Choose Charleston

I just wanted to let all Charleston Classic visitors know about the best bowling center in all of Charleston, South Carolina.  Twin River Lanes is a clean, family friendly bowling environment that features 16 lanes, 4 mini lanes.  If you are bringing the kids along, this is the best place to go.  Affordable and fun, featuring full arcade, billiards and more!

Also, Twin River Lanes also features Matty’s Sports Grill.  After your favorite team is done playing, you can head over for a cold drink and relax with other sports fanatics while watching the top sporting events going on around the country! I must mention, they have some of the best food around so come hungry!

Lastly, all NC State Wolfpack fans are eligible for FREE bowling during the Charleston Classic.  All you have to do is show your NC State game ticket stub and can bowl one game per ticket/per person!

Website: Charleston Bowling Alley 

Address: 613 Johnnie Dodds Blvd.  Mt Pleasant, SC. 29464

Phone:  843-884-7735

     The last team in the Charleston Classic 2010 field we will preview is the NC State Wolfpack.  The recent years under former player and now head coach Sidney Lowe have been rough for Wolfpack fans.  Lowe has compiled a less than spectacular record at 71-62 (20-44 ACC) but yet they are reason to be opptimsitic in Raleigh. Lowe has Tracy Smith returning, who averaged 16.5 ppg and 7.3 rpg. Tracy Smith was a force down low and Lowe will again look to run his offense through the senior power forward this year.  Along with Smith, senior Javi Gonzalez will return to share the leadership role to try to return NC State to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2006.

The Wolfpack finished the season strong last year, making it to the ACC tournament semifinals and appearing in the second round of the NIT tournament.  Along with the two seniors, NC State returns long range expert Scott Wood and wide body Richard Howell, both who contributed during the stretch run when the Wolfpack was hitting on all cylinders.  Why would NC State be considered a favorite to challenge Georgetown for the Charleston Classic title? Look no further than the top 5 class that Sidney Lowe reeled in.  The headliner, CJ Leslie, a 6′9″McDonalds All-American will add length and shot blocking to the defensive end of the court and electrify dunks to the offensive end.  For the Wolfpack diehards though, the most welcomed arrival will be the backcourt tandem of Ryan Harrow and Lorenzo Brown. Harrow and Brown will bring a much needed ability to breakdown defenses and push tempo which is something Sidney Lowe has been looking forward to doing since taking the job at NC State.

Interesting Fact: Ryan Harrow and Lorenzo Brown, both five-star recruits are God Brothers. Harrow and Brown grew up in the Atlanta area together and played basketball against each other in high school before deciding to team up for the Wolfpack this year.

Joining the Charleston Classic 2010 field is a national powerhouse, the Georgetown Hoyas.  Lead by Head Coach John Thompson lll.  Georgetown is ranked top 25 in most preseason polls and will look for senior guard Austin Freeman to lead the way this year.  Freeman averaged 16.5 ppg during his junior year and will be need to continue his dominance on the court for Georgetown to win the 2010 Charleston Classic event.  Last season, Georgetown finished 23-11 overall and advanced to the Big East Tournament Championship game.  Look for Georgetown to be the favorite headed into the Charleston Classic.

Interesting Fact: Senior Point Guard, Chris Wright, originally committed to North Carolina State before reopening his recruitment after former Wolfpack coach Herb Sendek left for Arizona State.  Wright strongly considered joining the Wolfpack again under Sidney Lowe but at the last minute decided to stay closer to home at Georgetown.  Wright averaged 15.2 ppg and 4.1 apg last season and still have many Wolfpack fans wondering how different things would have been if Wright would have stayed with N.C. State.

One of the last two teams named to the field was the USC Upstate Spartans.  The Spartans will add the local flavor of the Charleston Classic 2010 field.  USC Upstate recently received a $4 million dollar donation to help renovate the basketball facilities.  USC Upstate will feature a very young team as they are just now starting to be able to recruit players on the level that is required to compete.  The Spartans will use the tournament to help get ready for conference play and work out some of the issues that come along with such a young team.

Charlotte joins the Charleston Classic 2010 field with several questions. The biggest news for Charlotte is that Coach Allen Major will be taking over the program after Charlotte fired former Coach Bobby Lutz.  Lutz is the all-time leaders in wins at Charlotte and has left plenty for Major to work with.  Lutz had his Charlotte team on a roll until a late season cold streak left them sitting at home with no NCAA or NIT bid.  The A.D. decided Lutz winning record was not enough and decided to roll the dice on Major, who has no head coach experience.

Charlotte does not have a proven point guard, which usually is a huge disadvantage at the college level.   This is especially true when going through a coaching change.  I expect the Charlotte 49ers still trying to find who they are when they are playing here at the Charleston Classic 2010. On the wing, they will lean on Derrio Green to handle the outside scoring load. Inside,the Charlotte 49ers have two very solid players.  Former Boston College player, Shamari Spears and Chris Braswell provide two wide bodies who can both rebound and play at a physical level.  These guys will be key in potential match up against N.C. State as they have one of the best post scorers in the nation with Tracy Smith.

