Gillen fighting mixed emotions
Andrew Joyner / Daily Progress staff writer
January 3, 2004

Virginia coach Pete Gillen was fond of saying that former UVa assistant and current Manhattan coach Bobby Gonzalez “could make coffee nervous.”

While that may be, the analogy also works for Gillen himself.

Certainly today might be the best day to test that hypothesis.

Gillen has often been fairly vocal about his dislike for playing against former assistants (a fact he frequently asserts when facing former aide and Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser twice each season).

Today, Gillen will not be facing a former assistant but rather his former school when Providence visits University Hall at 3 p.m.

Gillen was 73-52 in his four years at Providence before leaving for Charlottesville in the spring of 1998.

Actually, Gillen has led his new team against his old one before as Virginia defeated Providence in a consolation contest in the 1999 Puerto Rico Shootout.

That was just a year and a half removed from his move to Virginia and Gillen was adamant then that it was not an ideal situation for him.

“It was a lose-lose situation for me. Obviously, the biggest thing is that you want to win, but it’s no fun going going against your old team,” said Gillen in the Nov. 27, 1999 edition of The Daily Progress. “I don’t get any pleasure out of beating kids you used to coach.”

Now, all the players that Gillen had coached or recruited to Providence are long gone and he hasn’t been the school’s coach for nearly six years.

That doesn’t mean, however, all is forgotten. Far from it.

“It will be difficult. I had four very good years there. I have a lot of good friends up there,” Gillen said. “It’s been a while now, so most of their people probably don’t know I coached there. They’ve forgotten me like yesterday’s lunch.”

Gillen’s best year at Providence was in 1996-97 when the Friars got within one game of the Final Four before losing to eventual national champion Arizona in overtime.

“I had four years there and we got to the Final Eight one year and almost got to the Final Four. It will be tough for me but it won’t be tough for Providence because like I said, I’m yesterday’s news,” Gillen said.

What shouldn’t be lost in any Gillen ties to this contest is that Providence is an accomplished 7-1 team that has registered victories over Alabama and then-No. 14 Illinois. The latter was a lopsided 70-51 decision at Madison Square Garden in the Jimmy V Classic.

“They are a heck of a team. That’s the bottom line. They are a NCAA tournament team. They’re very good,” Gillen said. “We will have our work cut out for us.”

Virginia may have the services of junior forward Jason Clark either for today’s game or Monday’s game against William & Mary. Sources indicate that Clark, who has been serving an academic-related suspension, has likely been cleared to return to the team. Clark, however, has not been allowed to practice with the team during this span and it’s unclear what his availability would be.
 

UVa ends year like a winner
Despite some rough patches and injuries, the Cavaliers realize their goal to win a bowl.
By Doug Doughty
doug.doughty@roanoke.com
981-3129

To understand the emotions released by Virginia's victory over Pittsburgh in the Continental Tire Bowl, it helps to remember where the Cavaliers stood in mid-November.

At 5-5 then, the best they could do was 8-5.

"A lot of people didn't think it was possible," UVa defensive end Chris Canty said. "People would have said, 'They've got to beat Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech and a Big East opponent that's pretty good.' But, in the locker room, we knew we could come together and get it done."

It helped that the Cavaliers played the first two opponents at Scott Stadium, where they are 11-1 since the opening game of the 2002 season, then visited their home away from home, Ericsson Stadium in Charlotte, N.C.

Of a Tire Bowl crowd announced at 51,326, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter Paul Zeise said, "It appeared as if the only reason there was that many was because about 45,000 Virginia fans showed up."

Head coach Al Groh has put a premium on winning bowl games, which is easy to say now that he's 2-0 in the postseason. However, UVa had lost four straight bowl games before his arrival prior to the 2001 season.

"I approached last year as if it was the first bowl trip, which it was for me," Groh said at a press luncheon before this year's game. "We wanted to establish how we were going to go to bowl games. That doesn't mean it was necessarily any different than the past, but I don't know how that was.

"The whole reason that you fight it out all season is so you can get to the postseason and win. That's the whole purpose of the postseason: to win."

The fact that the Cavaliers had won last year helped Groh make his point before this year's game.

"Young players, before they've played in a bowl game, the first thing they ask is, 'What do we get, what's the gift going to be, what do we get to do when we go down there?'" Groh said.

