N.C. State Freshmen Shine in Exhibition

With all the pre-season hype surrounding freshman J.J. Hickson, some have overlooked the addition of freshman forward Tracy Smith, who coach Sidney Lowe said early that he felt would have an immediate impact.

In Thursday night’s 94-57 exhibition win over Barton College both Hickson and Smith scored 11 points, tying for fourth highest on the team.

Smith’s performance was particularly impressive, sophomore forward Brandon Costner said, as Smith scored 11 points in only 11 minutes and connected on 5 of 6 field-goal attempts.

“He picked up where the first five left off,” Costner said. “He was hot for a good portion of the first half, and I don’t think he missed a shot.”

Hickson’s 11 points came on 5 of 10 shooting from the field, including several rim-rattling dunks. Hickson had to work through some first-game jitters Thursday according to Costner. At times, the former McDonalds All-America tried to do too much offensively until his teammates calmed him down.

“J.J. played well too, I just thought he was a little anxious, a little over-aggressive, but that’s common for a freshman,” Costner said. “We just told him to relax. He was going too fast. The game’s a lot slower than he was playing it at. It’s not like high school; everything has more of a purpose now. You just can’t run and jump over people anymore.”

Costner, a preseason All-ACC first-team member, set the tone for the Wolfpack offensively, scoring 22 points, including three three-pointers, and grabbed six rebounds. Costner said the depth in the frontcourt was a positive change, though he wasn’t used to sitting on the bench for an extended period of time.

“I found myself sitting on the bench and getting cold and noticing it was cold in there, and even needing a heat pack to warm back up,” Costner said. “But it’s nice that you can play as hard as you can when you’re in there, and when you need a break you get a break.

"When me and Ben need a break, I’m sure there won’t be any let-off with them or any drop in play.”

According to Lowe, he was pleased with the forwards’ play as well as the play of redshirt sophomore Farnold Degand, who also made his debut at point guard Thursday. Lowe said Degand “ran the show well” and particularly liked his “solid” defense. Degand finished the game with eight points, six assists and two turnovers.

“He’s comfortable with pushing the ball,” Lowe said. “When he gets it down there, we got some fast break baskets, especially early in the game.”

Lowe said his primary concern for Degand is knowing when to slow the game down and get other players involved in the offense.