Redshirt junior point guard Farnold Degand had traveled a long road to finally play in a division I basketball game. As a high school all-star from Boston, Mass., Degand committed to play for coach Wayne Morgan at Iowa State. Morgan redshirted Degand for the 2005-06 season, but in March, 2006, Morgan was fired from Iowa State amidst accusations of recruiting violations.
Following the coaching change, Degand transferred to N.C. State where he was forced to sit out the 2006-07 season due to NCAA rules. In the fall of 2007, Degand was finally where he wanted to be, the starting point guard of a big time Division I school. But on Dec. 23, Degand suffered a torn ACL in the second half of the game against Cincinnati and would be forced to spend another year on the sidelines. Degand said he tries not to let the memory of that game haunt him.
“I’ve watched it many times,” Degand said. “I’ve got the DVD in my room right now. I watch it all the time. I try to keep that in the past and focus on the future.”
Javier Gonzalez, a true freshman at the time, filled in for Degand and would run the point guard position for the Pack for the rest of the season. While State was deep in the frontcourt in 2007-08, five players saw at least 10 minutes per game at forward or center. The backcourt was thin after the loss of Degand. Senior Courtney Fells anchored the shooting guard position, while most of the ball-handling responsibilities were given to Gonzalez and Marques Johnson.
This season, the rotation at the point guard and shooting guard positions looks much different. Fells has moved from shooting guard to small forward, Johnson is no longer with the team, Degand returns and a host of newcomers all have the potential to be major contributors for the Pack. Coach Sidney Lowe said this is the deepest backcourt he has seen since he has been with State.
“We have three to start off, which we haven’t had since I’ve been here,” Lowe said. “One [is] obviously coming off of an injury, but he’s going to be ready to go. I think [Gonzalez] really grew as the season went on, and then Julius Mays. He’s just a really steady point guard. [He has] high basketball I.Q., doesn’t make a lot of mistakes. I feel really comfortable if we can stay healthy, but we need all three.”
Gonzalez, who was the Pack’s go-to point guard last season, started in the exhibition opener on Nov. 6. He said he hopes to keep his starting role, but he knows he will see the court no matter what happens.
“I’m looking forward to starting,” Gonzales said. “But if it doesn’t happen, it’s not a big deal. We’re all going to be playing the same minutes.”
The wild card at the point guard position is true freshman Julius Mays. Mays was red-hot from behind the arc in the Pack’s preseason trip to Toronto in August. Forward Simon Harris, a graduate student, said Mays has been impressive in practice.
“I was really surprised with Julius Mays. I saw him play in high school, and I knew he was a good player, but he’s really getting it done for us right now,” Harris said. “In Toronto, he really got it done for us. He handles the ball well. He controls it and makes great decisions. He’s a really great shooter.”
While the point guard position seems to be a three-man competition between Degand, Gonzalez and Mays, the decision to move Fells from shooting guard to small forward has opened up even more opportunities.
Redshirt junior Trevor Ferguson is among those competing for playing time at the shooting guard position. Ferguson averaged 11.2 minutes last year and was a major contributor toward the end of the season after leading the team with 17 points against Florida State, and nailing several three-pointers against Duke.
“I think it gave me a lot of confidence,” Ferguson said. “I just see myself doing the same types of things I did at the end of last year. I just want to continue to work hard and knock down those threes.”
True freshman C.J. Williams has emerged as the early choice to start at shooting guard. Williams was a fixture on the N.C. State sidelines last season as he attended many of the team’s games as a high school recruit. He was awarded the starting position for the exhibition game against Fort Valley State, but he said he can’t become complacent in the starter’s role.
“We know that any given day, the next person could step in and that might be our last chance,” Williams said. “I feel that we have a lot of depth at [point guard] and [shooting guard] because we have a lot of guys that know how to play basketball. We’ve got a lot of basketball I.Q.”
Ferguson said no position is set in stone, and he will continue to work to earn more minutes on the court.
“Everyone wants to get those minutes,” Ferguson said. “The level of competition is definitely going to step up in practice. It’s exciting to be able to see all these players who do have a lot of opportunity for minutes. There is going to be some fierce practices but we’re all excited about it.”
As the team’s season opener on Nov. 15 approaches, competition for playing time among the Wolfpack’s guards is only going to get fiercer.
“It’s wild already,” Harris said. “These guys are just battling each other. We did this drill where we have six guys in the paint and four guards who are above the free throw line, and [the guards] aren’t really supposed to crash, but theyre going after each other, boxing out and throwing elbows.”