"I asked some of the guys who had been on other bowl trips, 'Where is all that stuff you got?' We had a couple players stand up. One of them said, 'It's in a box below the cellar steps. I never want to look at it again.' Another one said, 'I gave it away.'

"They're not just gifts. They're mementos. A memento is supposed to remind you of something positive. ... So, the whole thing has relevance only if you win."

Groh called it "appropriate" that the season ended when it did. Safety Jermaine Hardy is scheduled to undergo surgery Tuesday for a torn anterior cruciate ligament, and tailbacks Wali Lundy and Alvin Pearman both suffered ankle injuries in the Tire Bowl.

While prognosticators who put UVa in the Top 15 early in the season may not have paid enough attention to a schedule that included ACC road trips to Clemson, North Carolina State and Maryland, the matter of injuries may have played a factor in the Cavaliers likely not reappearing in the Top 25 at season's end.

Top returning wide receiver Michael McGrew was lost for the season when he suffered a broken leg in preseason practice, fullback Jason Snelling was redshirted in an effort to get his migraines under control, and safety Willie Davis did not play after a violent concussion at South Carolina.

The Cavaliers were without record-setting quarterback Matt Schaub when they visited South Carolina in Week2, where they trailed 10-7 late in the third quarter before the Gamecocks pulled away for a 31-7 victory.

In each of Virginia's other losses, the outcome was not decided until the fourth quarter, most notably a 51-37 loss at N.C. State in a game that was tied 37-37 with less than a minute remaining.

McGrew and Snelling are expected back next year and Davis hopes to return after undergoing an operation at the Mayo Clinic that restored feeling lost in one of his arms. Running back Michael Johnson, a once-prized recruit, was redshirted and has three years of eligibility remaining.

Groh has pointed toward the 2004 season as a time when his regime might start peaking, but he understands he has a big question mark at quarterback. Candidates abound, however, starting with two-year backup Marques Hagans and Chris Olsen, a transfer from Notre Dame.

Hagans was moved to wide receiver before the season and finished with 28 receptions, but after his starring performance as an emergency quarterback at Western Michigan, he practiced at quarterback the rest of the season.

UVa returns a first-team All-ACC selection in tight end Heath Miller, and the underclassmen included four second-team All-ACC choices: Canty, offensive guard Elton Brown, tailback Wali Lundy and place-kicker Connor Hughes.

Ahmad Brooks was a first-team selection on the Freshman All-America team selected by The Sporting News and set a UVa freshman record with 117 tackles, including a team-leading 12 stops against Pittsburgh.

Miller, Canty and Brown technically could go to the NFL following their third year out of high school, but only Brown's return seems to be an issue.

"I believe 'Big E' is coming back," Canty said. "From what he's told me, he's coming back, and I'm looking forward to him being my teammate next year."

 

Late-arriving crowd makes noise during late run
Stith to do commentary on Saturday game
By DOUG DOUGHTY
Exclusive to roanoke.com by 5 p.m. Thursdays

Five minutes before tipoff Wednesday night, I made a mental note to say something nasty in my game story about the size of the men’s basketball crowd at University Hall.
Then, as has happened dozens of times over the years, the stands filled in and I wrote nothing about a crowd listed at 7,354.

In fact, a case could be made that the crowd’s support was a factor in the late UVa run that resulted in an 85-74 victory over previously unbeaten Iowa State.

Nevertheless, when you’re building a $128-million arena that will seat 15,000, the apparent indifference of the UVa faithful has to be a concern.

Certainly, Virginia didn’t commit to this project with visions of a half-empty arena.

The absence of “buzz” surrounding Virginia men’s basketball was a topic of conversation in the press room before the game, where at least one of the participants suggested that UVa sports fans are more disappointed with men’s basketball than any other program.

I’ve said before that I don’t think it’s a sportswriter’s role to be “disapppointed,” but if there was a list of UVa programs with which I have been unimpressed of late, I’d start with women’s basketball and men’s soccer.

On the subject of whether Pete Gillen is a good coach, I go back and forth. I think it’s absurd the way he wastes timeouts and his substitutions sometimes defy logic, such as removing freshman J.R. Reynolds in the first half Wednesday night when it appeared that Reynolds was about to take over the game.

