Crazy love

Wolfpack's Hodge has manic approach to being the best

N.C. State's Julius Hodge wants to improve on his 10.7-point average from last season. Craig Jones/Getty Images

By Tim Peeler, Special to CNNSI.com

Here's the thing about North Carolina State sophomore guard Julius Hodge: He's a little nuts.

Crazy to be the best player in college basketball, in fact, and heading into his second season with the Wolfpack, he might not be too far away. He played mostly small forward in Herb Sendek's position-less offense as a freshman, but he will be one of the Wolfpack's primary ball handlers this year. He can't wait for that opportunity.

"When I am on the court, I fear no one," Hodge said just after practice for this season began. "I feel like I am the best player on the court when I am out there. I am going to continue to make strides while I am out there.

"I feel I am becoming a better player."

When he first arrived in Raleigh, from his home in Harlem, N.Y., Hodge would spend almost all of his free time in Reynolds Coliseum, the long-time home for Wolfpack basketball.

In fact, coach Herb Sendek would often get phone calls from campus security about Hodge and other players in the gym so late at night.

This summer, Hodge couldn't be removed from the gym with a crowbar. He would arrive with a duffle bag full of training aids, from oversized and heavier basketballs to a bungee-cord contraption that helps him with footwork and defensive skills.

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When it got late, Hodge started thinking about time zones. Sure, it was midnight in Raleigh, but what about California? That's why Hodge would go directly from his summer league basketball games, back to the gym, no matter how well he might have played.

"I have to work on my mistakes, unless I go something like 19-for-19 from the field with seven threes," Hodge said. "No, even if I did do that, I would sense someone else out there working harder, like someone in California where it is daytime and I am about to go to sleep. It might be midnight here, but [UCLA sophomore] Cedric Bozeman is in the gym shooting threes."

Hodge has been a manic gym rat for a while now, but two big disappointments last season made him just a little more intense in the offseason.

First, he didn't win ACC Rookie of the Year, an honor that went to Georgia Tech's Ed Nelson.

Second, he believed he let his teammates down in the Wolfpack's final game last season, a loss to Connecticut in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Hodge guarded Huskies guard Caron Butler in that game, and Butler scored a career high 34 points against the Wolfpack.

The three that hurt the most, however, came with 23.4 seconds to play, when Hodge fouled Butler in the middle of a 3-point shot. The Wolfpack was only trailing by a point at the time, and Hodge's job was to play defense and not foul. Butler hit all three free throws, and the Huskies advanced with a 77-74 victory.

"I know I let my teammates down a the end of that UConn game and I am not going to let that happen again," Hodge said.

So he has been the last six months trying to improve his game. What doesn't need improving are Hodge's leadership skills. They will be put to the test this season, as the Wolfpack must find a replacement for first-team All-ACC shooting guard Anthony Grundy and point guard Archie Miller, who both finished their eligibility last year.

That leaves Sendek's team without anybody at the point other than senior Clifford Crawford, who will primarily be used off then bench as a defensive stopper.

Sendek plans to use any number of players to bring the ball up the floor, from the 6-6 Hodge to a trio of forwards, 6-9 junior Marcus Melvin, 6-7 sophomore Ilian Evtimov and 6-7 sophomore Levi Watkins. But the suspicion is that Hodge will have the ball in his hands at the most important points of the game.

"We don't really need to have a point guard, we just basically have to have ball handlers," Hodge said. "That's what we have. In an end-of-the game situation, I want the ball in my hands, so I can create, but through the game, it doesn't really matter. I just want to put myself and my teammates in position to success. With our offense and the guys we have on this team, I am going to be able to do that."

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Tim Peeler covers ACC basketball for the Greensboro (N.C.) News & Record.

 

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