North Carolina State University Athletics
Q&A: Men's Basketball's Ben McCauley
8/13/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
No, he’s not living a relaxed lifestyle. He’s been working in the cart shed at a local country club, trying to gain a little insight into the golf industry while also working out with his teammates in preparation for the upcoming basketball season.
McCauley sat down with GoPack.com’s Tim Peeler to talk about what’s going on with the men’s basketball program.
GoPack.com: So what have you been doing this summer?
McCauley: I’ve been working at Brier Creek Country Club, learning a little about the golf industry. I get out there early and move carts and put out bags, that kind of stuff. I've talked a lot to the pro and the assistant pros, and one thing I have learned is that if you like to play golf, don't get into the golf business, because their is not enough time for it. That kind of worries me a little bit. I have also learned that there are an awful lot of coaches in the world.
GoPack.com: What are you hearing from people that you talk to?
McCauley: Obviously, expectations for the team this coming season are down a little bit because we lost some good players and we had a difficult end to last year. But I think those low expectations will be good for us. We played well my sophomore year when no one expected us to do anything. The guys are working hard this summer. I think they all realize that we have a great opportunity this year, because we can surprise some people. A lot of the younger guys have some experience now. We have a strong older corps, with myself, Courtney Fells and Brandon Costner. Even Trevor Ferguson and Dennis Horner, they are going to be juniors now, so we have a strong core.
GoPack.com: You don’t have Engin Atsur from that team two years ago or Gavin Grant, but there is still a pretty big core of guys who remember what you did that season and in the ACC Tournament.
McCauley: Yeah, we all realize what it is like to be the underdogs and to go out there with nothing left to lose, really. I think we need to transfer that down to the younger guys and tell them that No one is really giving us much of a shot, but don’t listen to anyone else. Play the game and play the way you know how to play.’ That’s what we did two years ago. If we do that this year, we have a really good opportunity to do some great things. We have the personnel. We have a lot of guys coming back. The year we did that my sophomore year, we only had six or seven players. This year we have more bodies.
GoPack.com: What about you personally? What are you looking for?
McCauley: This really is a comeback year for me. If I can get back to where I was my sophomore year, and maybe a little better, that would be great for me personally and for the team.
GoPack: What has your workout regimen been during the summer?
McCauley: I have been here in
GoPack.com: What do you think happened last year?
McCauley: There are two things, besides the chemistry and the style of play, which was significantly different, that not a lot of people talked about. One was not having Engin Atsur back at the point and then losing Farnold Degand. We were doing well at the beginning of the year with Farnold. We won the Old Spice. We went on a little winning streak for a little bit. We beat Davidson at home, which turned out to be a really good win. When he went down, we had a freshman in Javi Gonzalez and essentially a freshman in Marques Johnson. That is one thing that was overlooked a lot, because everyone was concentrating on everyone not getting along or not playing the right way. That may have been the case sometimes, but we also had some bad luck with injuries and that had some impact on how we played.
GoPack.com: How is Farnold’s recovery coming along?
McCauley: Farnold is lifting, doing a little bit of running, which is good. He’ll be ready come practice time. He is itching to get back and playing. We are itching to have him back.
GoPack: Talk a little about the other guys on the team.
McCauley: The younger guys that are now moving up to be older guys, specifically Trevor and Dennis, are doing really well. Trevor got a lot of confidence at the end of the year. That has given him a lot of confidence. Dennis has shaped his body really well. He is getting in shape and working on his jump shot. Then, you the three of us who have been here three years: me, Brandon and Courtney. If the older guys can trickle down our work ethic and attitude down to the younger guys, I think we have a strong enough upper class that we can affect those younger guys in a positive way.
GoPack:
McCauley:
GoPack.com: What thoughts are you taking into the start of school in a couple of weeks?
McCauley: The best thing I can say about last year is that it is over. There is nothing you can do about it. There were a few positives last year that we can take away from it. My main thought is that I want to get back to where I was two years ago. Team-wise, we have different personnel, but we also want to get back to the attitude we had then.
If we can get the guys here now playing like we did then, with the addition of more bodies, I think we can do a lot of good things. We have great leadership in the seniors. We have great guys on the team this year. They have a positive attitude. They want to redeem themselves. We kind of embarrassed ourselves in the way we played last year. I think if we can concentrate on those things and concentrate on what we can do, not what we did last year. We have to think about what we can do if we play the right way, play together and play hard.
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