We just finished cleaning up after celebrating President's Day, the faux holiday that folds the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and George Washington into one big, marketable lump.
Washington's birthday, incidentally, coincides with the original 1963 arrival on earth of Herbert Joseph Sendek, the former N.C. State coach. Sendek took five Wolfpack squads to the NCAA tournament and three to the finals of the ACC Tournament in 10 years at Raleigh.
What a bum.
Sendek, a Pittsburgh native, is now at Arizona State, a nice place to be exiled. His neighbor in basketball, Sean Miller of Arizona, is from Ellwood City, Pa., about 30 miles from Pittsburgh, that noted ACC outpost.
During this holiday season, it's important to put basketball in perspective. Not to go easy on coaches, who get paid to be verbal pincushions, but rather to lighten up on the gnashing of teeth about bubbles and seeds, to rest the tired phrasing about putting the ball on the floor or taking it to the hole.
So we thought we'd give you a list to contemplate that fits the date.
| PRESIDENTIAL PROSPECTS 2013 ACC Newcomers Sharing Names With Former U.S. Presidents |
| Andrew (Jackson, Johnson) Van Nest, BC |
| Lonnie (Andrew) Jackson, BC |
| Damarcus (William Henry, Benjamin) Harrison, C |
| Amile (Thomas) Jefferson, D |
| Aaron Thomas (Jefferson), FSU |
| Robert (Jimmy) Carter, GT |
| Joel James (Madison, Monroe, Buchanan, Garfield), NC |
| Brice (Andrew, Lyndon) Johnson, NC |
| (John) Tyler Lewis, NCS |
| T.J. Warren (Harding), NCS |
| (Zachery) Taylor Barnette, V |
| (James) Madison Jones, WF |
| Devin Thomas (Jefferson), WF |
| Andre (George) Washington, WF |