North Carolina State University Athletics
HAYNES: Wolfpack Opens 100th Basketball Season
11/12/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
BY TONY HAYNES
RALEIGH, N.C. – Although NC State will be opening its 100th season of men's basketball on Thursday night against Georgia State at the RBC Center, very little about the 2009-10 Wolfpack could be considered old.
In fact, coach Sidney Lowe's fourth team will be among the youngest in the ACC and perhaps the most inexperienced in recent NC State history.
With five new scholarship freshmen on the roster, the Wolfpack has an abundance of youth and uncertainty. The top three scorers from last year's team - Ben McCauley, Courtney Fells and Brandon Costner - are all gone.
The only seniors are forward Dennis Horner and Farnold Degand.
With so much inexperience, one might think the task for Lowe and his staff is daunting, so why is the Pack coach having so much fun coaching this team right now?
"It's a fun group of guys," Lowe said. "Just listening to their conversations, they're so positive. They pull for one another and they're a team. It's fun to work with them."
While Horner, juniors Tracy Smith and Javier Gonzalez, along with sophomore C.J. Williams will be expected to carry a substantial part of the load throughout the season, the freshmen will also be expected to log crucial minutes.
The only newcomer to start last week's exhibition win over St. Paul's College was swingman Scott Wood. A former Indiana high school teammate of sophomore point guard Julius Mays, Wood gave fans at Reynolds Coliseum a taste of his sharpshooting prowess by hitting all four of his 3-point attempts in the first half.
Burned by Wood in the opening 20-minutes, St. Paul's made sure the 6-7 rookie didn't get any clean looks after intermission. As his perimeter reputation grows through the early stages of the season, Wood knows teams will crowd him and make him put the ball on the floor more.
"That's one thing I'm going to expect," said Wood, who finished with 12 points in last week's exhibition. "That's what they tried to do in my high school days. The bottom line is I've got to get my penetration game a little bit better and get a little stronger."
While Smith will be the Wolfpack's best interior scoring threat, he can't do it alone, meaning freshman big men Jordan Vandenberg and DeShawn Painter will have to show swift development in November and December. The 6-9 Painter tallied eight points and six rebounds in last week's exhibition tilt, while Vandenberg, a 7-1 center from Melbourne, Australia, finished with six points and five rebounds.
"We're going to need those guys to play because Tracy can't play 40 minutes each ballgame," Lowe said. "Their development is going to be crucial. They're both great young men, they work hard and they want to be good."
Lowe will also expect contributions from freshman forward Josh Davis and highly-touted power forward Richard Howell, once he returns from knee surgery in the next month or so.
Coached by former Mississippi coach Rod Barnes, the Panthers posted a 12-20 record last season, but did manage to win five of their last seven games.
A familiar face will be suiting up for Georgia State on Thursday when former Wolfpack guard Marques Johnson returns to the RBC Center. After transferring from NC State to Georgia State following the 2007-08 campaign, Johnson fulfilled his transfer obligations by sitting out last season.
The leading returning scorer for Georgia State is Wake Forest transfer Joe Dukes. A redshirt senior, the 6-1 Dukes averaged 12.8 points and 4.7 rebounds for the Panthers last season.
Thursday's game is part of the Glenn Wilkes Classic, which will continue with three more games in Daytona, Florida November 20-22.
The Wolfpack Sports Network will have live coverage from the RBC Center on Thursday night beginning with the 6:30 p.m. pregame show.
