North Carolina State University Athletics
Gottfried Pleased With 1st Steps
7/19/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
July 19, 2011
RALEIGH, N.C. - NC State men's basketball coach Mark Gottfried knew that the first change he had to make with his new team was its attitude.
That's not exactly an easy proposition, considering he and his staff had only three days of spring individual workouts and the start of practice for the coming season is still months away.
"It was just a snapshot," he said.
But he's made some suggested changes for his returning players in how they go about their offseason workouts, how they conduct themselves around campus and how they present themselves to the public.
Overall, the coach, who took over the program in early April, thinks the Wolfpack has a long way to go to reach the heights he wants for the program.
"I think we've taken some big steps, especially in the mindset of the players," Gottfried said Tuesday in his first summer meeting with the media. "We've talked about, day-in and day-out, how to be on time, how to have a great attitude in class, how to dress nice, be nice, speak nice and be a professional.
"We are getting there. It's a process. It's not going to happen overnight. I've got no magic dust that we can sprinkle over our guys. There're habits that have to be built."
Like any new coach, Gottfried says he won't be sure what his inaugural team will be like until he gets to work with them more thoroughly in fall workouts. Certainly, with leadership from senior C.J. Williams, juniors Scott Wood, Richard Howell and Jordan Vandenberg, and the talent of sophomore point guard Lorenzo Brown and forward C.J. Leslie, the Wolfpack has the building blocks to be competitive, Gottfried said.
"But we have a lot of work to do," he said. "Every day is a grind. We're trying to work as hard as we can."
He and assistant coaches Bobby Lutz, Orlando Early and Rob Moxley have learned much about their new charges. Mainly, they have a good understanding how hungry everyone on the team is to break the Wolfpack's five-year drought from the NCAA tournament.
"They want to win," he said. "They want someone to help them get where they want to go. They want to get to the NCAA tournament. I think what our staff has tried to do is spend time with them in our office, on the phone, whatever we are allowed to do during this time, to get to know them better.
"The transition has been good. They're anxious to start something new."
He has good reports from the returning players, especially Howell, who has lost more than 20 pounds from his 6-8 frame since Gottfried's arrival.
Primarily, Gottfried and his staff have concentrated on recruiting, not just for future classes, but for the upcoming year. They have signed letters-of-intent from forward Tyler Harris of Dix Hills, N.Y., guard Jaqawn Raymond of Statesboro, Ga., forward Thomas de Thaey of the Canary Islands, and guard Alex Johnson of Toronto.
The latter two, de Thaey and Johnson, were later additions to the roster, with both signing in May. But Gottfried believes they can both contribute immediately.
De Thaey, a 20-year-old member of the Belgian Under-20 national team, is a 6-8 forward who was wooed by several other programs before landing in Raleigh. Johnson is a guard who averaged 13.3 points and 2.4 assists last season at Cal State-Bakersfield. Since he graduated after four years at his previous school, he is immediately eligible to play his final season with the Wolfpack, offering backcourt depth for Brown, who enters the season as the Wolfpack's primary ball handler.
Gottfried believes the components are in place for the Wolfpack to be competitive. But he stopped short of making any bold predictions in his midsummer press conference.
"When I look at our team, I see a team that has a long ways to go," Gottfried said. "There're a lot of questions about whether this returning group can learn how to win and how much a couple of the freshmen can contribute.
"We're an unknown, really. We should be viewed in my opinion as a team that is up in the air. Who knows what we can do? I don't think this team should be bad. We won't be a terrible team. I do know that. I don't know if we can get real good in one year or not."
But Gottfried, just like when he took over at Alabama more than 15 years ago, believes the Wolfpack is on the right track to build a winning program.
• By Tim Peeler, tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
