North Carolina State University Athletics
PEELER: Something to Howell About
11/30/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
RALEIGH, N.C. – Not long after he had surgery to repair a torn meniscus and torn cartilage in his left knee, NC State freshman Richard Howell was confident that he would be back in time to make a difference.
"When the season really gets serious, I'll be fine," Howell said on media day.
Well, starting with Tuesday night's game between the unbeaten Wolfpack (5-0) and Northwestern in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, the season is starting to get very serious. The game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. and will be televised on ESPNU.
And, keeping his word, Howell says he has never felt better.
In fact, he has discovered, he feels much better than he did during his playing career at Wheeler High School in Marietta, Ga. That's because the relatively minor surgery he had in September fixed a problem that had plagued him throughout his prep and AAU playing careers.
"I haven't had any pain since the surgery," said Howell, a 6-8, 255-pound freshman forward. "It feels really good. The thing is, I've had problems with that same knee the last couple of years. I never thought it was serious to have surgery on until it buckled on me after I got here."
Before then, Howell's knee would be sore when he played and sore afterwards, to the point that he had trouble walking at times. But Howell says the only pain he has had since surgery was sitting on the bench watching while his teammates began the season.
"Man, just sitting there on the bench watching them hurt so bad, because I knew I could be in there helping them in so many different ways," he said. "That's the only thing that hurt. My knee is fine, probably a lot better than it was before."
Though he fully believes he is 100 percent healthy, he was still a little surprised when head coach Sidney Lowe called his name early in the second half of Sunday's 69-52 victory over New Orleans.
"When he said my name, I wasn't sure he said it," Howell said. "I thought I was mistaken or something. I was kind of nervous at the table. I was thinking 'What am I going to do when I get the ball? How am I going to help the team?'
"After I got in there, it all went away."
Howell played seven minutes and scored two points, on a pair of free throws. He didn't exactly take over the game, but it was a good transitional experience for Howell and for the team.
"That was big for us," Lowe said afterwards. "We needed to get him in there and get him some action, to see where he is at this particular time. We knew that conditioning would be a question, but just getting out there and getting some play was good for him as well as for us."
Howell admits that his basketball stamina is a little off, though he feels stronger and healthier than he has felt in years. He also admits that he is behind the learning curve when it comes to executing plays that Lowe has installed during the early part of the season.
Fortunately, Howell says, he is a fast learner.
"I feel like I am getting the plays down tremendously right now," Howell said. "I basically have to catch on quicker than the guys who are already in here playing. I have catch up with what he puts in today, then go back and learn what he put in the day before and the day before that.
"But I think I am picking it all up pretty quickly right now."
When he is all caught up, Howell thinks he can be an important part of the Wolfpack's offensive and defensive attack. Last year, he led Wheeler High to Georgia's 5-A state championship, averaging 16.5 points a game and earning first-team all-state honors.
The one-time teammate of former Wolfpack forward J.J. Hickson, Howell is a versatile athlete, capable of playing either small forward or power forward. He was a top 75 recruit by most basketball recruiting analysts and he expects, now that he is healthy, to become an impact freshman for the Wolfpack and in the ACC.
"I have some height," he said. "I can handle the ball like a guard. I can pass. I can score. I can guard just about abybody. I think the strongest part of my game is my versatility.
"So anything the coach wants me to do to help us win, that is what I am going to do."
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
