RALEIGH, N.C. -- For now, all North Carolina State freshman Omer Yurtseven can do is work on his game and be patient.With all the attention on possible one-and-done freshman Dennis Smith Jr., the Turkish 7-footer gives the Wolfpack a second five-star prospect on an overhauled and potential-filled roster. But hes still waiting for the NCAA to clear him as eligible to play as an amateur.Practice starts Friday and the opener is six weeks away.I cant control it so Im trying not to think about it, Yurtseven said Thursday during the teams preseason media day. Just think about education and basketball, to control as I said what you can. Because thats not in your hands, so if you think about it more, all Its going to get you is frustration. And I dont want that.Yurtseven, a native of Istanbul, had a professional contract offer with a European club team, but opted to play college basketball and committed to the Wolfpack in May. The 18-year-old also has international experience, is considered a potential one-and-done talent himself and even had a 91-point game in a Turkish Under-18 game this spring.He played overseas and he grew up playing the game the right way, junior forward Abdul-Malik Abu said, so hes very skilled and has a super high IQ.Smiths debut at the point guard after enrolling in January to rehab a serious knee injury has caused the biggest buzz for the Wolfpack. And sixth-year coach Mark Gottfried isnt shying away from fueling the hype about Smith, calling him Thursday the best guard in the country even while saying he will have a learning curve as he transitions to the college level.But Yurtsevens commitment was a big deal, too, and a key reason why the Wolfpack ranks No. 6 nationally in Scout.coms recruiting rankings.Gottfried said Thursday that nothing has happened in a negative way during the NCAAs review process of Yurtsevens amateur status, saying there is plenty of discussion but no timetable for a decision.Its not frustrating because quite honestly for us, theres really not a whole lot we can do about that, Gottfried said. Hes participated in every workout. Hes integrating himself with our team in a really positive way.Were approaching it with the hope he wont have to miss any games and move right in and play. If he does (have to sit out games), well deal with that, too.Yurtseven said he understands the evaluation process takes time.Youve just got to hope for the best, he said. I think that they should let me get cleared because I dont think I have done something wrong. But you know, theyre trying to do their part, so I cant do nothing but respect them. So thats what Im trying to do.While N.C. State has plenty of backcourt options, the Wolfpack sure could use Yurtseven up front. Abu (12.9 points, 8.8 rebounds) and 6-9 senior BeeJay Anya are back after offseason flirtations with the NBA draft, but Gottfried is leaning toward redshirting 6-9 senior Lennard Freeman to let him fully heal after an injury-plagued season following surgery to repair a fracture in his lower right leg in summer 2015.The opportunity is there, assuming Yurtseven suits up as planned.Its a new experience and its fun, he said. Im in a place that Ive never been in, a situation that I dont know if Ill live (through) ever again, a different situation than this. Im just trying to have fun, enjoy and hope for the best.---Follow Aaron Beard on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/aaronbeardap and the APs college basketball site at http://collegebasketball.ap.org Justin Jackson Jersey . It was just business as usual for the Thunder at home. Durant scored 32 points and the Thunder beat the Bulls 107-95 on Thursday night for their eighth straight win. Josh Howard Jersey . Durant finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds, Jackson matched his career high with 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting and Lamb scored 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, lifting the Thunder to a 94-88 win over San Antonio and snapping the Spurs 11-game winning streak. https://www.cheapmavericks.com/563l-steve-nash-jersey-mavericks.html . 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She was taken in by her adoptive parents and proceeded to have a relatively normal childhood. And like many young girls of the 1990s, she grew up loving gymnastics and idolizing Dominique Moceanu.Bricker, 28, watched her idol win gold with the Magnificent Seven during the 1996 Olympics. She was proud that Moceanu also had Romanian-American heritage and a small stature. Despite her physical limitations, Bricker went on to build her own successful gymnastics career.Then, in 2003, Bricker discovered that her hero was actually her biological sister.Bricker spent four years attempting to meet Moceanu, and they kept their story quiet for four more years. With their other sister, Christina, they went public with their shocking discovery in 2012.While that was -- and remains -- a huge part of Brickers life and identity, its not all she is. Bricker hopes to share her full story in her new book, Everything is Possible: Finding the Faith & Courage to Follow Your Dreams, co-written with Sheryl Berk and released this week.Up until this point, publicly and in the media, people have only known my story or me as an aerialist or as a tumbler, thats really all people know about me, Bricker said by phone from her Los Angeles home. So whats exciting is this book is my heart; its me. Thats never really been shown before, and not even a little bit. Thats what Im really excited about -- to show people my heart, and not just my story.