North Carolina State
(2005-06 season: 10-6 ACC, 22-10 overall; lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to Texas 75-54)

Andrew Brackman is gone. He’ll play baseball only at North Carolina State this year. Cedric Simmons is gone. He’ll play basketball, but, after leaving Raleigh early, it will be in the NBA for the New Orleans/Oklahoma Hornets. Ilian Evtimov, Tony Bethel and Cameron Bennerman are all gone. The three finished their college eligibility last season.

For those keeping score at home, that’s five of NC State’s top seven scorers – players who accounted for 53.2 points per game – from a year ago.

And the talent coming in will hardly replace the talent exiting. Two recruits decided not to come at all after Herb Sendek left for Arizona State. The freshmen that are on the roster were, for the most part, last-minute finds by new coach Sidney Lowe and his coaching staff.

Those are the negatives.

Lowe, perhaps, is the positive. The former NBA head and assistant coach, may be short on college experience – he played for NC State in the early ‘80s, but has been involved strictly with the NBA since his college playing days ended – but is full of enthusiasm as he prepares his team for the season.

Fans are excited because Lowe brings with him a more up-tempo style. Sendek employed a Princeton-style offense, something for which fans never developed a fondness, even if it did get the Wolpack to five-straight NCAA Tournaments.

But Lowe’s coaching philosophy is built more on his college coach, Jimmy Valvano. He said he learned from Coach V to allow his players to just play the game and show him what they could do.

“I’m going to put them in a position and give them sets to run and things to do, but when you have a player with a certain talent and he feels he can do a little more you sort of allow him to express himself that way,” Lowe said. “And that’s what Coach V did with us. He allowed me to call plays. If he called one and I called one, I could run my play … because I’m the leader on the floor and he would accept that unless it was late in the game, but I was smart enough to know.”

Many have wondered if the players, after their time with Sendek, would be slow to pick up Lowe’s style. The new coach isn’t worried.

“They’ve been doing a great job of making the adjustment,” Lowe said. “I think there is a little too much put into that. They’re basketball players and they’re smart basketball players, and when you’re a player you make adjustments to whatever coach comes in.”

Engin Atsur, who is the top returning scorer with 10.8 points a game last season, hasn’t found the change terribly difficult.

“Every system is different and has advantages and disadvantages,” said Atsur, a guard who played for the Turkish national team over the summer. “We still have set plays and guys have to do whatever they have to do like Coach Sendek’s system. But it’s totally different. We’re going to push the ball a lot … it’s just a lot different, but positive.”

Gavin Grant is also back. The junior only started nine games last season, but scored 8.3 points and pulled down 4.7 rebounds. He seemed to really hit his stride toward the end of the season, something the Wolfpack faithful would like to see carry over to this season.

Brandon Costner and Ben McCauley should help out in the frontcourt, and Courtney Fells will give Atsur help at guard. In a recent exhibition, McCauley and Fells combined for 35 points.

The jury is still out on just how thin the roster is this year, but Lowe isn’t showing much concern. He’s just ready to start playing. And he’s happy to be back home.

Lowe said he returned to the RBC Center a few years ago. He listened to the band and watched the fans, and was impressed by the atmosphere.

“I’m going to be a part of that now,” Lowe said. “I’m looking forward to it.”

Copyright 2007 - MOP Squad Sports

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