North Carolina State was littered with injuries through the first month of the season and needed an offensive lift, especially from a guard. Grundy, who had gone through a high-profile recruitment, chose the Wolfpack because they needed him in December, not a day later.

	Anthony Grundy is averaging 14.8 points this season for the Wolfpack.

But it was too much to bear. He hadn't played in nearly a year. He didn't know the system. He wasn't comfortable with the players yet. He hadn't even taken a college class when he first played in a game.

"It's a lot on your shoulders when you come in at midyear," Grundy said. "You miss so much. It's hard to live up to the expectations."

Grundy ended up averaging eight points a game for the season but started the final 10 for the Wolfpack, averaging 16 points and seven rebounds in the final four games. He's flourishing with a full year under coach Herb Sendek.

Similar slow starts occurred for the 1998-99 mid-year class -- LSU's Stromile Swift, Georgia Tech's Jason Collier and Oklahoma State's Glendon Alexander. But all three have been key in leading their respective teams this season.

Providence coach Tim Welsh and Butler coach Barry Collier don't want to wait for 2000-01 for their mid-year transfers to develop. Neither coach is playing down the expectations on their mid-year additions.

Providence adds 7-foot-2 center Karim Shabazz, formerly of Florida State, for next Thursday's game against Arkansas. Butler will add 6-10 Scott Robisch for Wednesday's game against Nevada.

"Karim is different than other mid-year guys I've had before," Welsh said. "He'll step in and play 30 minutes. He started in the ACC, played in the NCAA Tournament. He's different than an Anthony Grundy. He's played before."

Shabazz will change the Friars' frontcourt immediately, taking over the middle and forcing 6-6 Erron Maxey down to a more natural spot at small forward and 6-9 David Murray to power forward, where he can be more effective.

"Now we can play teams like Georgetown, Connecticut and Syracuse, instead of them playing volleyball with us," Welsh said. "We have a legitimate shot blocker now."

Providence has been in survival mode after losing to Holy Cross to open the season. The Friars have been playing with point guard John Linehan nursing a torn groin muscle. He's expected to be fine for the Arkansas game, and so should the Friars. They've won three of four, including a victory over rival Rhode Island.

"Karim will come in and give us something we don't have," Welsh said. "He's still going to play 20 games, and that's really 75 percent rather than mid-year. He'll handle the expectations. He's had to deal with the pressures his whole life. Taller guys always do, because the big man is the focal point of any team."

Robisch wasn't at Oklahoma State, but he will be at Butler. The Bulldogs desperately need a low-post scorer with Ryan Hainje and Mike Marshall more like bruise brothers on the boards than finesse scorers. With Robisch in the lineup, Butler can challenge Detroit for the title in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference, rather than lose to teams like Eastern Illinois.

"He should be one of the best inside scorers around," Barry Collier said. "He can also hit the outside shot. We're trying to guard against the expectations being unrealistic."

Unlike Shabazz, Robisch is expected to dominate in the MCC after playing in the Big 12.

"That's the automatic perception," Collier said. "The thought is he'll score tons of points here. But we'd like to think we're at that level."

The addition of Robisch has already scared off one starter, when forward Michael Hicks asked for a transfer.

He wanted to be the focal point offensively," Collier said. "But he saw his time was going to be cut."