Former NC State point guard Farnold Degand has been a Renaissance man in the decade since graduating from college.
The 33-year-old Degand will be in a movie coming out Friday called “Boogie,” staring the late rapper Pop Smoke, lead actor Taylor Takahashi, actress Taylour Paige, radio personality Charlamagne tha God, actor Domenick Lombardozzi and director/actor Eddie Huang.
The process was an educational and exciting one. The 6-foot-4 Degand, who often is asked by strangers if he “played ball,” will be a basketball player in the film. His friendship with Huang helped set things in motion.
“I’m currently gearing up for a film premiere in having a small role in playing a character named Dennis Thompson,” Degand said. “I actually got two words.
“It is a bunch of high-profile names and me. I can’t wait for everybody to check it out. I’ve had a lot of fun with it.”
The movie was shot in New York City and allowed Degand an inside look at the business.
“I’m excited to see where this goes and to build upon it,” he said.
Degand has been living in Los Angeles, starting in 2017 for his work with the Haitian national basketball team, which he played on. He also took part in a Chinese basketball tournament a year ago.
“The Haitian basketball team had been defunct for 35 years,” Degand said. “They named me the national spokesperson.
“Once I got down here [in the Los Angeles area], I didn’t leave.”
The proud product of Boston — he splits his time between Medford, Mass., and Beverly Hills, Calif. — he stays in contact with former NC State teammates Courtney Fells, Brandon Costner, Gavin Grant, Enrico Kufuor, among others. He plans to attend a wedding in the Triangle in late March or early April for a friend who went to North Carolina Central.
The Wolfpack career of Degand was also a study in “what if.” He spent his first year of college redshirting at Iowa State, and then transferred to NCSU. The transfer rules weren’t as lax as they are now, so Degand only played three years of college basketball. He got off to a solid beginning of the 2007-08 season as the starting point guard, with the Wolfpack winning the Old Spice tournament against Villanova at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
The unthinkable happened when he suffered the first of two torn ACL knee injuries during his time at NC State. The first one is still talked about here and there by media types or NC State fans because it derailed the 2007-08 season.
NC State was off to a 7-3 start, which featured another fun opponent besides Villanova. He was part of a cadre of different defenders who “held” Steph Curry to 29 points and 3 of 9 three-pointers in a Wolfpack victory Dec. 21, 2007. Degand tore his ACL two days later in a win over Cincinnati.
Degand battled back to play the next year, but having a bulky knee brace wasn’t easy. He does remember getting to play at the then-Charlotte Bobcats arena. This time Curry poured in 44 points during a Davidson win, with former teammate J.J. Hickson of the Cleveland Cavaliers behind the Wolfpack’s bench, and at the time, Cavs star LeBron James sitting courtside.
“Best player I played against, it’s Steph Curry,” Degand said.
Some of Degand’s spark returned for his senior year while he started 18 of 29 games and played on an eventual NIT squad. He finished his Wolfpack career (2007-10) averaging 5.4 points and 2.5 assists in 63 games played. He is proud to call himself as a former NC State player when people ask, though sometimes he’ll jokingly say he played water polo.
“Winning the Old Spice Classic was definitely a good feeling,” Degand said. “Just competing with the guys. I competed the best I possibly could. I met a lot of cool people there. It was a great time.”
The 88-74 win over Duke on Jan. 21, 2010 — in which Degand had 11 points, six assists and four rebounds — is another NC State moment that will always stick out. The Blue Devils had seven future NBA players on their roster.
“The win at Duke … showed what we could do when we put our minds together,” Degand said. “It was great knowing I competed against the best.”
Off the court, there’s no doubt what he misses about Raleigh.
“Cook Out for sure,” Degand said. “It has been a while, but I’d always get the strawberry cheesecake milkshake. I’d get the chili cheese fries and dump it into the barbecue sauce, and the nuggets with a double cheeseburger.”
Not many know about Degand’s second ACL tear on the opposite knee. He handed in his last bit of schoolwork on a Friday — to finish off his degree in sociology — and then played pickup ball the following Monday on campus, when it happened.
It took him time to get over the mental and physical pain of dealing with two ACL tears, but he did work his way back to playing in a Boston Celtics free agent camp. He has found other ways to be affiliated with basketball over the years and doesn’t look back at his athletic career with regret.
Degand has some journalism ideas percolating and he started a non-profit — The Actionaire Institute.
“I think life is beautiful and there are so many aspects to it, outside of basketball,” Degand said. “I’ve been fortunate enough to be around other eclectic people to expose me to different things at a young age.”
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