***Raised in Illinois alongside three older brothers by two loving parents, Bricker grew up with the belief that everything was possible. Even though she did not have legs, her family encouraged her to try gymnastics when she expressed interest as a young girl captivated by Moceanu. She almost immediately showed promise in the sport and worked her way through the youth ranks.Because of her impressive athleticism and positive attitude, Bricker began achieving local, national and even global fame, appearing on the Maury Show as a fifth-grader and on a German television program a year later. At the time, she knew she was destined to help inspire others. Even at a young age, she knew a book was in her future.Ive known since I was really young that I would someday write a book, although I thought it was something I would do when I was old and had gray hair, she said. But I knew two years ago, this was the right time for the book. The time is now. And this is exactly what Im supposed to be doing right now.The local tumbling gym became a second home for Bricker as a child, and she competed against able-bodied gymnasts around the area. She refused to have any special treatment and wanted to be judged the same as her peers. While she said she occasionally got stares from opponents and their parents, she quickly proved she was just as good, if not better, than her competition. Her talent and hard work earned her a fourth-place finish at the AAU Junior Olympics in power tumbling as an 11-year-old and a state title as a high school student, among many other titles and awards.After graduating from high school, Bricker was attending a local community college when she saw a sign on campus for the college program at Walt Disney World. She instantly jumped at the chance and was accepted. She moved to Orlando to start her job in park operations. She loved the experience and living independently for the first time in her life. She never doubted her ability to succeed in whatever she chose to do, in large part because of her parents and the confidence they instilled in her.They allowed me to be who Im meant to be, Bricker said. That may seem like a simple thing, but I can see how that would be very difficult. They allowed me to be who I am and who Im meant to be, and not who they wanted me to be. They allowed me to have my own mind, so I would be confident in making my own decisions, and that carried over 100 percent into being an adultt and making big decisions.dddddddddddd.After becoming obsessed with The Lion King show at Disneys Animal Kingdom, Bricker met performer Nate Crawford through a friend. He was instantly intrigued by the idea of developing a show for the two of them and encouraged Bricker to try aerial acrobatics and trampoline. Despite not having tumbled in a few years, Bricker quickly returned to her peak athletic form and learned to love her new disciplines. The duo choreographed an act on the trampoline and had their first performance at the Amway Center in Orlando during the 2008 Mascot Games.Shortly after, the two had to put the show on hiatus as Crawford was cast on Britney Spears Circus tour. It wasnt long before the then-22-year-old Bricker impressed Spears shows producers and they added her to the North American and Australian stints. Appearing in 40 shows, Bricker called it an amazing and crazy time of her life. She also considers it her big break and credits it for opening many doors in the industry that had previously been closed.While her professional life was thriving, she was hiding a big secret in her personal life. Brickers parents showed her the adoption documentation when she was 16, revealing the astounding discovery about Moceanu.It was an absolutely mind-blowing moment, she said. I thought, How can this be real? It was crazy. But then I thought it kind of made sense. We do look alike, we are both Romanian, there are all these things we have in common.After exhaustively searching for Moceanu and figuring out how to reach her, Bricker finally tracked her down in 2007 and wrote her a heartfelt letter. A few weeks later, she received flowers and a personalized Christmas card in return. While it would take several months for the three sisters to meet, they corresponded in the interim and finally got together in May 2008.Their relationship remains a work in progress as they continue to make up for lost time. The three all live in different states, and Dominique and Christina both are married with young children, so its not always easy to get together. They try whenever the opportunity arises.Despite the physical and emotional distances between the sisters, their similarities are unmistakable. When Brickers brothers met her new sisters, they were astonished by the likeness.My brothers were totally tripping out, she said. They were just like Wait, you sound like Jen, and you look like Jen, and you move your hands like Jen! They were just freaking out, but then they just realized they had two more sisters to give a hard time to.Once the sisters revealed their story, Bricker was relieved they no longer had to keep it a secret -- and she was happy she could finally post a picture of herself with her siblings on Facebook.It was so tough to finally have met them and have had such a celebratory moment and not being able to share it with so many people in my life, Bricker said.Now, Bricker plans to further leave her mark on the world. She wants to one day land a sportswear or makeup ad campaign (It could flip the beauty industry upside down!) and eventually get married and have a family -- with both biological and adopted children.In the meantime, she continues to build her relationship with her sisters, and might even begin work on another book soon. Ultimately, she just wants to inspire others with her powerful story of perseverance, positivity and cant-stop-me attitude. She hopes her message will help anyone, regardless of physical limitations or otherwise.Everyone has gifts and talents and abilities, there is equal power in that, she said. One is not more important than the other. With that equal significance, what someone brings to the table is equal and has equal power to change someones life.Their story may look different than my story, but it might have the same power to change someones life out there. ' ' '