June 26, 2006
Ice, Ice Baby
StateFans Nation found a nice article at rivals.com about former Wolfpack star Rodney Monroe. Monroe, of course with Chris Corchiani, made up Fire & Ice, the potent NC State backcourt of the late Valvano years.
It's always fun to catch up with former ACC stars who didn't quite make it in the NBA.
Oh, the SFN guys also linked to a post of theirs that I missed back in January putting together their top-five ACC shooters.
Since my ACC history goes back to the same time period as the author's ('81 or so), I'd probably pick the same five. One difference is that I'd probably rank Dennis Scott a skosh higher. I'd put the five in order this way:
Dennis Scott
J.J. Redick
Rodney Monroe
Mark Price
Randolph Childress
Childress really wasn't in the same class as the other four, but gets bumped up solely for that ACC Tournament run.
| BJD95 wrote: |
| Very nice remembrance of Childress. Childress and Monroe always seemed like very similar guys to me, except that Monroe didn't have that dream ACCT run (and maybe Monroe was a little more consistent). Both are players that Wake and State fans will always cherish, and tell their children about. |
Yeah, they were pretty similar players. One key difference is that Childress was asked to play a lot more point guard than Monroe. For obvious reasons, that was never a need for State.
Childress was certainly streakier, and as I wrote, there's little question that Monroe was a better overall shooter. That said, if I had to pick one for my team, I'd take Childress, largely for his leadership and fire (pun intended). Of course, maybe that's just due to fond memories of watching his incredible run that year. They were both excellent 2-guards who just weren't quite big or quick enough to make it in the NBA.
[b]"We had told everyone to double up on Childress and to leave someone else open to shoot," North Carolina coach Dean Smith said.
"He still got his shot. I congratulate him, and I am glad he is graduating."[/b]
I imagine similar comments were made about every player on this list.
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