GREENSBORO — The men’s basketball team has been picked to finish third in the ACC preseason poll of conference media, the highest such pick for the team in five years.
North Carolina coach Roy Williams said he expects N.C. State to be a formidable team as long as its new point guard can fill in well after the loss of Engin Atsur.
Redshirt sophomore Farnold Degand is the most likely candidate to be the starting point guard in the season opener, with Javier Gonzalez injured and Marques Johnson not eligible until the end of the first semester.
“They’ve got four starters back, so they’ll be better. They’re a little unknown at the point guard to me, probably not to Sid,” Williams said. “I think if they get quality play at the point guard spot, they’re going to be a big-time team because those other four guys have already shown that they can compete against anybody in our league.”
But even with the heightened expectations after the team was picked last a season ago, coach Sidney Lowe won’t be changing how he coaches.
“I don’t want to out-coach myself. You stick to your guns. You stay with what you have, and you take those guys that have been in the system,” Lowe said. “And they will talk to the younger guys, and you’ll teach the younger guys on how we play and how we win.”
Meanwhile, senior forward Gavin Grant said the biggest difference in the team is its certainty in its ability compared to last year’s group.
“We have an identity now. We know who’s going to score for us,” Grant said. “We know who’s going to play defense, box out, get rebounds.”
The team will feature seven new players, including five freshmen. Among them is McDonald’s All-American J.J. Hickson, who finished second in the voting for preseason ACC Rookie of the Year.
Junior forward Ben McCauley said he is impressed with Hickson’s work ethic in practice.
“He works hard pretty much every practice, and that’s big to see out of a freshman,” McCauley said. “You don’t want a freshman coming in and acting kind of lazy, like he’s better than everyone.”
McCauley added that it will be nice to have more players who can play minutes for the team, as opposed to last year when the team often went only six deep.
“That’s reassuring in the fact that you know if you’re going to be taken out of the game, whether it’s foul trouble or you’re tired, your replacement isn’t going to be too far behind you in talent,” he said.
But while he is expecting the freshmen to add needed depth to the team, he said he doesn’t expect them to unseat any of the team’s four returning starters: junior guard Courtney Fells, Grant, redshirt sophomore forward Brandon Costner and McCauley.
“It’s still a little early, but I don’t see any of the guys who started last year giving up their spot,” McCauley said. “You have that spot, you want to keep it. You’re going to do anything you possibly can to keep it.”
2007-08 ACC Basketball Preseason Media PollTeam (first-place votes) Total pointsNorth Carolina (64) 768Duke 653N.C. State 641Clemson 514Virginia 492Maryland 447Georgia Tech 389Boston College 332Florida State 284Virginia Tech 162Wake Forest 157Miami 153Source: ACC Media
