T&D Senior Sports Writer

It has not taken long for new South Carolina State men's basketball coach Tim Carter to lay down his law.

Fail to put forth a strong, inspired effort in practice and face the prospect of starting again the following day at 5 a.m. If a player does not play defense or is lackadaisical in their offensive execution, expect a quick admonishment from either Carter or one of his assistants.

Most important of all, any talk or even thoughts about last season are prohibited. Following a campaign marred by the controversial firing of first-year head coach Jamal Brown and a second straight losing record, Carter believes it's a different day.

"I've told our guys no one is to ever mention last year because last year doesn't matter," he said. "It doesn't help us win any ball games. It doesn't amount to a hill of beans, so we don't talk about it and that's what I feel with any basketball team. You don't worry about last year because last year is gone. No matter if you had a great year the year before or if you had a bad year, I've never allowed my teams to talk about the previous year. So I told our guys the same thing. We don't talk about last year."

At the same time, Carter is understandably patient with a roster which blends together several veterans playing for their fourth head coach in 18 months and five newcomers signed by Brown and Carter.

"Right now, these are my guys and that's how I look at it," Carter said. "These are my guys. I don't look the fact that I didn't recruit them. These are my guys, and I've got to coach them."

Gone are leading scorers Brian Mason and Travis Jones, as well as reserve guard Marcus McCants and forward Gerald Carter. Looking to make an immediate impact are guards Carrio Bennett, Jessie Burton and Wesley Telfare and forwards Everett Spencer and Jason Johnson.

Starting swingman Jason Flagler missed the first week of preseason practice before returning last week, while guard Robert Baker (hand) is expected to miss two more weeks of action. For now, Carter has focused primarily on fundamentals, playing sound defense and developing team chemistry.

So far in the preseason, he views the team as a work in progress.

"Watching us in the preseason, I thought we were very careless with the basketball," he said. "I think we were dead last in the (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) in assist-turnover ratio, which means we're very careless with the basketball. We're just working on making sure that we're making sharp, crisp passes. We knew we were going to be sloppy. But we're really trying to work on just some basic fundamentals of footwork, passing and cutting and getting open. Just some basic stuff."

Carter has decided to keep senior Derrick Davis at the point guard position, citing his experience, leadership ability and his displeasure with the decision-making from his perimeter players. He's also looking to get more intensity from his frontcourt, although he's pleased with the progress of Chris Miller-Williams.

"Chris really plays within himself and Derrick tries to do that as well," Carter said.

Overall, Carter is pleased with his team's enthusiasm and motivation to show improvement. His biggest challenge now is showing patience and getting the players to quickly develop a winning attitude and confidence.

"I just try to be patient from a standpoint that for some of these guys, I'm their fourth head coach in a year and a half," Carter said. "So I just want to be patient from the standpoint of understanding that they've been through a lot. But I also expected them to understand that you win basketball games by having talent, by being disciplined and by playing real hard defense. And they've adjusted. They've really tried to do those teams. From that standpoint, I'm really pleased with them."

SCSU plans to hold its first team scrimmage during Homecoming weekend and plans to play host to a Nov. 5 exhibition against Voorhees College prior to the Nov. 9 season-opener at the University of South Carolina.

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