News & Observer | newsobserver.com | Logo draws heat

Published: Mar 24, 2008 12:30 AM
Modified: Mar 24, 2008 07:40 AM

Logo draws heat

UNC coach wants fixture removed

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RALEIGH - North Carolina coach Roy Williams wasn't just demonstrating his attention to detail when he pointed out wet spots on the RBC Center basketball court that needed to be soaked up.

The slickness of the NCAA logo at midcourt has been a sore point with Williams for years, and he didn't waste time complaining about it at his news conference after the game Sunday.

"You guys write a little-bitty note in your columns that the NCAA can say I can't bring a Coca-Cola cup here ... can't say to stop putting those stupid logos on the floor where kids slip and slide around, and somebody's gonna get hurt," he said.

Late in UNC's romp against Arkansas, star forward Tyler Hansbrough took an awkward spill near midcourt when he tried to lunge for a loose ball.

"The people here did everything they could do," Williams said. "They washed it with ammonia, they washed it with Wendy's super-burger-whatever, I mean, they did everything they could. They need to rip the dadgum things up."

ENROLLMENT BOOST?: Davidson President Thomas Ross said from his courtside seat that admissions rose 10 percent this academic year but said he'd have to wait and see whether the basketball team's NCAA run would have any impact.

"We were one of the first colleges in the country to establish a no-loan policy, and that may have had a lot to do with our increase in admissions," Ross said of the school's elimination of mandatory loans as part of financial aid packages. "But clearly this [basketball success] has given us exposure, not just in the United States but all over the world. I've had e-mails and calls from Ukraine, Switzerland, China and England just yesterday [Saturday]."

HOME COURT: As vocal as the Raleigh crowds were in favor of 10th-seeded Davidson and No. 1 UNC, Georgetown's John Thompson III -- whose second-seeded team had to face Davidson -- called the seedings "irrelevant."

"Did we get a raw deal? No," Thompson said. "We just played a team that has won 23 or 24 games in a row."

At the same time, he acknowledged that he was upset about "more than one call," though he wouldn't comment further on the officiating. Davidson shot 13 more free throws than Georgetown in its 74-70 win.

"Certainly, it wasn't a neutral site, but I don't think the environment hurt us today. I think North Carolina was our problem," Arkansas coach John Pelphrey said after the Razorbacks' 108-77 loss.

BROADCAST BATTLE: DirecTV brought its advertising war against Time Warner Cable to Raleigh, blimp-style. The satellite television provider's new blimp includes a reported 70-by-30-foot LCD video screen on which the company showed its own promotional ads, ran some for Wrestlemania and even offered a pitch for "your ad here," in case anyone on the ground was interested.

MORE LOSSES FOR RAZORBACKS: As bad as Sunday was for Arkansas' Pelphrey, he's losing six seniors, including four starting players.

"We'll probably take a half-step back as far as experience and maybe even talent in some areas," Pelphrey said.

MISCOMMUNICATION: Georgetown guard Chris Wright, whose team had held Davidson's Stephen Curry to 2-of-8 shooting and five points in the first half, said miscommunications at both ends of the floor hurt the Hoyas in the second half, when Curry busted out for 25 points.

"We played the same defense. We just allowed him to get open shots," Wright said. "... We didn't play Georgetown basketball the second half."

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