NC State Wolfpack

By Tony Haynes

As an opposing guard sweeps past his man into the lane, NC State forward Kenny Inge quickly pulls himself away from the player he is guarding and plants his feet squarely in the middle of the lane. Wham! Bang! Whack! As Inge absorbs the collision and falls on his back, the man in the striped shirt blows the whistle and places his right hand behind his head. Charging is the call.

Now a senior, Kenny Inge has become the master of playing "help defense." In his junior season, he led his team in charges drawn with 22. Inge's expertise is the result of hours upon hours of practice and repetition. Without even thinking about it, he now instinctively keeps his eyes on both his man and the ball. But it wasn't always that way. When he first stepped on the NC State campus as a 190-pound freshman four years ago, Inge knew little about the finer points of playing defense on the college level.

He was no different then than Marcus Melvin, Scooter Sherrill, Michael Bell and Trey Guidry are now. Kenny Inge "honored the process," as Wolfpack coach Herb Sendek likes to say. Now NC State's four first year players must honor that same process before they can reach their full potential.

Prior to entering their first college practice, Melvin, Sherrill, Guidry and Bell thought they knew a lot about their sport. But like most freshmen, they were in for a big surprise.

"You learn something new everyday," Guidry said. "There are so many tricks to the trade. The coaches teach you something new everyday. You've just got to go along with it and try to make yourself better."

NC State's first year players haven't gotten beyond that point yet where their heads aren't still spinning. The amount of new information given to them on a daily basis is sometimes staggering. And while they're still learning the NC State system, they must also have the capacity to take in a detailed scouting report on each opponent.

Playing basketball is hard enough; playing basketball while trying to think through every single move you make on the court is paralyzing.

"We all make mistakes, especially us freshmen," Guidry said. "I'm working hard to get there. We're learning and trying to get better from what the coaches tell us."

Sendek and his staff spend hours evaluating each player on a daily basis. After watching practice, the coaches watch film of the same practice. In the final analysis, the decision on which players get the most playing time is based on the evidence. Naturally, the players with the most experience are usually more consistent with their performances on the practice floor, and thus they get more minutes in a game.

The presence of Archie Miller, Cliff Crawford and Anthony Grundy allows Sendek to bring Sherrill along at a more reasonable pace. The reigning North Carolina High School Player of the Year is wonderful talent, but he hasn't quite reached the point yet where he's performing at a higher level than the three perimeter players who are in front of him. Once Sherrill starts reaching that level everyday in practice, his playing time will increase.

Ditto for Marcus Melvin and Trey Guidry. Because of tendinitis in both of his knees, Michael Bell has been forced to step back for awhile. But he too will require a developmental period.

It's all about honoring the process.

Just ask Kenny Inge.