RALEIGH - N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe, taking advantage of his NBA networking, now has a better feel for where forward J.J. Hickson would be chosen in the upcoming NBA Draft.

Lowe's assessment: between the 10th and 20th picks.

"Initially they said 20 to 30," Lowe, a former NBA head coach and assistant, said Thursday. "Now, I'm hearing 10 to 20. So he certainly has helped himself quite a bit."

Hickson, who led the Wolfpack in scoring and rebounding and was chosen to the ACC's All-Freshman team last season, entered his name into the draft soon after the ACC Tournament. The 6-foot-9 power forward said he has worked out for nine NBA teams and has hired Andy Miller of ASM Sports to represent him.

Lowe accompanied Hickson to his first workout session, with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and later stayed in touch with him while conferring with NBA officials.

"He's done very well in his workouts," Lowe said. "Even though I knew [the NBA] was his dream, he still held on, as we talked throughout the process, to 'Coach, if everything doesn't work out, I want to come back.'

"For me, that was a nice thing to hold on to. But I knew once he got into these workouts it was going to be over."

Lowe said State would be a different team without Hickson this season but discounted any notion of the Pack -- which finished 15-16, losing its last nine games -- having chemistry issues last year with Hickson in the lineup or having better team chemistry without him.

"That word 'chemistry' I'm going to stay away from," he said. "I'll say this: Kevin Garnett went to the Boston Celtics and became 'The Guy.' Paul Pierce had been there for eight, nine, 10 years, great player, he welcomed him in. Ray Allen welcomed him in. And they won an NBA championship.

"Now, if they didn't like him, if they didn't want to play with him, the chemistry probably would have been bad. ... Chemistry is people accepting their roles and playing well. And that's it."

One thing Lowe promised was that in his third season as coach, he would take a firm "it's-going-to-be-my-way" stance, both with the players and those close to them, whether it be parents, friends, advisors, former coaches.

"It's that simple," Lowe said. "They're players and I'm the coach, and they're going to do it my way. And if they don't, then they don't want to be here. ...

"They have dreams and goals, and I think they're just misguided at times. So as a basketball coach on this level, I think you just have to take more control of that and really try to keep them closer to you and try to guide them. ...

"It's not so much the players. It's just people around [them] that have an effect on the players. ... In other words, leave the kids alone. Let the kids play. Let them be who they are, and they'll be fine."

Lowe said the players were working out with added intensity, noting Brandon Costner had dropped 13 to 14 pounds; Ben McCauley, eight to 10 pounds; and Dennis Horner, 10 to 11 pounds.

Lowe said point guard Farnold Degand, who missed most of last season with a knee injury, was "ahead of pace" in his rehab.

"We're hoping it's not going to affect who he is -- which is his quickness, his speed," he said.

Asked if there would be any other roster or staff changes, Lowe said, "Not that I can discuss at this point."