Sanders, Horvath: Forgotten no more

The symptoms are familiar-a trace of homesickness, a little anxiety caused by an overwhelming work load, the sensation of being lost in the crowd or maybe just not fitting in.

The malady attacks most incoming freshmen on college campuses throughout the country at one point or another. Call it freshman-itis.

And last year, Nick Horvath and Casey Sanders had it bad.

Not only did these two deal with the typical freshman-year growing pains, they also faced a unique challenge on the basketball court-playing in the shadows of first-year phenoms Jason Williams, Mike Dunleavy and Carlos Boozer.

"Last season, Casey and I, compared to the other three freshmen-Mike, Jason and Carlos-had much more of a typical freshman year," Horvath said. "We didn't have exceptionally bad freshman years, it's just that the other three guys had exceptionally good [ones]. We are more on the four-year plan than the jump to the NBA sort of thing."

At the start of last season, the familiar faces on Duke's roster were few and far between after the mass defection of 1999. Shane Battier and Chris Carrawell were recognizable faces, but Nate James and Matt Christensen were not yet household names.

Enter Mike Krzyzewski's highly touted freshman class of Williams, Sanders, Horvath, Dunleavy, Boozer and Andre Buckner.

In a diaper-dandy-happy college basketball atmosphere, the local and national media quickly anointed the heralded freshmen as the heir apparents to the throne of Duke basketball, as saviors of a team that wasn't supposed to be its typically dominant self.

But Sanders and Horvath seem unfazed. During the offseason, both players lived at the gym, honing their skills and trying to improve in areas they considered weak points of their respective games.

Sanders headed to Europe to pick up some pointers from other big-man veterans who could teach the spindly center a thing or two about ACC wars in the paint.

"I think I learned a lot about being competitive and using what you have to contribute to the team," Sanders said. "One of the biggest things I think I learned is that you don't have to be big, so much as you have to be strong mentally and physically."

And strength, physically speaking, was something that plagued Sanders during his freshman year. The knock on him last year was that he was just too thin to compete at the big-time collegiate level. Naturally, Sanders spent a lot of time in the weight room over the summer trying to correct that by bulking up.

"We feel that last year we did not have depth up front," Krzyzewski said. "Casey was just too thin. He has put on some weight, but mostly strength and he has just grown up. He is a much better player now."

Still, listening to the Duke coach, you get the feeling Sanders has a long way to go in his quest to develop a muscular frame. So coach, just when will Sanders be as strong as he needs to be?

"In about eight years," Krzyzewski said, amidst much laughter by the media. "Is he strong enough to play here at Duke right now? Yes. But we'll look at him when he's 26 and we'll say, 'You're pretty strong Casey.' He's kind of strong. He's gained about 10 pounds of strength, but more so than anything he is stronger mentally.... He is going to be a better player."

To his credit, Sanders has tried just about everything to put on some needed poundage.

"I do it all," said a grinning Sanders. "I eat twinkies, I eat steak-I'd eat the whole cow if I could. The biggest thing is that I've tried to get in the weight room more often to gain strength and I think I have done that. Hopefully, this year, when I do get a chance to play, that will show up a little bit."

Horvath also hopes to prove to coaches, teammates and fans that he has improved his game significantly since last season.

"In the preseason, Nick has made a big impression on all the players with how well he has played," Krzyzewski said. "He, I think, last year helped us at times as a shooter, but all he thought of himself as was a shooter, not a player. I think this year he thinks of himself as a player."

The elder statesmen on the team have quickly taken notice of the new Horvath.

"The player that I've been so enthused with coming back is Nick Horvath," James said. "He's improved his game so much. He was already a good player, but he came in and refined things to his game."

Horvath, like Sanders, also spent a lot of time in the weight room this summer. Expected to play in the paint more this year as opposed to roaming the perimeter like he did last season, Horvath dedicated himself to bulking up.

In fact, Duke coaches have been matching Horvath up with Battier in practices to prepare him for more inside duty.

"Going against the player of the year candidate in practice will actually probably make the games seem a little bit easier," Horvath said. "It gets frustrating because Shane is so good, but then after a while you realize that you are getting that much better when you [play against him]."

Perhaps the one advantage Sanders and Horvath have on their sophomore classmates is they can take people by surprise this season. The expectations placed on them are considerably lower than what Boozer, Dunleavy and Williams face.

They really don't have to worry about the dreaded sophomore jinx.

The key for both, it seems, is to put last year behind them and treat this year as a clean-slated break from the past. Horvath summed it up nicely for the two forgotten freshmen of a year ago.

"Last year I felt like I was a little more passive being a freshman, backing down maybe when I shouldn't have," he said. "This year I am going to be more assertive."

For both Sanders and Horvath, that might be just what the doctor ordered.