North Carolina State University Athletics
TIM PEELER: Bethel's Back, Ready to Roll
11/16/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 16, 2005
BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH -- Gradually, senior point guard Tony Bethel has worked his way back into game shape. Seven months after he first suffered a torn groin muscle in last year's ACC Tournament, Bethel is just now getting to the point where he can go full speed.
But he's getting closer and closer to the point he can contribute on a full-time basis, NC State head coach Herb Sendek said Wednesday. He'll be in the lineup Friday when the Wolfpack opens the regular season against Stetson in the Hispanic College Fund Classic at the RBC Center (7 p.m.).
That doesn't mean he's ready to play every minute of the three games the Wolfpack will play in three days. State plays The Citadel Saturday at 6 p.m. and Delaware Sunday at 2 p.m.
"We have been getting Tony involved in ever-increasing amounts," Sendek said. "We have given him some days off completely, but for the most part, he has been gradually on his way back. And he is doing well.
"He will play this weekend, but it's a little tricky playing three consecutive days. We will have more information by the time we get into the games, in terms of how much he can respond with that many games on consecutive days."
Bethel, in his second season of competition at NC State after transferring from Georgetown, missed the Wolfpack's first three weeks of practice while still recovering from the groin injury, but was cleared to begin full workouts with the team on Nov. 9. He saw about four and a half minutes of playing time in the team's second exhibition game, last week against Mount Olive.
But his presence did seem to provide a spark for the Wolfpack's offense.
"You can instantly sense a difference when he is out on the practice floor," Sendek said. "We talked many times about how he made a difference for us the year he sat out, just making our practices more competitive. He is an energetic guy, very competitive. He tends to lift the atmosphere when he is out there.
"He is also a very good player, so having him available in our rotation helps our team. It's going to take some time. He has to get into condition. He has to get some repetitions under his belt. He really is doing things for the first time in a long time."
Even before the groin injury, Bethel missed a significant portion of the Wolfpack's season because of an intestinal ailment. He never really played at full speed for more than two months after catching a flu bug on a December road trip.
When he did return in January, he had lost some 18 points and needed several weeks to get back into playing shape before he could fully contribute on offense or, perhaps more importantly, on defense.
So he never really go to showcase the abilities that Julius Hodge was so high on throughout Bethel's sit-out season and last preseason. Those expectations are still high, at least from Bethel's teammates.
"He is a very good rebounder," said fellow fifth-year senior Ilian Evtimov. "He is a very good defender. He is a guy who can make a smart play, either by making the pass from penetration or can go in and finish. "In my mind, he is the best point guard in the ACC. He and Engin are going to be very good and complementary guards in the league this year." In Bethel's absence in the preseason, Sendek turned to reliable junior Engin Atsur and sophomore Gavin Grant to run the point guard position. That should help provide some depth that the coach would like to see on his team, which has 10 scholarship players that will all be counted on to contribute, making this one of the deepest NC State teams in recent memory. Then again, that's what Sendek thought last year, before Bethel missed time with several ailments, Cameron Bennerman missed time with an elbow injury and then-senior Levi Watkins suffered a knee injury. "Last year, at this time, when we were completely healthy, I think we could have made a similar statement about our depth," Sendek said. "As it turned out, we needed a good measure of it because of the season we had health-wise. "This year, with Tony being out for a prolonged period and some other guys experiencing some temporary physical setbacks, through the first four weeks of practice, we probably haven't had the ideal depth. Having said that, I think we can be a team, provided we stay healthy, that does have really good depth."
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