On the other hand, I don’t think there has been a time in Gillen’s six years when the talent level -- players in the program, players who have signed and a player (Tunji Soroye) who is orally committed -- has been as high.

If not for a loss at North Carolina State, the Cavaliers would be unbeaten, and I suspect that a lot of teams will lose at the RBC Center this season. The Wolfpack won convincingly, 87-69, but that included a 7-0 run to end the game.

Virginia has had a weak early season schedule and has won games it was supposed to win, but games with Minnesota and Iowa State at home were no lock, and neither was a game at Loyola-Marymount.

When the season started, I told Halifax County “journalist” Tucker McLaughlin Jr. that Virginia would win 18 games and put a lunch on it. That’s two guys who shouldn’t be scheduling too many lunches, but I wouldn’t take it back at this point.

IN REFLECTING on the recently completed football career of Virginia quarterback Matt Schaub, it occurred to me that Schaub might rank among the five classiest athletes with whom I have dealt in 30 years of covering UVa athletics.

I was reminded of those thoughts Wednesday night, when ex-Cavalier basketball star Bryant Stith walked in the door at University Hall in front of me. Stith, now in retirement after a 10-year NBA career and building a rec center in his native Brunswick County, will do the television commentary Saturday for the Cavaliers’ 3 p.m. game with Providence.

Not only is Stith the all-time leading scorer in Virginia men’s basketball history, but he was one of UVa’s most humble great athletes. I remember the disappointment that Stith must have felt in 1992, when the Cavaliers missed the NCAA Tournament in his senior year and how he set the tone for a successful NIT championship run.

Stith has four children -- two boys and two girls -- and says they’re into everything, including golf. Stith decided to take up golf after he agreed to participate in a charity golf event in Denver and teammates tricked him with an exploding ball. He vowed at the time that he would learn how to play before he ever entered another charity event.

Accompanied by his father, Stith sat at press row Wednesday night and took notes for his TV gig. At halftime, as he shook hands with UVa fundaiser Barry Parkhill, it occurred to me that Parkhill, too, would be a candidate for the five-classiest-athletes list.

Readers are welcome their list for continued discussions in the weeks to come.

THE POINT HAS been made repeatedly in this column that UVa would benefit from a sports hall of fame, and the career of a player like Schaub makes an even better case for it.

UVa has not retired a football number since Shawn Moore’s No. 12 in 1990, so it’s unlikely that Schaub’s number will be retired, but here’s a player, like 1990s running backs Terry Kirby, Tiki Barber and Thomas Jones, who needs to receive permanent recognition.

Defensive back Anthony Poindexter belongs on that list, but at least he’s back in the program. There are a limited number of spots for coaches, but UVa traditionally has not done a great job of keeping its best former athletes involved in its programs.

 

Hall not the only prospect at Gretna
Clemson, UNC eyeballing Eastern Shore sleeper
By DOUG DOUGHTY
Exclusive to roanoke.com by 5 p.m. Fridays

As soon as junior quarterback Vic Hall committed to Virginia this past semester, history would suggest that Gretna would not have another Division I-A prospect for a while.

Turns out, coach Rob Senseney may be mass-producing them.

In junior outside linebacker Horace Hubbard, the Hawks have another I-A prospect in Hall's class academically and maybe in his class as a prospect.

Senseney reports that Hubbard, who sometimes goes by his middle name, Dewayne, already has heard from Boston College, North Carolina and Virginia.

Hubbard (6 foot 4, 230 pounds) was one of three Gretna players to make first-team All-Group AA, along with Hall and wide receiver Brandon Turner.

Senseney says that Turner (6-2, 180) has been offered a full scholarship by Liberty and continues to hear from Division I-A programs.

"He's not a speed receiver," said Senseney, who estimated Turner's time in the 40 at 4.6 seconds, "but he's a great route runner."

Turner caught 83 passes for 1,573 yards and 16 touchdowns for the Hawks this season.

Junior college is the likely destination for Gretna senior Marlon Moon, a 6-foot, 220-pound fullback, as well as running back Rico Reynolds, a junior who scored four touchdowns in a 48-18 victory over Monticello in the Group AA Division 4 state title game.

HUBBARD DOES NOT have blinding speed (4.8 in the 40) but has dedicated himself in the weight room and is "going to be a monster," Senseney said.

