After a rookie season that saw him see scant action, Ben McCauley entered his sophomore campaign as an afterthought. He left is as one of the ACC’s biggest surprises.
McCauley earned honorable-mention all-conference recognition after finishing 15th in the conference in scoring (14.4 points per game) and ninth in rebounding (6.9 boards per contest). He also finished second in the league in field-goal percentage, with his .584 (211-361) representing the second-highest single-season mark in NC State history.
McCauley’s scoring increase of 12.3 points per game from his rookie season was the second-highest increase among ACC players. He notched six 20-point games, tied a school record with 36 starts on the year, finished with the third-most minutes played (1,234) in school annals and wound up fifth in the league in minutes per game (34.53). Capping his campaign in style, he earned second-team All-CC Tournament honors after shooting 66.7 percent (20-30) in the tourney, then posted two double-doubles in the Wolfpack’s three NIT contests. If that wasn’t enough, he was named to the Academic All-ACC squad for the second straight year for good measure.
Finishing second on the team in rebounding, steals (36) and minutes; third in scoring; and tied for third in blocks (22) demonstrated McCauley’s extreme value to the Pack. However, perhaps one of the most surprising aspects of the big man’s emergence was his development into a stellar passer out of the post—he ended up second on the squad in assists with 115.
On the eve of the start of basketball practice at State, McCauley took some time to talk with me for a story for Pack Pride. Here are some quotes that didn’t make it into the feature article:
Me: What’s the anticipation around the team as the start of hoops practice quickly approaches?
McCauley: “It’s so close I can taste it. Practice is right around the corner, literally; tomorrow is the first day and everyone is looking forward to it. It’s a good time of the year.”
Me: What were your expectations of yourself when you came from Yough High School in Pennsylvania to the Atlantic Coast Conference?
McCauley: “You hear from this and that, this person and that person, that only a certain amount of people make it to the NBA out of college, and obviously that puts you back a little bit. Because you think, ‘All right, I’ve got a little window here I’ve got to work with. But if I work my butt off, maybe I can get in that little window.’
“But coming out of high school, I didn’t really know what to expect, to tell you the truth. I was just taking it with open arms and just running with it. You can control your future; as hard as you work, it’s up to you. You hear this all the time: ‘Don’t let anyone tell you what you can or can’t do,’ and I think that’s one of the … truest statements ever. If you know you can do something and you feel like you can do something, who’s stopping you, really?”
Me: Last year, you and the rest of the Wolfpack starters were playing 35 to 40 minutes per game. What will it mean to have a lot more help this year, with three transfers and three freshmen coming in?
McCauley: “I think we’ll be in a lot more games toward the end of the game, because we’ll be fresh. But at the same time, like [teammate] Gavin [Grant] said, no one wants to come out of the game—but that’s being part of a team. You’re going to have players, you need the rest. You can’t play all the time; obviously, we did last year because we had to. There were a couple of games where we didn’t think we were tired, but we probably really were tired. And I think that will go away this year because we do have a lot of bodies, and a lot of bodies that can help us.
“So it’s not going to be fun getting taken out of the game, but then again, it’s your teammates, so that’s part of [being] a team—you’re going to cheer them on no matter what. It’ll be different, but I think it’s going to work out for the best.”
Me: You’ll be getting some big-time frontcourt help in rookies J.J. Hickson and Tracy Smith, two highly regarded youngsters. What have been your early impressions of these two?
McCauley: “They’re playing well. The one thing, obviously, is now they have to learn the offense. Athletic-wise and conditioning-wise, they’re coming along. They’re in pretty good shape right now; obviously, we all are because we’ve been working out. The two main things [are] you have to be able to learn your offense and you have to be able to learn your teammates. It’s a big thing, learning the offense, but then again, you have to know what your teammates are expecting of you.
