PEELER: Degand Ready to Turn on Jets Again

BY TIM PEELER

 

RALEIGH, N.C. Farnold Degand knew watching the final two-thirds of NC State’s basketball season from the sidelines would be hard. He had lived through the same situation the year before, sitting out a season after transferring in from Iowa State. He also spent his entire freshman season with the Cyclones on the sidelines as a redshirt.

He has now had his fill of being inactive and unable to play.

Last season, he was cruising along, averaging 6.9 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.9 assists through the Wolfpack’s first 10 games. He was the team’s top 3-point shooter (making 8 of 16 shots from behind the arc) and leading passer. He was filling the void left by the absence of departed senior point guard Engin Atsur, if not spectacularly, at least adequately, for a team that had other components with which it could be successful.

With Degand in the lineup, the Wolfpack won the Old Spice Classic in Orlando and beat Davidson at home.

But that was before the speedy guard suffered a season-ending knee injury in a Dec. 23 win over Cincinnati. The next day, he learned the anterior cruciate ligament of this left knee was torn and that he would miss the rest of another season, possibly the worst Christmas news he had ever been delivered.

His absence forced Wolfpack coach Sidney Lowe to turn to freshman Javi Gonzalez and sophomore Marques Johnson, who had just become eligible after transferring at mid-semester from Tennessee. Both showed promise at times, but the Wolfpack suffered from a lack of experience running its offense.

Now, however, after eight months of recovery and rehabilitation, Degand has been cleared to play as the Wolfpack begins its preseason drills for the upcoming 2008-09 men’s basketball season. The first full team practice is on Friday. Saturday, the team will conduct an open practice at Reynolds Coliseum from noon until 2 p.m.

“I feel fine,” Degand said Tuesday afternoon at NC State’s annual basketball media day. “We ran all the tests and it looks good. Supposedly my left knee is as strong as my right knee. I just have to get my heart rate going and get back into playing shape.”

Degand, a redshirt junior from Boston’s O’Bryant High School, has always been known for his speed on the hardwoods. He doesn’t think that has been diminished by the injury, though he won’t be sure until he goes all out with his teammates.

He’s certainly excited about Lowe’s desire to go with a more up-tempo offense and a pressure defense, both of which should be improved with Degand’s speed.

“I take a lot of pride in my defense and not letting my opponent score,” Degand said. “Improving our defense is definitely one of the main focuses as a team and one of my main focuses as a player. I think we can definitely be disruptive on defense.”

Offensively, Degand spent his rehabilitation time working on his shooting form. It was about all he was physically able to do in between running in the pool and doing light workouts on his healing knee.

He’s anxious to see how the knee responds.

“After six months of working out without much purpose, it feels great to be back on the court again,” Degand said.

Wolfpack coach Sidney Lowe has been pleased with Degand’s progress throughout his rehabilitation. The coach held Degand out of the 10 days of practice and the two exhibition games the Wolfpack played in Toronto over Labor Day, primarily for precautionary reasons.

“In watching Farnold [on Monday], we took one of the two hours we can work with someone a week, and he looked very good,” Lowe said. “He was better than I expected, to be honest with you. We didn’t allow him to the entire hour. He showed some of that quickness he is capable of and I think he is going to be ready to go.”

Lowe is happy to have a full complement of point guard possibilities again. Degand will work with sophomore Gonzalez and incoming freshman Julius Mays at the point, giving the coach three solid possibilities to run the offense. He also will use Degand and Gonzalez in the backcourt together on occasion, which should greatly improve the Wolfpack’s team speed, a deficiency last year.

“We have three, to start off, which we haven’t had in my three years back here,” Lowe said. “Obviously one of them is coming off an injury, but it looks like he is going to be ready to go. Javi got tremendous experience last year, he got a lot of minutes being thrown into a tough situation. I thought he grew as the season went along. Julius Mays is a real steady point guard, with a high basketball IQ.

“I hope we will stay healthy at that position, but I know we will need all three point guards as the season goes along. We can’t do it with just two.”

The coach and Wolfpack players are eager to put last season, which ended with nine consecutive losses, behind them. Senior Ben McCauley and juniors Brandon Costner and Dennis Horner have all lost between 10-15 pounds, making them more agile and capable of keeping up with Degand’s pressure defense and up-tempo offense.

“We know Brandon can run and Ben can run, and I have been very impressed with the speed Horner has showed in our early workouts,” Lowe said. “The important thing is that we have that fast point guard in Farnold. His game is in his speed. We want to take advantage of his speed and maybe getting some easy baskets.”

 

You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.

North Carolina State University Athletics

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