Tuesday Items
-- ESPN profiled Wolfpack baseball signee Tarran Senay, who is going to have to make a difficult decision in the next few weeks:
Senay is riding high these days. Rated the No. 86 prospect in the Class of 2009 by Baseball America, he is one of the fastest-rising MLB prospects in the nation. He has accepted a full scholarship to play at North Carolina State but is also projected as a first-day MLB Draft pick. The question is, what will Senay choose -- college or pro ball?
"I'm not leaning one way," says Senay, who projects as a power-hitting outfielder at the next level, no matter what that may be. "I'm leaning both ways. I would love to get drafted and play pro baseball. But at the same time I would like to go to N.C. State."
(Emphasis mine.) If Senay ends up in Raleigh, his raw power could be a huge boost to a team that slugged a meager .367 in conference play this year.
-- Speaking of baseball, there's one thing I've been wondering all year: where'd Dallas Poulk's power go? After hitting .286/.370/.446 with 8 homers and 20 total extra base hits in 2008, Poulk hit .262/.364/.316 with 0 homers and just 8 total extra base hits in 2009 (in a comparable number of plate appearances). He improved on his walk rate, which suggests he was able to maintain a disciplined approach and is reason enough not to panic, but he also posted the highest strikeout rate of his career.
-- John Wall finally decided on a school (Kentucky) today. You think he has this much trouble selecting a pair of pants in the morning?
Mrs. Wall: You heard about these Raleigh Denim jeans? I'd get with that trend before it blows up and becomes unbearable.
Brian Clifton: No, no, go with the sweat pants. Practical if not very sexy.
Dwon Clifton: Parachute pants, man. They're just crazy enough to work!
John Wall: The jorts with the 200 grand in the pockets it is!
-- Here's a recap of the latest Wolfpack caravan.
-- Football season tickets are now on sale to the general public.
-- I've collected the substitution data from most of last season's basketball games, so I think I'm going to give the +/- project another shot. I hope to have that done within the next month.