Freshman Granville Shows Poise

Point guard Brandon Granville continues to play with surprising consistency for a freshman thrust into a starting role.

Granville, 19, is averaging 11.5 points and 6.8 assists while making a team-high 14 steals through four games. He had a season-best eight assists against St. Bonaventure on Monday and, more important, has shown poise in pressure situations such as USC’s Nov. 20 victory before a hostile crowd at Nevada Las Vegas.

No big deal, Granville said. He figures that college basketball isn’t all that much scarier than leading Westchester High to a state Division I championship last spring.

“We went to Northern California and played,” Granville said. “We didn’t have any fans up there, so it was kind of the same situation.”

*

Kevin Augustine, expected to play ahead of Granville, is working his way back into the rotation after taking a brief leave for personal reasons before the start of the nonconference schedule last month.

The 6-foot sophomore, who started 10 games and averaged 6.3 points and 3.7 assists during the 1997-98 season, played 17 minutes against St. Bonaventure, by far his longest outing of the season. Augustine responded by making both his shots from the field, finishing with seven points and two assists.

“The period of time he was out was a setback,” Coach Henry Bibby said. “You lose a lot of your conditioning, and your mental state is not where it should be. But I think his attitude has been great in that he’s working hard to get back to where he wants to be.”