The Replay: Canes back on track, Banchero’s new deal, and a forgotten rivalry game

It felt like it should have been the proverbial “calm before the storm” kind of week for many sports teams in the Triangle, but the past week had plenty to talk about in its own right. Let’s get you caught up.

Philadelphia sweep-dom

The Carolina Hurricanes had been reeling a bit post-All-Star break, and faced a tough road trip with back-to-back stops in Pennsylvania, thanks to rescheduled games against Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

No worries.

The Canes outdistanced Pittsburgh in a Sunday matinee, 4-3, to wrest control of the Metro Division away from the Penguins, and followed with another matinee win on Monday, this time in overtime.

The two wins allowed the Cames to return home for this weekend’s double set in a good mood, and headed back in the right direction.

Banchero signs video game NIL deal

Duke freshman Paolo Banchero will be featured in NBA 2K22’s next multiplayer season, according to an announcement from 2K Sports. It’ll mark the first time an active college athlete has appeared in a sports video game under their own name with their permission, and it’ll also mark the first time any college athlete has been in a commercial video game since 2013.

Banchero signed the historic name, image and likeness (NIL) deal with 2K Sports in September.

This is the latest breakthrough in NIL legislation, which was officially adopted by the NCAA on an interim basis in June 2021. It particularly touches a nerve for sports fans who used to play college sports video games a decade ago — before EA Sports canceled its popular NCAA Football and NCAA Basketball games because it was sued for using the name, image and likeness of college athletes without authorization from those athletes.

UNC met NC State one final time

It was a lopsided proposition, with one team looking to avoid a stumbling block headed to a much larger rivalry showdown, and the other looking to play spoiler to a rival while salvaging some modicum of hope after a dismal campaign.

There was plenty of speculation even before the game that UNC may even turn the game into one with a home feel, invading NC State’s PNC Arena home with a bevy of Carolina blue.

“It’s Senior Day,” N.C. State coach Kevin Keatts said earlier in the week. “If nothing else I would hope that everyone would respect the fight that we pride ourselves with at N.C. State and that’s punching the clock. I hope everyone would come out to send those seniors off the right way.”

On Jan. 29, UNC thumped N.C. State by 20 in front of 21,750 fans at the Dean Dome, one of their best crowds of the season.

Thanks for reading

Allow us to be a little proud here. The talented journalists that make up the N&O’s sports department were duly recognized this past week with a prestigious honor.

The sports department was awarded a “Grand Slam” from the Associated Press Sports Editors organization during its annual contest judging for being among the very best outlets in the country. The N&O is one of four organizations in the country to achieve the honor for 2021. It capped a week during which the team won 10 individual and section awards, and every member of the team was honored in some way.

We owe this as much to our readers as anyone. Thank you for supporting our work, and allowing us into your lives. Our mission is to continue delivering the best local sports news content possible, out of respect for our readers. We know you demand the best, and we try to deliver on that promise every day.

Reporter Alex Zietlow contributed to this story.