C.C. Harrison's jersey still doesn't have his name on the back, but nobody in the Atlantic Coast Conference is having any trouble identifying him. Dubbed by the ACC Area Sports Journal as "the league's best one-on-one player" and voted as a pre-season All-ACC selection, Harrison continues to turn heads around the nation.
The final 11 games of last season thrust Harrison from a virtual unknown into the ACC spotlight as he exploded to the tune of 21.3 points per game-a trend his coach expects to continue this season.
"He is one of the premier guards in this conference," Wolfpack coach Herb Sendek said. "He is poised to have a great season."
Last year's leading scorer, Harrison will once again be the go-to man. But Harrison doesn't expect his newly-found offensive prowess to change his approach to the game.
"I just want to go out and help my team win," Harrison said. "And that's what it's all about."
For N.C. State, winning is what it's all about this year.
Under second-year coach Sendek, the 'Pack is back and on its way to the elite of the conference. The Sporting News tabbed the Wolfpack as one of the top five programs on the rise nationally.
Maybe it is a team with nowhere to go but up, but Sendek is making the climb in a hurry. In just his first year, he produced State's first winning record in five years, the first postseason berth in six and the first ACC tournament final in 10 years. And with a recruiting class ranked in the top 10 by many analysts, Sendek has produced something else alien to Raleigh in recent years: high expectations.
"We can't control [expectations]," Sendek said. "We realize more than anybody that we have a tremendous amount of hard work ahead of us and a long way to go. We certainly, by no means feel like we have arrived, but by no means are we content with any success that we may have realized in the past."
This year's team, like last year's, will thrive on the first gospel of Herb Sendek: defense.
Back to lead the Wolfpack defense in his senior season is Ishua Benjamin, a member of last year's all-ACC defensive squad. Benjamin is the catalyst to a stifling defense that finished third in the nation last year, giving up only 54.7 points per game.
"Ishua has proven himself to be one of the better defenders, not only in our conference, but in the country," Sendek said.
Following a late-season move to the wing from point guard, Benjamin posted career-best offensive numbers. Sendek has decided to leave the 6-foot-4 guard on the wing this year.
"Just like a running back playing quarterback, Ishua was a wing playing a point guard for most of his career out of necessity," Sendek said.
The end of that necessity came last year in the surprising late-season showing of freshman Justin Gainey. When called on to step up, the freshman produced. In the final 13 games, Gainey averaged 39.8 minutes per game and posted a 2:1 assist-to turnover ratio.
"When the season started last year, Justin experienced some rocky roads and turbulent waters," Sendek said. "He had the mental toughness to stick with it and keep working. As a result, he improved. Justin's improvement was very instrumental to our team's development."
The wild card in this year's team is sophomore Damon Thornton. Last year, Thornton became the first freshman ever to lead the Wolfpack in rebounding, blocked shots, and field goal percentage. A member of the All-ACC rookie team, Thornton started in every game prior to suffering a back injury in a late season loss to Virginia.
This year, Thornton's health will play a huge factor in N.C. State's success. A healthy Thornton could mean trouble for the rest of the ACC. Thornton could take some of the scoring and rebounding pressure off of a team already beleaguered offensively by the loss of last year's second-leading scorer, Danny Strong.
"[To make up for Strong's departure] I think other guys are going to have to assume different roles offensively," Sendek said. "We're going to have to find different ways to score."
Those different ways to score will definitely include Kenny Inge, the most highly touted of N.C. State's six-man recruiting class. Inge, who was ranked as high as No. 6 among fifth-year prep players, looks to form the same deadly frontcourt combination with Damon Thornton they had in high school. Described by Sendek as "an outstanding athlete," Inge has already found a spot in the starting lineup.
In his first recruiting attempt Sendek has plugged many of the holes of last year's squad, especially in the front court where the Wolfpack had only one man above 6-6. Five of the Pack's six recruits are 6-6 or taller, including 6-10 center Ron Kelley. Ranked No. 47 by recruiting analyst Bob Gibbons, he will add much needed help on the glass for a squad that finished eighth in the ACC in rebounding last year.
The new look for the Pack will feature not only rebounding but also, unlike many teams of the recent past, a bench. Freshman Archie Miller will be able to provide breathers for the habitually overworked Gainey. Called the "best playmaker" of last year's recruiting class by Bob Gibbons, Miller has already proved invaluable to the Pack, nailing a three-pointer with 33 seconds remaining to tie Princeton in the Coaches Versus Cancer final.
Six new faces and a group of streaky returners do not always create a happy mix, but it will have to work for this year's State squad.
"We will really have to rely on the team concept," Sendek said. "I think the newcomers are getting along very well with the returners. We are blessed with special people that are all making efforts to get along."
This is a team that has the talent to crash the party for the ACC elite and finish in the upper echelon. But don't expect the Wolfpack season to be without growing pains. It may be a bit premature to start recording over the Valvano-era videotapes, but you might as well hook up the VCR-this N.C. State team is talented and patient. The Pack may be a few years away from an ACC title, but State is a legitimate threat.
"Right now our focus is on making sure we work as hard as we can, focusing on improvement," Sendek said. "We want to control what is presently at our fingertips. Any time you do those kinds of things you obviously put yourself in a position for good things to happen."
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