Hitting the Wall: Long season may be taking a toll on Deacons' freshmen

Maybe it's something to which one doesn't admit.

That would be one explanation why C.J. Harris and Ari Stewart, after Saturday's loss at N.C. State, denied that they had hit the wall 3½ months into their freshmen seasons at Wake Forest.

"No, I'm just in a little slump now," Harris responded when asked. "That's all."

Stewart, Harris' roommate, was even more emphatic.

"I haven't been playing well," Stewart said. "I haven't hit a wall.

"Actually when I get back (to Winston-Salem), I'm going back to the gym to shoot, because I missed some open shots, and I know that's my role on the team.

"If I'm not doing my role, I'm not doing my part."

The evidence refutes both.

Harris, a candidate for ACC rookie of the year in mid-January, has averaged 4.5 points over his last four games and has made just 5 of 30 shots from the floor and 2 of 15 from 3-point range.

Stewart had 10 points in 15 minutes as recently as a 75-64 home victory against Georgia Tech on Feb. 13. In the two games since, he has averaged two points and has hit 2 of 13 shots from the floor and 0 of 8 from 3-point range.

And each had what probably was his worst game of the season at N.C. State. Harris missed all nine shots he attempted and didn't score. Stewart was 1 for 6 from the field for two points. They took eight 3-point shots between them and made none, and the Deacons, as a team, failed to make a 3-pointer for the first time since a victory over Tulane in February 1992.

Coach Dino Gaudio, whose Deacons have lost two straight to fall out of contention for a first-place finish in the ACC's regular season, said that the struggles of Harris and Stewart are worrisome.

"I'd be remiss if I didn't say I was concerned," Gaudio said. "One shoots 0 for 9 and the other one goes 1 for 6. We know those guys are shot-makers for us. Now all of a sudden they're not shooting the ball really well.

"We ran a couple of sets for them because those guys are our shooters, and we weren't able to knock the shots down."

Few freshmen experience anything in high school to prepare them for the mental and physical grind of a 4½-month college season. Any player who receives a major-college scholarship is going to have games in high school where he is head and shoulders better than the player he goes against. And teams with a player that good will have games in which they dominate the competition.

Twelve straight games against ACC competition can wear down an experienced senior who already has gone through the rigors for three seasons. To a freshman only nine months removed from high school, it can be overwhelming.

To pull out of their two-game slide, the Deacons need production from Harris and Stewart. The two, along with junior Gary Clark, have been Wake Forest's most reliable 3-point shooters and have combined for 61 of the 108 3-point shots the Deacons have made.

Senior guard Ish Smith said that Harris and Stewart, and their teammates, should benefit from the week off leading into Saturday's home game against North Carolina.

"This week off is going to be great I think because it's going to get us rest," Smith said. "We'll get back to the basics and what we need to get better at -- and try to make this push in March."

Not all freshmen hit the wall and not all who do are done for the season. Last February, Al-Farouq Aminu of the Deacons appeared spent when he followed a seven-point, six-rebound performance at Duke with a three-point game against N.C. State in which he was 0 for 6 from the floor.

He showed signs of re-emerging with 12 points and six rebounds against Virginia, then broke loose for 16 points and 14 rebounds in a home victory over Maryland.

Gaudio, having seen freshmen pick themselves up after hitting the wall, would love to see it again. His team needs it.

"Maybe they'll get their second wind here this week," Gaudio said. "That's important, because I am concerned."

dcollins@wsjournal.com


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Wearing down?

Freshmen C.J. Harris and Ari Stewart say that the grind of their first college season hasn't taken a toll. But both have seen their production plummet in recent weeks. Here's a comparison:

C.J. Harris

PPG FG % 3Pt %

First 21 games 11.2 44.8 38.6

Last 4 games 4.5 16.7 13.3

Ari Stewart

PPG FG % 3Pt %

First 23 games 7.8 41.5 42.7

Last 2 games 2.0 15.4 0.0