RALEIGH -- As a little kid, Shavlik Randolph was a ballboy for the N.C. State basketball team. After his freshman year at Raleigh's Broughton High, Wolfpack head coach Herb Sendek offered him a scholarship. Randolph's grandfather, Ronnie Shavlik, was one of N.C. State's great players, and currently has his jersey hanging from the rafters at the RBC Center.
But despite all of that, Randolph told Sendek that he wanted to wear Duke Blue.
Wednesday night marked Randolph's first game at the school where his grandfather played, and the fans let him know what they thought about his college choice. The 19-year-old was booed every time that he touched the
Cheers for Randolph were heard only when he missed a shot or was fouled hard, as was the case in the first half, when N.C. State's Marcus Melvin's arm left a slight imprint on his face.
"I was pretty much expecting to get booed," Randolph said. "It wasn't a surprise to me."
In fact, Randolph said that the only surprise was the extent - or lack thereof - to which the fans heckled him.
"[The crowd] wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be," he said. "It wasn't too bad."
While Randolph wasn't particularly upset with the fans, he was not exactly thrilled by his own performance in the game.
The 6-foot-10 freshman played only 10 minutes, going 0-of-3 from the field and scoring two points, both of which came at the free-throw line.
"I didn't play as well as I could have played," Randolph said. "I wish I could have done better to help our team."
Though he was reluctant to admit it, Randolph clearly knew that this stage was better than any to have a breakout game.
But he knows that the season moves on, and that he will have his chance to enact revenge on the Wolfpack when they visit Cameron Indoor Stadium Feb. 22.
"I'm going to move on, and we're going to move on," Randolph said. "I can't keep dwelling on this."
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