State still looking for its point guard

By: By John Dell | JOURNAL REPORTER
Published: November 12, 2009

N.C. State will open its season in just about the same spot it was in last season, with the biggest question surrounding the point-guard position.

There are three candidates, the same three candidates from last season's team that went 16-14 and missed the NCAA Tournament for Coach Sidney Lowe. Farnold Degand, a senior who has played more at shooting guard this preseason, junior Javier Gonzalez and sophomore Julius Mays will all get chances to lead the Wolfpack.

N.C. State will play Georgia State tonight at 7 at the RBC Center as Lowe begins his fourth season as coach at his alma mater.

Georgia State, which finished 12-20 last season, has some faces that will be familiar to ACC fans. Senior guard Shamaine "Joe" Dukes is a Wake Forest transfer who led the Panthers in scoring at 12.8 points and 4.3 assists a game last season.

Guard Marques Johnson, a redshirt junior, is a transfer from N.C. State.

During the preseason, Lowe said he wasn't worried about where the Wolfpack was picked to finish in the ACC. It was picked to finish last in the preseason media poll.

"You need to get to a point where you don't need something from the outside to motivate you," Lowe said last month.

"You need the basketball games to motivate you, the competition, and the winning."

Because Lowe plans on playing more of an up-tempo style, Degand will give the Wolfpack more ball-handling options when he's at shooting guard. He is also fully healed from knee surgery that cut into this 2007-08 season.

The Wolfpack's only exhibition game was a mismatch as it jumped to an 18-2 lead over Saint Paul's, a Division II school that plays in the CIAA, and rolled to an 84-42 victory. Forward Tracy Smith, who is expected to increase his scoring this season, scored 21 points on 9-of-11 shooting and freshman Scott Wood made all four of his 3-point attempts as he scored 12 points.

Against Saint Paul's, Gonzalez and C.J. Williams started in the backcourt with Wood, Smith and 6-9 senior Dennis Horner starting in the frontcourt.

In its only exhibition game, Georgia State beat Shorter 72-68 as forward Xavier Hansbro, a 6-10 senior, had 25 points. The Panthers and Coach Rod Barnes have four senior starters with Hansbro, Dukes, guard Trae Goldston and forward Trey Hampton. Sophomore Jihad Ali is expected to start at forward after redshirting last season.

Johnson, who sat out last season after transferring from N.C. State, played in 21 games for the Wolfpack in 2007-08, averaging two points and 1.6 rebounds a game. This is Johnson's third school after starting out at Tennessee in the fall of 2006 and playing four games for the Volunteers before moving on to N.C. State.

Note: Lowe did get some welcome news with the addition of point guard Ryan Harrow, who signed yesterday during the early-signing period. Harrow, who is from Marietta, Ga., averaged 27.8 points and six assists last season as a junior for Walton High School. He was ranked the 25th-best overall prospect by Scout.com. Also signing for next season was guard Lorenzo Brown, who signed with the Wolfpack last November but failed to qualify. He attends Hargrave Military Academy and is ranked as the 28th-best overall prospect by Scout.com.

jdell@wsjournal.com

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