The team building for N.C. State's trip to Toronto began weeks ago, when more than a half-dozen team members who didn't have passports went to the post office together.

Courtney Fells, the easygoing senior who recently moved from shooting guard to small forward, impressed his teammates with his no-nonsense photo pose. Ben McCauley, Trevor Ferguson and Farnold Degand also were among the players who tagged along.

After a fractious 2007-08 season that saw the Wolfpack stumble to the No. 12 seed in the ACC Tournament and a 15-16 record, an exhibition trip to Canada could provide much-needed healing.

N.C. State is taking advantage of an NCAA rule that allows teams to travel outside the country for exhibition games once every four years.

The Wolfpack will play Canadian schools York University today and the University of Guelph on Sunday in Toronto.

"One great thing about traveling is that you do become closer with your teammates," said McCauley, the senior center. "You're just with them for a whole trip. It's just you guys. That definitely helps the bonding aspect of a team, and I think that's going to be beneficial."

In addition to playing the exhibitions, N.C. State has been able to hold an additional 10 practices to prepare. In the past, other teams have found such trips and the practices associated with them to be valuable.

A North Carolina team that returned no starters after winning the NCAA title traveled to the Bahamas in September 2005 to play a pair of Bahamian teams. Guard Wes Miller said the practices and exhibitions developed chemistry among guys who hadn't played major roles in the past.

That Tar Heels team was picked to finish sixth in the ACC and wound up placing second.

"It's a really good thing," N.C. State junior guard Trevor Ferguson said of the Wolfpack's trip. "Being able to start practice now gets the bad taste out of our mouth from last year and look forward to a new year and get up there and play together as a team early on."

Playing as a team was a problem for N.C. State in 2007-08 as it stumbled to nine consecutive defeats to close the season. As freshman J.J. Hickson led the team in scoring and rebounding before leaving early for the NBA Draft, some veterans floundered.

McCauley said there were times when N.C. State didn't play as a team.

"We maybe strayed off on different tangents a couple of times," he said. "For the most part last year we were a team, but we had some games where some guys went off and did their own things. But this year, I think we are on the same page."

The exhibition opponents and scores matter little. Coach Sidney Lowe, who was unavailable prior to the trip, is encouraging the team to fast break more on offense and pressure more on defense. But the X's and O's are a minor benefit.

Just being together on the court, at the airport, on the team bus, in the hotel and even on a trip to the post office gives the team a chance to heal last season's wounds.

That's the most important feature of this trip.

"It's not just one night," McCauley said. "It's a couple days, and it's just going to be us. If we don't get along this trip, then we've got some trouble. But I think we will."

NOTES: Guards Degand and Johnny Thomas, who are recovering from injuries, will travel with the team but will not play.

* Freshmen Julius Mays and C.J. Williams will make their debuts on the trip.

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