avent said. "In fact, they both combined to the win in the championship game."
So it may be a while before Brackman is a full member of the Wolfpack's baseball rotation, but if he produces as he has in basketball so far, Avent knows he will be worth the wait.
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
