North Carolina State University Athletics
TIM PEELER: Nieman steps in for Wolfpack
11/30/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
RALEIGH, NC Bryan Nieman remembers how weird it felt in September, when he was called into the office of NC State director of basketball operations Quentin Jackson. He felt even more uncomfortable when associate athletics director David Horning knocked on the door and walked in, followed closely by new Wolfpack head basketball coach Sidney Lowe.
“We appreciate your work so far this year,” Lowe began. “And we would like to reward that work with this.”
Lowe handed Nieman the paperwork for an athletic scholarship.
“I was really taken aback,” Nieman said. “It was definitely my goal growing up to get a scholarship to play basketball at a Division I school.”
Nieman, a native of Wake Forest, had to go to three schools before he got one. And, at the time, he couldn’t imagine a greater feeling in the world, to be rewarded for his word-a-day efforts with a one-year grant-in-aid.
But that might be topped Sunday, when Nieman could be in the starting lineup for the Wolfpack’s Atlantic Coast Conference opener against Virginia. The 3:30 p.m. game will be televised by the Fox Sports Network.
So how does a guy who couldn’t earn a scholarship in two years at Winthrop, decided to go to junior college and basically begged his way onto the roster as a walk-on at NC State because it needed an additional practice player last season, end up in the starting lineup in the toughest conference in the country?
Well, for one thing, senior point guard Engin Atsur is suffering from a hamstring pull that leaves his status uncertain for Sunday’s league opener. Atsur pulled up lame in the first half of Monday’s surprise win over Michigan at the RBC Center. If Atsur can’t play Sunday against the Cavaliers then junior Gavin Grant will likely move to the point guard position and Nieman could start at the small forward slot, as he did in the second half of Monday’s 74-67 win that kept the Wolfpack's record unblemished at 5-0.
Secondly, in the Wolfpack’s thin lineup, Nieman has proven to be a solid, energetic player who can contribute by making an occasional 3-pointer and by hustling every second he is on the floor. He’s already become a crowd favorite at the RBC Center, and if he has a few more games like he had against the Wolverines eight points, six rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots his popularity will continue to rise.
“I just try to make the right play,” Nieman says. “I don’t do anything I am not comfortable doing. Just get the ball to the right person, take the right shot, make the right play, try not to make any bad decisions.
“Making hustle plays has always been part of my game. I have never been the most athletic person on the court. That is something I have to do to compete. Some people run fast, some people jump high, some people shoot well. Hustle is something I know I can do.”
Nieman, a former standout at Wake Forest-Rolesville High School north of Raleigh, has always been confident that he could compete at this level. It just took a long time to prove it to someone else.He did not play on the AAU circuit in his younger years, on the advice of his high school coach. That was a mistake, Nieman admits, because he did not get much exposure to college coaches. So
He walked on at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and as a freshman played sparingly for the Eagles as they won the Big South regular-season and tournament championships to earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
He was hoping to contribute more and earn a scholarship in his second season, but suffered a broken foot in a pick-up game on the first day of fall 2003 classes, wiping out what would have been his sophomore season.
Because Nieman was on crutches for five months, the Winthrop coaching staff opted not to take a chance on giving the 6-foot-6 swingman a scholarship. “Obviously, they were nervous about committing to a scholarship,” he says. “I thought I was worth it. I decided to go to junior college on a scholarship for a year and see where I could transfer to. I was hoping to get some scholarship offers back close to home.”
So he accepted a scholarship to Gulf Coast Community College, where he spent his only season as the team’s sixth man. He averaged 9.1 points and 4.1 rebounds and was second on the team with 39 3-pointers. Nieman did eventually get a scholarship offer from UNC the University of Northern Colorado, along with a couple other smaller Western schools.
He returned to Raleigh in the summer of 2005 and began making phone calls to the area program. He talked to former Wolfpack assistant coach Mark Phelps and asked if there was a scholarship available. No, Phelps said. Then Nieman asked if there was a spot on the team available for a walk-on. Yes, Phelps said.
So Nieman sent in a highlights tape. He got approval from Herb Sendek to join the team, mainly to help out in practice. Last season, he played in only six games, scoring one point on a free throw against the Citadel.
“When I first came here, I didn’t think it was a realistic possibility to get a lot of playing time,” Nieman said. “Maybe I would be lucky to get on the court in a blowout or something, because we were so good last year. I expected this season we would be as deep as we were last year, but that changed.”
Sendek left for Arizona State. Two of the recruits he signed opted not to come to NC State. Cedric Simmons left after his sophomore season for the NBA. Two-sport star Andrew Brackman chose to play baseball only.
When Lowe met with Nieman before the season he told the player he needed to be prepared to contribute.
“He told me that sometime this year, my number would probably be called,” Nieman says. “I really took that to heart. I tried to put in that extra work so that I would be prepared when my number was called.”
He lost about 15 pounds in the off-season, worked on his shot and did everything the coaching staff asked.
Now, with Atsur possibly sidelined, and Nieman’s roommate Trevor Ferguson not yet eligible to compete, Nieman just might be in the starting lineup, even though the only time he’s ever started a game in his circuitous trip to NC State was in his junior college’s Sophomore Night.
Reflecting on his career, Nieman can only shake his head.
“For it to end up like this is something else,” Nieman said. “It’s a dream come true.”
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