"He's an athlete. If we didn't have Vic Hall at quarterback, Horace would be our quarterback. He could be our deep snapper. He could be our punter. If anything happened to our shotgun snapper, we'd move him down the line."

Senseney compared Hubbard to one-time Brookville High School defensive end and tight end James Lomax, rated the No. 14 prospect in the state before signing with Virginia Tech in 1996. Senseney joined the Brookville staff in 1996 and was familiar with Lomax from watching tape of the 1995 season.

"This kid is better," said Senseney, aware that Lomax didn't pan out at Tech before leaving the program. "As far as a blocking tight end, he's [Hubbard] the best. He's definitely worth a look."

Senseney says Senseney currently carries a grade-point average in the 2.2-2.3 range but is taking advance-placement courses as part of a college-bound curriculum.

HALL CONTINUES TO receive mail from other schools and rival coaches inquire about his commitment to Virginia, "but, when they ask how I feel, I tell them he's solid," Senseney said.

Hall set a state record this year with 4,434 yards fin total offense and was responsible for 56 touchdowns (31 passing, 25 rushing), but there were questions about his size (5-10, 180) before this year.

"From the first day you could recruit him, Virginia was recruiting him," Senseney said. "Other teams wanted to wait and see. Virginia didn't wait. He just felt it was a good fit for him."

Hall's committed to the Cavaliers on Oct. 3, less than a month after 5-10, 207-pound Marques Hagans had stepped in at quarterback and led Virginia to a 59-16 victory at Western Michigan. UVa susbequently reduced Hagans' practice time at wide receiver and made an indefinite commitment to him at quarterback.

"That was mentioned to me," Senseney said. "With Hagans doing so well, their decision to go after an athlete quarterback [Hall] was reinforced."

COMPILING THE ROANOKE TIMES' list of the top 100 senior football prospects is a two- or three-year process. Even so, many of the decisions are made during the period Dec. 20-24.

Such was the case with 6-4, 260-pound A.J. Custis, named first-team All-Group AA this year after catching 38 passes, six for touchdowns, for Nandua High School on the Eastern Shore.

I had come across Custis' name in the days prior to publication of the top 100, but had him listed with Riverheads High School. When Zirkle Blakey of virginiapreps.com said he had a Riverheads roster and Custis wasn't on it, I backed off.

I've subsequently learned that not only is there is an A.J. Custis, but apparently there is also an outstanding tight end at Riverheads, second-team All-Group A choice Brandon Tankesley (6-4, 220). Perhaps they both belong on the list.

The Custis name struck a nerve because the Eastern Shore also produced former Virginia Tech basketball star Anthony "Ace" Custis, who played for Northampton. Nandua coach Tony Washington said he wasn't aware of a connection but said that coaches from North Carolina and Clemson have been to the school.

Washington, the father of former Virginia Tech linemen Todd and T.J. Washington, said he believes that Clemson has made a scholarship offer to Custis but that Custis has not made an oral commitment. Custis also has heard from Virginia and Virginia Tech but neither has been by Nandua.

Regarding his sons, Tony Washington said that Todd is starting at left guard for Houston after winning a Super Bowl ring last winter as a back-up center for Tampa Bay. T.J. Washington last played for the Carolina Panthers before retiring following the 2002 season. He now teaches and coaches at Olympic High School in Charlotte, N.C.

ODDS 'N' ENDS: Centreville High School coach Mike Skinner says that defensive back Steven Tate, who was No. 40 on The Roanoke Times list, has received a scholarship from Division I-AA national champion Delaware but is being recruited by the Cavaliers and would consider playing for UVa as a recruited walk-on. ... Woodberry Forest quarterback Caylor Mark, who attracted interest from several academically prestigious schools, accepted early admission from Virginia and will talk to the Cavaliers' staff about walking on. Mark was 75th on The Roanoke Times' list.
 

These Friars do not know Pete Gillen
Virginia coach faces his former employer long after departure
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Jan 3, 2004
PROVIDENCE at VIRGINIA
TODAY: 3 p.m., University Hall

CHARLOTTESVILLE - Nearly six years have passed since Pete Gillen left Providence College to become men's basketball coach at the University of Virginia.

In Rhode Island, Gillen said, he's ancient history. The players he coached at Providence have moved on, which means the team that visits University Hall this afternoon won't have emotional ties to the red-headed guy on the home bench.

