North Carolina State University Athletics
Hodge Giving Nuggets a Sample of Talents in Summer League
7/15/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
July 15, 2005
By Tony Haynes
This certainly won't surprise NC State fans: Julius Hodge is doing a little bit of everything in his summer league debut with the NBA's Denver Nuggets. And while his numbers aren't quite as eye-popping as they were during a stellar four-year career with the Wolfpack, Hodge is giving the Nuggets a sampling off all he can do on the basketball court. The Reebok Vegas Summer League schedule concluded Friday night with Hodge scoring 15 points to go along with six rebounds and seven assists.
In six games, Hodge, a 6-7 native of Harlem, N.Y., averaged 13 points, six rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. But as the six-game summer league schedule has progressed, his numbers - in all categories - have continued to improve. In an 84-79 loss to the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday, Hodge tallied 15 points, nine rebounds and four assists. He followed that up with 14 points, six rebounds and five assists in Denver's 87-79 triumph over Phoenix on Thursday.
Hodge scored in double figures in five of the six games in which he has played.
The 2004 ACC Player of the Year, Hodge was snatched up by the Nuggets in the first round of last month's NBA Draft. The 20th selection overall, he was the first opening round selection out of NC State since Todd Fuller was taken No. 11 by Golden State in 1996.
Hodge finished his career as NC State's third all-time leading scorer behind only Rodney Monroe and David Thompson.
