CHARLOTTE, N.C. — You never know what's going to happen during the ACC Tournament. And in WCNC Charlotte forecaster Larry Sprinkle's case, it's sometimes truly unbelievable.
During Wednesday night's game between NC State and Virginia Tech, which the Wolfpack won 97-77, ESPN commentators Dave O'Brien and Jay Bilas mentioned Virginia Tech's Storm Murphy, who Bilas said was destined to become a meteorologist.
"It's a name other meteorologists change their name to," O'Brien quipped.
The conversation then turned to the meteorologists of O'Brien and Bilas' past ... and present. Enter Larry Sprinkle, the beloved Charlotte forecaster. O'Brien was stunned that Larry's actual last name was Sprinkle.
"Now he changed that to Sprinkle!" O'Brien said.
Bilas pushed back, calling Larry a "professional, not an entertainer."
The two continued to joke about Larry's appropriate surname. They eventually concocted a hypothesis that the Sprinkles started in the doughnut business before Larry carved his own path in meteorology. Normally you wouldn't get this kind of discussion during an ACC Tournament game, but with NC State leading by 25 points, they had some time.
Bilas and O'Brien's discussion about Larry gained traction on Twitter, with Charlotteans showing their love for him. Even Brad Panovich chimed in.
Larry couldn't believe it when he saw the clip.
"Wow. Thanks to Dave O'Brien and Jay Bilas," he said, unable to resist cracking the typical Larry Sprinkle joke. "What a nice thing. How much do I owe you?"
And just for the record, Sprinkle is indeed Larry's real last name. And everyone — even ESPN's announce team — loves him.
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