Gillen's Cavaliers (9-1) meet the Friars (7-1) at 3 p.m.

"It's been awhile, so they probably don't even know I coached there," he said. "The kids on the other team don't know, and most other people don't know. They've forgotten me like yesterday's lunch."

That wasn't the case in 1999-2000, when the Cavaliers beat the Friars 80-64 in the Puerto Rico Shootout. Providence's lone loss this season came against Rhode Island, whose coach is Gillen's close friend Jim Baron. The Friars' victims include Alabama, Richmond and Illinois.

"They're an NCAA tournament team," Gillen said.

In four seasons at Providence, Gillen posted a 72-53 record. The Friars won a Big East tournament game and advanced to the NIT's second round in each of his first two seasons. Year No. 3 was more memorable. Providence went 24-12, winning three games in the NCAA tournament before falling to eventual champion Arizona.

Providence struggled in Gillen's final season. The Friars won their Big East tourney opener but lost their second-round game and finished 13-16. In March 1998, Gillen moved to U.Va., where he's 95-66 in six seasons, with one trip to the NCAAs.

Gillen's latest team has NCAA-tourney aspirations, which makes today's game as critical for the Cavaliers as their previous outing. U.Va. rallied Wednesday night for an 85-74 win over previously unbeaten Iowa State at U-Hall.

Coming off a loss at N.C. State, U.Va. couldn't afford to stumble against the Cyclones, a fact Gillen readily acknowledged.

"For us to go where we want to go, exactly right it's a must-win," he said.

Iowa State shot 55.2 percent from the floor. Still, strange as it might sound, the Cavaliers' defense fueled their victory. They forced the Cyclones into 23 turnovers and parlayed those mistakes into 25 points.

Junior forward Devin Smith led Virginia with a career-high five steals. Smith, however, isn't quick enough to thrive in a full-court press, the trademark of Gillen's best teams at Xavier, Providence and U.Va. Neither are two other Virginia starters: senior point guard Todd Billet and junior center Elton Brown. So Gillen tries to rattle opponents by periodically applying half-court pressure.

"My philosophy, honestly, is full-court hard pressure, with super quickness," he said. "We have decent quickness, but we're not playing the way I really, really, really want to play. I want to come after people and trap and press."

Until then, Gillen said after the Iowa State game, for his team to be "real good, we have to be physical, we have to be tough, we have to have courage. We have to answer the bell when it's nitty-gritty time, and tonight we did."

NOTE: Jason Clark has been cleared to rejoin the team and could make his 2003-04 debut today. The 6-8, 235-pound junior from Virginia Beach, who started 15 games last season, missed the first semester for academic reasons.

 

A New Year's evaluation of strengths and weaknesses of the ACC
1-3-04
By Rob Daniels Staff Writer
News & Record

Thanks to the calendar and the college football bowl schedule, ACC basketball has about as much rhythm as a dance hall at a retirement community. Conference play started last month. It takes a break this weekend and doesn't get going in earnest for another week. But it's coming -- really, it is -- and with that in mind, it's time to examine where the ACC teams stand and how they're likely to fall into place.

For lack of a better method, they're listed by RPI standing through Thursday:

WAKE FOREST

(1-0 ACC, 8-0; No. 2 RPI)

What we know: Somehow, Wake is going to hang around and contend for a second consecutive regular-season title. The Deacs may not win it, but only a fool counts out a team coached by Skip Prosser. Freshman point guard Chris Paul is even better than anticipated, his current stretch of turnovers notwithstanding. Eric Williams and Maryland's Jamar Smith are neck-and-neck for the distinction of the ACC's most improved big guy. Jamaal Levy fits in wherever asked. It's an interesting bunch.

What we don't know: How much can this team count on power forward Vytas Danelius? His season has been hindered, to put it mildly, by a series of injuries that have frustrated the player and his coaches. If he can't help, Prosser will consistently employ the three-guard lineup of Paul, Justin Gray and Taron Downey that has been so effective.

NORTH CAROLINA

(0-1, 8-1, No. 4 RPI)

What we know: UNC has four dynamite players in Rashad McCants, Raymond Felton, Jawad Williams and Sean May, but it's only one injury -- particularly to May -- from taking a serious hit. When May suffered a minor ankle injury against UNC Wilmington a week ago, Tar Heels fans gasped and prayed to be delivered from a repeat of last season. That moment and an elbow to Jawad Williams' head served as effective reminders that this is not a deep team.

