Panthers get a GM, Wolfpack gets feisty and a whole lotta buckets in the sports moments of the week

By 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...

Dan Morgan picked as new Panthers GM

Step one of the Carolina Panthers' offseason rebuild is complete -- and they didn't look very far to get it done. Dan Morgan has been selected to be the team's next general manager (and president of football operations), taking over for the recently fired Scott Fitterer.

Morgan is a familiar name for most Panthers fans. He was a linebacker for Carolina from 2001 to 2007 and racked up 18 tackles in Super Bowl XXXVIII. I'm going to go on a limb and say that's a record among NFL GMs.

Morgan has also served as the Panthers assistant general manager over the last three seasons, which could be a good thing because of continuity and all that... but it also has some people feeling more than a bit skeptical about the hire.

Carolina's roster is not in good shape, as evidenced by their 2-15 record in 2023. As the assistant GM, Morgan had a hand in shaping the current roster so you could argue that this is just the Panthers spinning their wheels and not really changing anything.

An optimist might point out that Morgan was director of player personnel for the Bills when they drafted Josh Allen. Or that he had great success in 8 seasons with the Seattle Seahawks front office and helped them win a Super Bowl.

In all honesty, we probably won't be able to properly judge this hire until about two or three years down the road.

For right now, we do know that Panthers legend (and Morgan's former teammate) Julius Peppers "loves" the move, and we know that David Tepper believes Morgan can "attack this opportunity with the same intensity he did as a Panthers player."

Let's hope he's right this time.

NC State's comeback win over Wake Forest got intense

Emotions ran high last Tuesday night at PNC Arena as NC State battled Wake Forest.

The Wolfpack were without head coach Kevin Keatts, who had been ejected in the first half, and trailed by 11 with under ten minutes to play.

The Pack ripped off a 24-9 run to take back the lead for good and kept fighting until the final whistle. Literally.

A late and-one for Ben Middlebrooks lead to a good ol' fashioned donnybrook between the two rivals, leading to four technical fouls and two ejections. (For some reason, the video of this incident is nowhere to be found on social media. Only YouTube.)

The animosity didn't stop there as cameras caught NC State senior guard DJ Horne flipping the double bird behind a referee's back in the final seconds.

I'm going to choose not to post that video here (won't somebody think of the children?!), but you can see it via this link if you really want to.

Horne apologized for the incident after the game, and was later issued a "reprimand" by the ACC. Whatever that means.

One man who did not apologize after the game was Keatts who said, among other things, that he loved the passion and intensity from his team.

NC State possibly suffered a hangover from this game on Saturday, when they got beat on the road at Virginia Tech.

But at 2nd place in the ACC standings, with a 13-5 overall record, the Wolfpack still have themselves in pretty good position heading into February.

Davis, James get buckets

In case you missed it with all the NBA excitement on Monday night (more on that in just a second), RJ Davis had himself a career night for 3rd ranked North Carolina, and established himself as the heavy favorite to win ACC Player of the Year.

The senior guard dropped 36 points on Wake Forest, helping the Tar Heels overcome a 1-point halftime deficit, and pull away for a comfortable home win.

23 of those points came in a red-hot second half, as he went 8/12 from the field and 3/3 at the free throw line.

Davis said after the game that he was "in the zone" as the Tar Heel crowd serenaded him with chants of "RJ! RJ!"

But that wasn't the only lights out performance on the hardwood this week.

Aziaha James, from NC State's 7th ranked women's team, dropped 33 points against Duke on Sunday.

This Wolfpack team is built on balance, as they have six players who average double figures, but James has shown the highest ceiling of the group. Her 33-point outing is tied for a program-best in the last 25 seasons.

They scored how much???

January 22nd may have cemented itself Monday as the greatest all-time scoring day on the NBA calendar.

18 years after the late great Kobe Bryant dropped 81 points on the Toronto Raptors, Joel Embiid and Karl-Anthony Towns went for 60-plus on the same night!

Embiid grabbed the biggest headlines by going for 70 in a win over the San Antonio Spurs. The reigning MVP was 24/41 from the field and a staggering 21/23 from the charity stripe.

