THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 7, 1995 TAG: 9501070353
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RALEIGH LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines
Ishua Benjamin could smile and say, ``I told you so,'' after North Carolina State's upset of No. 1-ranked North Carolina earlier this week.
Many people told him last year that he was making a mistake going to North Carolina State, where coach Les Robinson was under fire from unhappy fans who didn't think his rebuilding program was going fast enough.
But Benjamin, whose first name is pronounced EYE-shoo-a, believed he could become the final step to bringing the Wolfpack back to respectability in the ACC.
A 6-foot-5 guard from Concord, N.C., he was the top prep prospect in the state a year ago and had a huge stack of scholarship offers from most of the top schools in the nation.
``He (Benjamin) helped our program as soon as he committed,'' said Robinson, who took over a State program headed for probation and stressing higher academic values in 1991.
Soon after Benjamin signed with the Wolfpack, guard Clint Harrison, the second-rated prospect in North Carolina last year, followed suit.
With Benjamin at point guard, and Harrison coming off the bench, the Wolfpack is off to its best start since the 1989-90 season, its last under the late Jim Valvano.
N.C. State, which plays Virginia today (4 p.m., WAVY), is 8-2, with the only losses to highly ranked UCLA and Kansas.
Benjamin leads the team in scoring, just ahead of McCuller, with a 15.5 ppg average, and is the only freshman among the top 15 scorers in the ACC.
``I can't tell you how much Benjamin has brought to this team,'' senior guard Lakista McCuller said after Wednesday's victory over North Carolina.
``. . . He is really doing a great job playing the point. He shows a lot of poise and gets everyone involved on offense.''
Benjamin, though, believes the most important asset he brought to the Wolfpack is a winning attitude.
``The players here wanted to win, but everyone was like, `We are just a step away,' '' Benjamin said.
``The people here had been through some of the worst things that can happen to a program, but they hadn't given up on winning. It seemed everyone knew the program was on the way up again.'' ILLUSTRATION: Freshman Ishua Benjamin leads N.C. State in scoring at 15.5
points per game.
by CNB