North Carolina State University Athletics
TIM PEELER: Lowe, Yow pleased with Red-White effort
10/26/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH After just 12 days of practice, neither NC State men’s head coach Sidney Lowe nor women’s head coach Kay Yow expected either of their teams to be at mid-season form.
But they liked what they saw Wednesday night when the two squads held their Red-White scrimmages together at Reynolds Coliseum, in front of about 5,000 spectators.
Both teams were spread a little thin for intra-squad scrimmages, with only one substitute available for each in the five-on-five scrimmages. For the men, senior point guard Engin Atsur was out of action for precautionary reasons with a sore Achilles heel.
“It’s just for a couple of days, just to be sure,” Lowe said.
For the women, three players senior center Gillian Goring, freshman center Chanita Jordan and sophomore guard Shayla Fields were held out because of injuries. Goring is recovering from back surgery and could begin working out with the team as early as Nov. 4, Yow said. The other two are out indefinitely recovering from stress fractures and shin splints.
For Lowe, making his debut as the Wolfpack’s new men’s head coach, there were a handful of things to be optimistic about in the Red’s 65-53 victory over the White. He also enjoyed returning to the venue where he played all four years of his college career.
“It’s a great feeling to be back here,” Lowe said. “It’s been a long time since I have been out on the floor competing, in a Wolfpack capacity. The atmosphere was great and feeling the support from our fans was great.”
Sophomore Courtney Fells, virtually unused last year as a freshman, scored a team-high 21 points in the game, playing for both the Red and the White teams.
“That is what I expect from him,” Lowe said afterwards. “We talk all the time about trying to be the best player on the floor. There are a lot of guys who can’t do that. He has the ability to do that, and he needs to take advantage of that.
“We want him to try to be the best player on the court. That doesn’t just mean scoring points. That means playing defense, rebounding, making passes. I thought he did a great job of that tonight.”
Sophomore Ben McCauley added 20 points and six rebounds, playing exclusively for the Red team, which was composed of Lowe’s four projected starters of junior Gavin Grant, McCauley and Fells and redshirt freshman Brandon Costner, along with fill-in point guard Braxton Albritton.
And freshman Dennis Horner, playing for the white team, showed he can compete on the college level at least against his new teammates. Horner, a 6-7 combo player from Linwood, N.J., scored 11 points and had four rebounds on the night.
For the women; five of the 11 players on the court were freshmen. They didn’t perform perfectly, Yow admitted, but at least they knew what they were supposed to be doing. Entering her 32nd year as the Wolfpack’s head coach and her 36th overall, Yow knows that’s not always the case with first-year players after only a 10 practices.
“We know we have a lot to work on,” Yow said. “At least we could get out there and play 20 minutes with only one sub. Our conditioning is really good.”
The men play their next exhibition game on Friday, Nov. 3, against Northern State, followed by a Nov. 7 game against St. Augustine’s. Both games begin at 7 p.m. at the RBC Center. The Wolfpack open the regular season on Nov. 10 against Wofford.
The women play their next exhibition game next Wednesday against Premier Players at 7 p.m. in Reynolds Coliseum. Yow and her team begin regular-season play on Nov. 9 in the first round of the Pre-Season NIT against High Point, also at 7 p.m. at Reynolds.
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
