North Carolina State University Athletics
"Hey, what are you doing here?"
2/17/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 17, 2005
BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH - Ten minutes before Wednesday night's tip-off against No. 22 Maryland, NC State junior Ilian Evtimov looked over in the familiar seats behind press row where his girlfriend always sits.
To his teeth-dropping surprise, there sat his brother, Vasco, a half-day removed from a 14-hour flight to the U.S. from Seville, Spain, where he plays professional basketball.
"I looked up and saw him and said "Is this real?' " Evtimov said. "I had no idea that he was coming. He told me a couple of weeks ago that there was a chance he could come in February. Then a week ago, I asked `What's up with you coming to see me. You know you have never seen me play in college' But we just kind of left it at that, and I didn't really expect to see him here."
Ilian was afraid that he might be too excited for his brotherly debut.
"I suddenly went from being warmed up to boiling," he said. "I was so excited. I wanted to tell one of the other players to smack me before I went on the court because I didn't want to foul out in the first two minutes or something."
He shouldn't have worried. Ilian hit two 3-pointers in the first two minutes of the game, and matched his career high by making five 3-point baskets.
"I hit those two shots and I was like "Boy, this is going to be a good game,'" Evtimov said. For the game, he had a team-high-tying 17 points, four rebounds and four assists as the Wolfpack won its second consecutive game.
Perhaps Vasco, who played briefly at North Carolina, should make the trans-Atlantic trip more often. That's a little difficult considering his current job is playing professional basketball in Seville, Spain. But he had a five-day break, and decided to travel with his wife, Mary-Margaret, and two kids back for a brief visit to the U.S. The timing worked out perfectly for him to show up at Wednesday night's game, after arriving somewhere just before midnight Tuesday.
"He didn't know I was here,'' Vasco said. "His girlfriend didn't know I was here. No one in my wife's family knew I was coming. I just wanted to give him a little surprise."
Unfortunately, Vasco said, he won't be able to stay for the Wolfpack's next game, which is next Tuesday at the RBC Center against the Tar Heels, his former team.
"That would have been nice," the elder Evtimov said. "I wish the game could have been on Saturday or something."
It was only the second time Vasco has ever seen his little brother play in high school or college, though he frequently receives videotapes of games and e-mails critiques to his little brother. It was also his second surprise appearance. The first time was six years ago, when Ilian was playing at Reynolds High School in Winston-Salem. Reynolds lost that game against Oak Hill Academy, so Wednesday night marked the first time Vasco had ever seen his little brother lead a team to a victory.
"He did the exact same thing then," Ilian said. "He just showed up in the gym. I had no idea."
Before the game, Ilian gave his big brother a hug. Late in the game, after hitting the final of his long-range shots, Ilian put two fingers to his lips and blew his brother a kiss. When the final horn sounded, the two shared a long embrace in the seats behind press row.
"It was special," Ilian said, looking to be fighting back tears. "It was everything I could dream of. I had never had him here at a game before. His presence, I felt it the whole game. I felt like he was on the court with me the whole time. I felt like having him here made me play harder."
As they walked through the hallways of the RBC Center, long after the game was over, both brothers were still smiling from sideburn to sideburn.
"You just can't imagine how excited I was about this," said Ilian, who listed his brother as his greatest sports hero and becoming an uncle as his biggest non-sports thrill in the NC State media guide.. "I don't think there are any words to describe how close we are."
At least not in the four languages the Evtimovs speak.
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
