Yough grad McCauley a key player at N.C. State this year
It didn’t take long for Ben McCauley to adjust from being a high school basketball star to a key player for an NCAA Division-I team in the ACC. McCauley, a Yough graduate who used to terrorize local teams such as Laurel Highlands, Brownsville and Belle Vernon, played in 27 games as a freshman last year for North Carolina State.
McCauley came off the bench in all of those games, but a year later he was the only Wolfpack player to start all 36 games and evolved into one of their best all-around players.
McCauley was a key part of North Carolina State’s march to the ACC tournament championship game and the NIT quarterfinals.
“I think we exceeded all expectations we had this year,” McCauley said after his season came to an end in a 71-66 loss to West Virginia at the WVU Coliseum last Tuesday. “We were playing our best ball at the end of the season.”
The Wolfpack upset Duke, Virginia and Virginia Tech – all teams that wound up in the NCAA tournament – before losing to North Carolina, 89-80, in the ACC final to just miss out on the Big Dance themselves.
West Virginia, like the Wolfpack, came close to reaching the NCAA tournament, but was left out as a bubble team when the bids were announced.
North Carolina State knocked off Drexel and Marist in the NIT before being eliminated by the Mountaineers.
“What we did in the ACC tournament and here in the NIT will be a big boost for our morale and our confidence heading into next year,” said McCauley, 6-foot-9, 235-pound forward/center who is the son of Jack and Lynn McCauley of West Newton.
“Playing in the ACC final against North Carolina was wild,” McCauley added. “It’s really amazing when you think of all the great players who played in that game. And we were trying to make history as the first 10th seed to win the tournament. Even though we lost, the whole thing was a great experience.”
McCauley scored 2,284 points in his career at Yough, which landed him at No. 8 on the WPIAL’s all-time scoring list. He averaged 28.8 points and 16.5 rebounds a game in an amazing senior season in which he helped the Cougars go 20-9 on their way to reaching the WPIAL Class AAA championship game, and the PIAA second round.
He’s already become one of North Carolina State’s best all-around player.
McCauley ended the season as the Wolfpack’s leader in field goal percentage (.584) and offensive rebounds (86). He was second in rebounds (6.9 per game), assists (3.2 per game) and steals (1 per game), and third in scoring (14.4) and blocked shots (22).
McCauley recorded six double-doubles during his sophomore season, including three in the postseason. He did it against Duke in the ACC tournament, opener, and also in the Wolfpack’s first two NIT games.
McCauley’s final game didn’t go as he had planned, though, with four points and six rebounds in only 20 minutes of playing time against West Virginia.
Even then, he showed his class by not complaining and giving a teammate credit.
“It was a match-ups thing,” McCauley said. “Dennis (Horner) played a good game. Him being in there instead of me was good for the team tonight, and that’s all that matters.”
North Carolina State only loses one starter from a 20-16 team, so McCauley is already excited about next season.
“I can’t wait for next year to start,” McCauley said. “I learned a lot here my first two years and I think we have a chance to be a pretty good team next season.”
Perhaps West Virginia and North Carolina State may even meet again in the postseason a year from now, only this time in that bigger tournament that both barely missed making in 2007.