North Carolina State University Athletics
Tales From Toronto
8/30/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By Brian Reinhardt
TORONTO, CANADA Sometimes the way to your destination is not always a straight path.
The NC State men’s basketball team found that out today, as the Pack set off for a weekend trip to Toronto for a couple of exhibitions contests.
It takes a trip like this for the players to truly appreciate the comforts of ACC travel during the regular season. On the majority of road trips, NC State will charter its flight, thus saving time at airport security and boarding, and getting the team back home for classes the next day.
Today the players were not so fortunate, as the Pack took a commercial flight first to Atlanta, then back up to Toronto (with an over two-hour layover in Atlanta). But many of the players didn’t mind being in the Atlanta airport, as Ray Allen of the Boston Celtics was spotted at one of the restaurants. Then when the Pack was boarding the plane, they all passed former NBA player Glen Big Dog’ Robinson in first class.
The East Tennessee State basketball team was also on the Toronto flight, and senior Courtney Fells and freshman Julius Mays took the time to catch up with one of their players.
Many of the players passed the time in the airport listening to music, while some others jumped on their laptops and broke out their DVD collections or played video games (mini-golf was a popular choice). Card games got just about everybody involved once the fight was about to board.
Redshirt freshman Johnny Thomas experienced his first-ever flight today, and luckily all it took to overcome some nerves were some pre-flight bags of peanuts.
It seemed most players knew they were not going to enjoy the usual travel when all the boarding passes said everybody was in Row 41 and higher on the way to Atlanta. After getting done with the day’s classes and leaving campus at 2:00 p.m., NC State finally checked into the hotel and had a team dinner at 11:45 p.m.
The Pack will be able to take a little break after starting their day with a 6:00 a.m. practice this morning, as NC State will have Saturday morning to sleep in before heading off to an afternoon practice. After some rest back at the hotel, the Pack will play its first game at York University at 7:00 p.m.
While GoPack.com readers are eager to find out how the Pack performs in its two games this weekend, all the players took the time to list what they were up to this summer to give the fans a little more insight to their off the court lives.
Farnold Degand Spent countless hours with trainer Charlie Rozanski rehabbing a torn ACL, and took classes working towards his sociology degree.
Brandon Costner Went to Houston and worked out with former NBA coach John Lucas and then attended the Chris Paul Basketball Camp, before returning to Raleigh for classes.
Courtney Fells Took classes to work on finishing up his degree, and spent the rest of his free time “In the weight room and improving my game”.
Trevor Ferguson Served an internship at the Worthdale Community Center during both summer sessions. He planned out and directed kids activities during the day camp.
Javier Gonzalez Went home to hang out with family and friends in Puerto Rico for a few weeks, before returning to Raleigh and taking second session classes.
Simon Harris Earned his B.A. degree this summer in sociology, and spent time working the NC State Basketball camps.
Dennis Horner Interned with the Boys and Girl’s Club, where he set up for the various camps they hosted.
Julius Mays - Moved to Raleigh for second session where he took public speaking with fellow freshman C.J. Williams and also took a sociology class.
Ben McCauley Spent time fulfilling internship requirement hours by working at Brier Creek Country Club on the cart staff during both summer sessions.
Tracy Smith Spent the entire summer taking classes.
Johnny Thomas Besides working countless hours on rehabbing his knee, he took both sessions of summed school, taking PRT classes and a geology lab.
C.J. Williams Moved to Raleigh for second session where he took public speaking with fellow freshman Julius Mays and also took a history class.
TORONTO, CANADA Sometimes the way to your destination is not always a straight path.
The NC State men’s basketball team found that out today, as the Pack set off for a weekend trip to Toronto for a couple of exhibitions contests.
It takes a trip like this for the players to truly appreciate the comforts of ACC travel during the regular season. On the majority of road trips, NC State will charter its flight, thus saving time at airport security and boarding, and getting the team back home for classes the next day.
Today the players were not so fortunate, as the Pack took a commercial flight first to Atlanta, then back up to Toronto (with an over two-hour layover in Atlanta). But many of the players didn’t mind being in the Atlanta airport, as Ray Allen of the Boston Celtics was spotted at one of the restaurants. Then when the Pack was boarding the plane, they all passed former NBA player Glen Big Dog’ Robinson in first class.
The East Tennessee State basketball team was also on the Toronto flight, and senior Courtney Fells and freshman Julius Mays took the time to catch up with one of their players.
Many of the players passed the time in the airport listening to music, while some others jumped on their laptops and broke out their DVD collections or played video games (mini-golf was a popular choice). Card games got just about everybody involved once the fight was about to board.
Redshirt freshman Johnny Thomas experienced his first-ever flight today, and luckily all it took to overcome some nerves were some pre-flight bags of peanuts.
It seemed most players knew they were not going to enjoy the usual travel when all the boarding passes said everybody was in Row 41 and higher on the way to Atlanta. After getting done with the day’s classes and leaving campus at 2:00 p.m., NC State finally checked into the hotel and had a team dinner at 11:45 p.m.
The Pack will be able to take a little break after starting their day with a 6:00 a.m. practice this morning, as NC State will have Saturday morning to sleep in before heading off to an afternoon practice. After some rest back at the hotel, the Pack will play its first game at York University at 7:00 p.m.
While GoPack.com readers are eager to find out how the Pack performs in its two games this weekend, all the players took the time to list what they were up to this summer to give the fans a little more insight to their off the court lives.
Farnold Degand Spent countless hours with trainer Charlie Rozanski rehabbing a torn ACL, and took classes working towards his sociology degree.
Brandon Costner Went to Houston and worked out with former NBA coach John Lucas and then attended the Chris Paul Basketball Camp, before returning to Raleigh for classes.
Courtney Fells Took classes to work on finishing up his degree, and spent the rest of his free time “In the weight room and improving my game”.
Trevor Ferguson Served an internship at the Worthdale Community Center during both summer sessions. He planned out and directed kids activities during the day camp.
Javier Gonzalez Went home to hang out with family and friends in Puerto Rico for a few weeks, before returning to Raleigh and taking second session classes.
Simon Harris Earned his B.A. degree this summer in sociology, and spent time working the NC State Basketball camps.
Dennis Horner Interned with the Boys and Girl’s Club, where he set up for the various camps they hosted.
Julius Mays - Moved to Raleigh for second session where he took public speaking with fellow freshman C.J. Williams and also took a sociology class.
Ben McCauley Spent time fulfilling internship requirement hours by working at Brier Creek Country Club on the cart staff during both summer sessions.
Tracy Smith Spent the entire summer taking classes.
Johnny Thomas Besides working countless hours on rehabbing his knee, he took both sessions of summed school, taking PRT classes and a geology lab.
C.J. Williams Moved to Raleigh for second session where he took public speaking with fellow freshman Julius Mays and also took a history class.
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