NC State Basketball

Former North Carolina State head coach Mark Gottfried has become the first head coach directly linked to the FBI's probe into bribery and corruption in college basketball. 

Per ESPN.com's Mark Schlabach, Gottfried was named by the attorney for former NC State assistant coach Orlando Early for having given Early envelopes containing what was believed to be cash on two different occasions "to deliver to star guard Dennis Smith Jr.'s trainer to ensure he signed with the Wolfpack in 2015."

The envelopes were supposed to be delivered from Smith's trainer, Shawn Farmer, to Dennis Smith Sr.

Gottfried's attorney, Scott Tompsett, denied his client's involvement in a statement provided to Schlabach:

"The statement being reported on is false and conflicts with the sworn testimony of the government's lead witness in the trial last fall. Specifically, at trial, [former Adidas consultant] T.J. Gassnola testified, under penalty of perjury, that he did not discuss the payment to Dennis Smith with anyone at N.C. State other than one assistant coach. Thus, the statement being reported on as it refers to Mr. Gottfried is not corroborated by a single shred of evidence and it conflicts with the sworn testimony of the government's lead witness at the trial last fall."

During the disclosure phase of the case, Early said he believed the total amount Smith's family was seeking to commit to North Carolina State was "in the ballpark of $100,000 or more."

Gottfried said "he would take care of the payments to the Smith family himself," per the disclosure. 

Fred Demarest, N.C. State senior athletic director, told Schlabach the school did not know of the allegations against Gottfried. 

Gottfried was the head coach at North Carolina State from 2011-17. The 55-year-old went 123-86 with four NCAA tournament appearances in six seasons with the program. He is currently serving as head coach at Cal State Northridge.

The No. 23 NC State Wolfpack scored the fewest points by a ranked team in the shot-clock era Saturday in a 47-24 loss to the No. 12 Virginia Tech Hokies.

According to ESPN Stats & Info, it had been more than 50 years since NC State last scored 24 or fewer points in a game:

The Wolfpack shot just 9-of-54, or 16.7 percent, on field goals. They also made only two of their 28 attempts from three-point range (7.1 percent).

ESPN's Kirk Goldsberry tweeted a graphic of NC State's shooting chart:

Per OddsShark, NC State's offensive futility was especially painful since it was a three-point home favorite at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Junior guard C.J. Bryce was the Wolfpack's leading scorer with just seven points on 3-of-13 shooting. Sophomore guard Braxton Beverly finished with zero points on 0-of-12 shooting, including 0-of-9 from three.

Matt Norlander of CBS Sports put NC State's performance in perspective by noting Zion Williamson outscored the Wolfpack on his own in Duke's 91-61 win over St. John's on Saturday:

Virginia Tech struggled in its own right, shooting just 35.6 percent from the field. The Hokies did have two players finish in double figures, though, as Kerry Blackshear Jr. scored 13 points and Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 11.

Saturday's loss marked the continuation of a rough stretch for NC State, which has dropped three of its past four games and four of its past six. The Wolfpack are 16-6 overall and 4-5 in the ACC after starting the season 13-1.

Prior to Saturday's game, NC State was averaging 84.4 points per game.

Virginia Tech improved to 18-3, including 7-2 in conference play. The Hokies are just a half-game out of first place in the ACC, behind Virginia, Duke and Louisville.