What we don't know: Whether the depth issues will matter. In the NCAA tournament -- and Carolina is headed back after two years of irrelevance -- TV timeouts last 2 minutes, 30 seconds. Fatigue shouldn't derail this bunch. Foul trouble and injuries are the two great unknowns.

MARYLAND

(0-1, 7-3, No. 15 RPI)

What we know: The Terrapins are in danger of an 0-4 start to league play. Having lost at Florida State in a turnover-laden contest, they've got UNC and Duke at home and Georgia Tech on the road in their next three ACC games. Not a benign schedule for a team playing nine freshmen and sophomores. We also know that Jamar Smith is among the most improved big men in the country. We can further suspect that this will be a tough team to mess with in another month.

What we don't know: Will John Gilchrist get any substantive relief at the point? Or will he have to pull an Edward Scott and play 38 minutes every night? D.J. Strawberry has been better than advertised, but still has 16 turnovers to 12 assists.

GEORGIA TECH

(0-0, 12-0, No. 19 RPI)

What we know: Jarrett Jack is the most improved perimeter player in the ACC. After a so-so rookie year, Jack has the best overall stat line of anybody in the conference (12.7 ppg, 7.1 apg, 5.5 rpg). He hasn't flinched with the eligibility of Arizona transfer Will Bynum, whom Hewitt took in part because Jack didn't look like a surefire solution at the point a year ago. Flanked by 3-point sharpshooter B.J. Elder and absurd leaper Isma'il Muhammad, he's thriving. Remarkably, Tech has done all this without its projected starter at center, Theodis Tarver, who dislocated a kneecap in the preseason.

What we don't know: How long this can last. Either Luke Schenscher, the 7-footer with the chronically bad wheels, has to make it through the year or Tarver has to come back. It's hard to imagine a team winning big without a presence in the post. But the Jackets have already overachieved, and unless they fall apart, Hewitt is the coach of the year.

DUKE

(0-0, 9-1, No. 22 RPI)

What we know: Luol Deng is the real deal. One of the most versatile players in the game already, the freshman will do pretty much anything at any point in a game to help his team win. Shelden Williams has bulked up considerably, and Shavlik Randolph is going to make it back from the hip injury that pretty much eradicated his freshman season.

What we don't know: Is Duke quick enough on the perimeter to handle the backcourt speed of Maryland, Florida State and Georgia Tech? The Blue Devils have been getting excellent assist-turnover ratios from nearly every major ballhandler, but they've still got issues.

VIRGINIA

(0-1, 9-1, No. 30 RPI)

What we know: The Cavaliers' RPI vastly overrates them. Virginia has played only one tough road game, and the Cavs failed to stop N.C. State in a 17-point loss.

What we don't know: Whether this team will finish seventh or eighth in the final standings. This is not an NCAA tournament team.

FLORIDA STATE

(1-0, 12-1, No. 44 RPI)

What we know: This is the best FSU team in a decade. OK, that's not saying much, but the Seminoles are going to be back in postseason play and it might be the NCAA tournament. Even if they finish 7-9 in league play, they could ride the ACC's tremendous strength to a bid.

What we don't know: How long the Seminoles' strong 3-point shooting -- 41 percent -- will last. If and when it falters, will Von Wafer and Anthony Richardson keep the offense going with mid-range play?

CLEMSON

(0-0, 7-4, No. 56 RPI)

What we know: The Tigers likely will wind up in the cellar. New coach Oliver Purnell is a great strategist who has turned heads in recruiting, but it's going to take a while.

What we don't know: If there's any near-term solution to the Tigers' average of nearly 20 turnovers a game.

N.C. STATE

(1-0, 6-2, No. 69 RPI)

What we know: It's silly to blame Herb Sendek if the Pack doesn't make its third straight NCAA tournament appearance. Sendek did his job; he recruited a team that would have contended if center Josh Powell hadn't made a wretched career move and left after his sophomore season. He's now playing in Italy, by the way. We also know State has a lot of people who will launch 3-pointers.

What we don't know: If the Wolfpack will rebound well enough to get it done. State has been outrebounded for the season, including single-game deficiencies against Howard and Wisconsin-Milwaukee.