“I think that’s one thing that worked well last year: we had really good team chemistry. For instance, if I got the ball in the post, guys would move and they knew that I was going to get them the ball. They would move to either shoot a three or cut to the basket, and that works well, because they know that I know that I want them to move to the basket. That’s one thing that our big men now will have to work on, is ‘Does this guy want to cut to the basket? Does he want to stay out and let me go to work?’ That’s something that will come with game experience.
“But other than that, they’re looking strong. They’re great athletes and good kids, and they’re going to fit in here well.”
Me: Coach Sidney Lowe and his assistants have a year under their belts now, and the returning players should have a better idea of what the staff expects of them. How much of the teaching process for the new players falls on the older players now?
McCauley: “I think we have to kind of show them the way a little bit now, too. Like I said, last year was a big learning experience and we all learned a lot. So we have to take what we learned and filter it to the freshman, to the new guys.
“It’s a lot different, learning stuff from your fellow teammates than your coaches. I realized that when I was a freshman; it’s different [when] you hear something from a guy who’s going through it, rather than just coaching it. When I would talk to Ilian [Evtimov] and Andrew [Brackman], they’d give me personal experiences from being in games and what it’s like to actually be a player rather than hearing it from a coach who’s on the sideline, who’s not in the heat of the game—he is in the heat of the game, but it’s a different kind of point of view. So I think it’s good to get a little bit of both, so I think the freshmen will appreciate it, hearing it from guys who have been there.
“I’m not saying … Obviously Coach Lowe does have experience of being in it—obviously. Guys [who] have an experience being coached under Coach Lowe, it’s different, I think; then they know what to expect from him and what [he expects] from them. I don’t think there’s anyone better to tell them than guys who are already playing under him.”
Me: After being picked to finish at the bottom of the ACC in the preseason last year, the Pack is being ranked in the top 25 just about everywhere. Do the rankings have any effect on how the team approaches or looks at the upcoming season?
McCauley: “That’s one thing you have to look at: It’s preseason, and no one’s seen anyone play each other yet with their new teams. You see preseason rankings go down the tubes, even in football. But then again, it does kind of make you feel good that someone is confident that you can be one of the top frontcourts or teams in the nation. So it does give you a little bit of confidence, but then again, you can’t get a big head just because someone’s ranking you that high. You still have to come out and prove that you are that top-five team. It might give us a little bit of confidence, but like I said, again, you’ve got to be able to perform.”
Me: For whatever reason, Grant’s comment about State losing four games or less this year garnered a lot of attention nationally. Was your reaction to that more along the lines of encouraging that or “C’mon, Gavin, let’s not put a bull’s eye on our back right off the bat”?
McCauley: “No, I think that’s OK. I think that’s fine, because he’s a senior, a leader. We’re going to follow pretty much what [he says] … Gavin’s the leader, and if he says something like that, we’re going to take full responsibility in making sure that happens. I think it’s good; I think it gives us a sense of, ‘Let’s get out and do this,’ instead of coming out of the gates and being like, ‘Make sure we win this game, make sure we win this game.’ We’re coming out [saying], ‘Let’s win every game, let’s do this. We know we can do it, so let’s do it.’ And I think Gavin knows we can do it, that’s why he said that. He wouldn’t have said that if he didn’t think we could do it.
“He’s confident, and that’s a big thing. I think there’s a difference between cockiness ad confidence. I think he was very confident in that comment, and we’re all confident that we can do it.”
Me: The team was obviously upset to be picked to finish in last place a season ago. How are the expectations different now?
McCauley: “It is different; it’s a lot better than being picked last. But being picked last, you can be the underdog, and if you win, that’s a bonus. But now, I feel like we can win and we should win, so we should be ranked high. I’m confident that we can be [at] the top of the ACC.”
Me: Even though State is being ranked highly in some areas, most people they’ll finish last in the Triangle still—behind UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke.
McCauley: [shaking head] “Last in the Triangle … We’re not going to be last in the Triangle, that’s for sure.”
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