NC State bows out, DB's payday and a strikeout to the face in the sports moments of the week

NC State's two incredible Final Four runs came to an end this week, but the Wolfpack still have a lot to celebrate. Plus, the Panthers extend a Pro Bowler, the Hornets could make history and more!

Posted 8:36 p.m. Apr 9 — Updated 9:20 p.m. Apr 9

Clark Gerber

, WRAL Sports contributor

The internet is a big place. Unless you're 100% plugged in all the time (and let's be clear, that is NOT recommended), you're going to miss some stuff.

Let us do that work. You can be a well-adjusted human being and still catch all the best sports moments of the week, with a quick review ...

NC State bows out against Purdue

What a run.

Any sort of discussion about NC State's Final Four loss on Saturday night needs to begin with that.

The Wolfpack men's team looked dead in the water before the ACC tournament, having lost seven of their last nine regular season games, including two losses against Pittsburgh.

This team was going to struggle to make the NIT and probably would have at least thought about firing their head coach.

Then everything changed.

Nine straight wins. An ACC Championship. An improbable run to the Final Four (just the seventh double digit seed ever to make it that far). An automatic (and lucrative) contract extension for Kevin Keatts.

It was three weeks of magic.

Unfortunately, that magic simply ran out against a very good Purdue team in the national semifinal.

DJ Burns was limited by early foul trouble, Michael O'Connell wasn't 100% after suffering a fluke leg injury on a fast break and the rest of team (apart from DJ Horne) just plain struggled to score.

The Wolfpack played their hearts out on defense, but managed to score just 21 points in the second half, shooting 28 percent from the field.

It was an off night against a very good opponent and NC State finally got beat.

But Burns says that's no reason for this team to hang their heads (and he's right).

This was a historic run that's going to remembered for decades to come.

Sometimes sports isn't entirely about who wins it all, it's also about enjoying the ride. And this team just delivered one helluva ride for Wolfpack Nation.

Bonus: Please enjoy this clip of Roy Williams watching (and clearly rooting against) NC State at Saturday's game. It made me laugh.

Wolfpack women fall to South Carolina

It really can't be overstated how incredible it is that the NC State men and women made the Final Four in the same year.

The Wolfpack women got knocked out by eventual champion South Carolina on Friday night -- their first national semifinal berth since 1998 and second in school history.

Wes Moore's bunch went blow-for-blow in the first half and went to the locker room full of belief, trailing by only one point.

However, South Carolina found another gear after halftime and showed why they're on the short list of the greatest college basketball teams of all-time.

The Gamecocks outscored the Wolfpack 29-6 in the third quarter, turning a once-competitive game into a blow out.

It was a disappointing end to their tournament run, but just like the men's team, NC State should hold their heads high, even in defeat.

Nobody was able to beat South Carolina this season but, for a half, NC State did as good a job as anyone competing with them.

And unlike the men, this Final Four run didn't come out of nowhere.

The Wolfpack have been one of the best teams in the country over the last five seasons (last year exempted). This was simply the next checkpoint to hit in their quest for a national title.

Getting over the hump into the Final Four and staring down the best team in the sport could catapult NC State to an even higher level.

And with Aziaha James and Saniya Rivers expected back, plus some very talented underclassmen waiting in the wings, I'd say anything is on the table for the Wolfpack next season and beyond.

They'll be back sooner rather than later.

Panthers lock up Derrick Brown with big extension

When the Panthers opted not to extend Brian Burns last offseason, it turned into a season-long storyline and ultimately ended with Burns being traded away for a rather underwhelming return.

They won't be making the same mistake again this year.

Carolina secured star defensive tackle Derrick Brown with a 4-year, $96 million extension this week, and made their fans very, very happy.

Brown set an NFL record with 103 tackles last season, the most ever by an interior defensive lineman.

And before you dismiss that as an empty, "good player/bad team" stat, think again. Brown also led all NFL DTs in "stops," meaning that most of his tackles were impactful plays for the defense.

In short, it's a crime that he wasn't voted as an All-Pro last season because he certainly performed at the level.

Brown's new deal is also back-loaded, so it won't start getting expensive until next season and actually frees up some more cap space for Carolina to work with this year.

A rare win-win for the Panthers these days. Congrats on the pay day, DB!

Could the Hornets make history?

The Charlotte Hornets have been out of NBA playoff contention for months, but could end up making some history after all this year.

The team will once again be seeking a new head coach this offseason as Steve Clifford vacates his post and transitions to a front office role with the franchise.

So who's next? Quite possibly the first female head coach in league history.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Monday that former Duke star Lindsey Harding will interview for the Hornets head coaching job in the coming days.

Harding, who played for 9 seasons in the WNBA, is currently the head coach of the Stockton Kings in the NBA G-League.

In her first season at the helm, Harding led Stockton to the conference finals, was named G-League coach of the year and clearly has earned respect the respect of her players in a short amount of time.

LA Clippers assistant Jay Larranaga, who was a serious candidate during the last Hornets coaching search, will also interview for the job, per Wojnarowski.

Boston Celtics assistant Charles Lee and Sacramento Kings associate head coach Jordi Fernandez are also rumored to be targets.

A very painful strikeout

There's no denying former Duke star Graham Pauley is off to a ... shaky start in his MLB career.

The rookie third baseman has started four games for the San Diego Padres so far, going 2/13 at the plate (.133 average) with 7 strikeouts.

It's still really early, but that's obviously not ideal.

One of Pauley's strikeouts went viral this week for a pretty unique and kind of embarrassing reason -- it hit him in the face.

While facing Giants submarine pitcher Tyler Rogers on Friday, Pauley swung at a rising fastball that conked him right in the face and helmet for strike three.

Ouch.

To be fair to Pauley, replay shows he did get a foul tip on the ball, but unfortunately that kind of thing is deemed unreviewable.

Also, it's hard enough to stare down a 90+ mph major league fastball when you're a rookie. I can't imagine facing that same velocity, but all of a sudden from a totally different delivery angle that you've never seen before.

I'd probably (alright, definitely) embarrass myself too.

I hope you're hungry!

It's Masters week and, to me, that means two things: breath-taking golf ... and food.

Now, before patrons of Augusta National can enjoy the legendary pimento cheese or egg salad sandwiches, a time-honored culinary tradition must be observed.

I'm talking about the Champions Dinner, which will be served on Tuesday night in honor of last year's winner, Jon Rahm.

The last two Champions Dinner menus have been amazing. Scottie Scheffler went with a barbecue theme last year and Hideki Matsuyama served up Japanese wagyu steak in 2022.

Dare I say, Rahm is upping the ante this week with Spanish Tapas, followed by a crab salad, either Pil-Pil fish or ribeye as the main course and cake for dessert.

Yum!

I'm going to go get myself a snack. We'll see you next week.

Suggest A Correction