North Carolina State University Athletics
Hodge, Bethel Expected to Play in ACC Opener
1/6/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 6, 2005
By Tony Haynes
Raleigh, N.C. - Slowly, but surely, the NC State basketball team is getting healthy....and not a moment too soon. With the ACC opener against Miami looming on Sunday and 15 more conference games to follow, the Wolfpack will need all of its weapons in place for a two-month stretch that will be, to say the least, quite testy. Pre-season All-American Julius Hodge is expected to return to action this weekend after sitting out Sunday's loss to West Virginia with an ankle injury. Team doctors also have a handle on the illness that has been affecting junior guard Tony Bethel for the better part of two weeks.
Suffering from flu-like symptoms after the Pack returned home from a two-game road swing to Washington and BYU on December 22, Bethel wasn't feeling any better by the time NC State got back home from its New York trip right before New Years. On Monday, tests revealed that Bethel was suffering from colitis, an acute or chronic inflammation of the membrane lining the large bowel.
The diagnosis has allowed doctors to apply the proper treatments to Bethel's symptoms, and he should be well enough to practice for at least a few days before the Miami game on Sunday at 4:00 p.m.
In retrospect, there seems to have been a direct correlation between Bethel's illness and NC State's performances on the court. In the Wolfpack's 72-61 victory at Brigham Young on December 21, the Georgetown transfer had one of his best games of the year, putting up 15 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals. His stifling ball-pressure in the opening half spearheaded a defense that opened the floodgates for numerous transition opportunities and a 22-point halftime lead.
But since the colitis set in, Bethel clearly hasn't been the same player, nor has NC State been the same team. In limited minutes, he's gone scoreless over the last three games. Perhaps not coincidently, the Wolfpack is 1-2 during that same stretch with consecutive losses to St. John's and West Virginia.
Although Miami has hardly been a hotbed for basketball, Sunday's contest - the Hurricanes' ACC home opener - is sold-out. Miami will be carrying an eight-game winning streak into tonight's game at Georgia Tech.