He also broke Wilt Chamberlain's franchise record for points in a game. And any time you break one of Wilt's records, you know you did something cool.

His teammates momentarily gave him the silent treatment in the postgame locker room before mobbing him in celebration. Well done by them as well.

Arguably more enjoyable however -- especially if you were watching the Hornets broadcast -- was Towns' 62-point outing against Charlotte (also a franchise record, by the way).

For starters, the Hornets actually won the game in dramatic fashion, which is remarkable all by itself.

Also, you got to listen to play-by-play announcer (and national treasure) lose his dang mind, especially during KAT's 44-point first half.

The fact it happened in a loss, and shares the same date as Kobe and Embiid, means this Towns performance will likely be lost to history... but wow was it fun to watch. What a night.

Tara VanDerveer passes Coach K

Mike Krzyzewski is no longer the winningest head coach in college basketball history.

That distinction now belongs to Stanford women's coach Tara VanDerveer, who recorded her 1,203rd win on Sunday with a 65-56 win over Oregon State.

VanDerveer is in her 45th season as a head coach (two fewer than Coach K). She started her career at Idaho and then Ohio State before taking over for the Cardinal in 1985.

She has led Stanford to three national championships, 13 Final Four appearances and 27 Pac-12 regular season titles. She's also now the proud owner of a sweet custom jacket, complete with a tally mark for every single win along the way.

Coach Krzyzewski issued a statement on VanDerveer's big night saying "This is yet another milestone to add to an amazing legacy. More important than all the astounding numbers and career accomplishments, she’s positively impacted countless lives as a coach and a mentor. Tara remains a true guardian of our sport.”

NFL Divisional Round delivers the drama

It's become a trendy thing to say that the Divisional Round is actually the best weekend of the NFL playoffs, and this year's games did nothing to dissuade that notion.

Lamar Jackson showed everyone why he's likely winning his second MVP this year, scoring four total touchdowns in a blowout over the Texans.

The Ravens defense was equally impressive, holding the Houston offense out of the red zone the entire game.

The Detroit Lions are on to their first NFC Championship game in 32 years.

Linebacker Derrick Barnes picked a good time to notch his first career interception, halting a late Tampa Bay comeback effort and sealing a 31-23 victory.

And then there were the two late games. Both were nail-biters, turning on a pair of late, heartbreaking missed field goals.

The Green Bay Packers had the 49ers on the ropes all night on Saturday. Anders Carlson had a chance to put them up by 7, but hooked one barely outside the left upright.

Former Panthers star Christian McCaffrey scored with 1:07 to play, as San Francisco escaped, 24-21.

Wide right was the call in Sunday's Chiefs-Bills game. Tyler Bass saw his 44-yard, game-tying attempt slice in midair, dashing Buffalo's postseason dreams for another season and joining Scott Norwood in the team's tortured lore.

There are a number of reasons for why Bass may have missed the kick. Maybe the pressure got to him. Maybe he mishit the ball. Or just maybe it was a sudden gust of wind, coming from a Chiefs fan's living room.

Whatever the reason was, you've got to feel just terrible for Bills fans. They showed up again this week to shovel snow at Highmark Stadium this week. They're well regarded as one of the most rabid, loyal, but also nicest fan bases in the league. And yet, ">all they're left with, year after year, is misery.

Keep your head up, Bills Mafia. Things will turn around some day.

At least I hope so.

TAYLOR SWIFT WATCH

On the other side of things, it was a pretty good night for America's favorite power couple.

Travis Kelce scored two touchdowns in the Chiefs' thrilling win. He has now combined with Patrick Mahomes for 16 postseason scores, which is a new NFL record... but never forgot for a second where Taylor's luxury suite was.

Awwwww.

Now, it has to be said, that while Travis played a great game and Taylor got her share of screen time, the real star of the night was big brother Jason Kelce.

The recently retired Eagles great was in full party mode on Sunday, seemingly with a beer-in-hand and shirt off the entire game.

The clip of him celebrating Travis' first touchdown with a primal yell went viral on social media. Then, in the third quarter, he inadvertently photobombed one of Taylor's cutaways. What a dude's dude.

It's all coming up "Swelce" right now. Just one more win until the Super Bowl!

We'll see you next week.