N.C. Pro Am Opening Night Was Not Disappointing

The NC Pro Am tipped off on Thursday and most fans were anxious to see how N.C. State freshman Rodney Purvis would look playing among his new ACC family.  Purvis didn’t disappoint as he was the night’s leading scorer with 35 points and looked just as tough and chiseled as some of the floor’s veterans.  Purvis’s teammate C.J. Leslie was second in scoring on the night and proved that the duo will be formidable entering next season as the rest of the ACC will take note.  

There was another big performance from former Nofolk State guard Michael DeLoach. When you see him, he never looks like he should be able to explode-stretch to the bucket for the dunks he showed off on Thursday night, repeatedly.  Deloach was teamed up with Portland Trailblazer-guard, Nolan Smith, and that backcourt looked as good as any showing a lot of explosion and solid footwork on fast-breaks. 

When announcer, Bill Murphy announced over the PA system, that Smith’s former Duke teammate, Austin Rivers, had been drafted to the New Orleans Hornets, Smith and Seth Curry gave each other a smiling nod of approval at half-court.   Loud cheers erupted from the stands when it was announced that both UNC’s Harrison Barnes and John Henson had been drafted. 

One of the big stories from last summer’s Pro-Am league was when UNC shooting guard, Leslie McDonald sustained a season-ending knee injury during one of the games. However, a few hours before his debut at this year’s Pro-Am, McDonald tweeted,

“I've been playing intense pickup games with the NBA alumni and my teammates ....I believe I'll be fine in the ProAm ‪#Lol” 

McDonald proved it with a few quick flashes to the hoop and an amazing alley-oop dunk from Tar Heel teammate, P.J. Hairston.  After losing Harrison Barnes to the NBA, the Tar Heels must feel a little better knowing that McDonald is healthy again and that there won't be as big of a void in their perimeter play.

2012 NC Pro AM Rosters 

DTLR	Team Navy	Athletes Foot	751 South
Drimir Ferguson	Josh Powell	John Wall	T.J. Warren
Poobie Chapman	Haywood Fain	Tyler Thorton	Tyler Lewis
Ray Willis	C.J. Williams	Ryan Kelly	Rodney Purvis
Stanton Kidd	Omar Carter	David Williams	Ralston Turner
Ramon Johnson	Jontae Sherrod	Kory Vandussen	Patrick Johnson
Jay Copeland	Kellen Brand	Kyle Cain	Julius Hodge
Alphonso Houston	Adam Constantine	Will Burton	Travis Simpson
Tracey O’Neal	Tracey Smith	Marquise Hines	Jordan Potts
Raymond Felton	Evan Hines	Richard Howell	Kayel Locke
Antawn Jamison	Nolan Smith	Alex Johnson	Quincy Warren
Danny Green		Gary Clark	Galen Young

Banks Law Firm	Hendrick	Dreamworks	Sheraton Imperial
J.P. Tokoto	Brandon Oliver	Sean May	Rasheed Wallace
Reggie Bullock	Mark Oliver	Mason Plumlee	P.J. Hairston
Quinn Cook	Josh Hairston	Rasheed Sulaimon	Andre Dawkins
C.J. Leslie	Stan Okoye	Amile Jefferson	Marcus Fisher
Marshall Plumlee	Mike Deloach	Marvin Williams	Leslie McDonald
Bo Ingram	Jarrett Brown	Justin Watts	Wakefield Ellison
Ben Hansbrough	Kyrie Irving	David Noel	Myles Plumlee
Joel James	Ebuka Anyaorah	James McAdoo	Mikeal Faulcon
Sammy Monroe		Darrell Armstrong
Josh Morrison		Nick Paulos
Cornelius Snow		Kevin McNeil
Jamian Newton		Dominique Sutton

 Games will resume on July 10. Make sure you get there early if you want a good seat. 

Comments

[CecieJ]

Thanks for the story on the Pro Am. I'm eager for all the info you can give. By the way, is there anywhere online to get the box scores? Keep the articles coming!