In Summary: Charlotte has some talented guys, I just think the inexperience at point guard and players adjusting to a new coach will be too much for this team to make a strong run at the Charleston Classic.  I feel they can out talent a team like East Carolina, but a team that can apply constant pressure on the ball could present problems for Charlotte. The question is, will Charlotte take that step forward this year and make a run in the Charleston Classic to help build an appealing NCAA resume or will they falter early on and test a rookies coach ability to rally the troops together for a March bid?

Interesting Fact: Shamari Spears formerly played at Boston College.  Spears could meet some familiar faces against N.C. State.  Spears transferred to Charlotte to be closer to home and will be finishing his career as a Charlotte 49er.

When you think of a “Cinderella” team come March Madness time, you may think of George Mason.  The Charleston Classic 2010 is welcoming George Mason to the tournament because they have a true winning program. The Patriots head coach, Jim Larranaga, signed a contract through the 2015-2016 season and if recent history is any indication, he will have his club ready to win when they make the the trip to Charleston.

George Mason’s Final Four berth in the 2006 NCAA tournament may have been wrote off as a miracle run but ask any rival fan in the CAA and they will tell you, George Mason has been winning for much longer than that.  George Mason has had 12 consecutive winning seasons and will be looking for no different this year.  Larranaga will lean on Cam Long to carry the scoring load for the Patriots but George Mason has a solid supportive cast to surround the talented Long with.

In Summary: George Mason always brings a solid basketball team, night in and night out.  Will that be enough to beat the likes of NC State or Georgetown to win the Charleston Classic 2010 title? I doubt so unless Cam Long can be a consistent star and some of the other guys around him decide to step up and seize the moment.

Interesting Fact:  George Mason’s Point Guard, Andres Cornelius, played high school basketball in Charlotte NC and picked George Mason over two other Charleston Classic participates.  East Carolina and UNCC both offered but Cornelius decided to play with for the Patriots.  He also had offers from Tennessee, Mississippi State, and C of C’s in-state rival South Carolina Gamecocks.

The Charleston Classic will be returning for the third year and will be hosted at Carolina First Arena in Charleston, S.C.  The tournament is held through Nov. 19-22 and will also be covered by ESPN.  So far, six of the eight teams have been named for the 2010 Charleston Classic basketball tournament.

The headliners are N.C. State and Georgetown University with some other Carolina teams such as East Carolina, UNC-Charlotte and Wofford rounding out the field.  The Charleston Classic offers a great opportunity for Charleston residents to catch some exciting and affordable basketball before March!

This tournament is promised to feature some future NBA talents!  Also, imagine getting the chance to see star coaches such as John Thompson III, Sidney Lowe, and Jim Larranaga. The Charleston Classic in 2010 is sure to be exciting so what are you waiting for!?

The ticket packages can be found here.

A great event is taking place in Charleston starting tonight.  The second annual Charleston Classic which will be hosted in at the new Carolina First Arena at the College of Charleston.

You can purchase tickets here.

The field is loaded with talent with some common local teams such as C of C conference rival Davidson.  The South Carolina Gamecocks are also joining the field with coach Darrin Horn looking to make a national splash.  UNC-Wilmington joins, along with the ACC’s Miami Hurricanes.

The other teams making up the Charleston Classic for 2009 is  Tulane, USF, NIT champ Penn State, and La Salle.

I don’t know if they are really clear cut best team in the field but I expect several games to go down to the wire!

I will have some game updates as the Charleston Classic is played out this weekend.

The games will be played Nov. 19-22

Charleston came up with a major upset tonight against the #1 seed and SoCon powerhouse Davidson Wildcats.  If you recall, Charleston had beat them earlier in the year.  Charleston was down at the half, but rallied in the second half to steal the victory from the Wildcats.

Here is a link to the AP story covering the big win.

The Cougars will face Chattanooga Monday for a chance to play in the NCAA tournament.

 It will be a battle for sure, I will have more coverage soon in regards to the run   C of C is currently on!

Oh btw, I told you the guys were heading in the right direction….NIT bid is looking good even if the Cougars fall Monday.

It has been another up and down season for Bobby Cremins and the College of Charleston basketball team.  Earlier in the Southern Conference season, it appeared they were in for a rough finish.  After pulling off a huge upset of Stephen Curry and the Davidson Wildcats, C of C has put together a solid past few games highlighted by a current three game winning streak!

 College of Charleston is 21-7 (13-5) but still is third place in the Southern Conference South Division.  They are behind Davidson and The Citadel.  Yes, you read it right.  The Citadel!  To be honest, they were terrible a few years ago!  It appeared as if the staff went out the lowcountry YMCA’s and found the kids who looked like they could play.  The Citadel beat Davidson (Without Stephen Curry) and are a half game ahead of C of C (Also with the tiebreaker advantage). 

 College of Charleston led by Head Coach Bobby Cremins must continue to win and they have two huge home games left against Wofford and Furman, located in the Carolina First Arena.

Charleston vs Wofford, Feb 26th (Thursday) 7:00 pm

Charleston vs Furman, Feb 28th (Saturday) 4:00pm.

 Come out and help keep the College of Charleston club going!

 Southern Coference Tournament coming up as well, more to come later on that!

Maybe I should add watching basketball to the Things to do- Charleston article?