Ryan Harrow has a message for Wolfpack fans

Let’s try this again.

There is a healthy amount of discussion on the forums about this already. This letter originally showed up on PackPride a couple days ago.

“To all my Wolfpack fansI want to say thank you for all the support and faith that ya’ll have in Lorenzo and I.   We are very excited to be coming to such a highly-regarded school. Lorenzo and I have talked about playing basketball at NC State together and with the rest of the players that will be there for a long time. We are looking to come in and make the team better by the hardwork we put in before practice, during practice, and after. We have winner mentalities and hopefully that will rub off on the players that are in a slump this season.

Me personally, I have always been excited about coming to NC State ever since coach Monte Towe and Coach Lowe walked into my high school gym my freshman year. Coach Lowe believed in me when a lot of coaches thought I didn’t have what it takes. Sad on those coaches behalf haha. Now I am what I am and I’m sticking beside Coach Lowe because of the loyalty he showed me. I feel if a person treats you with that much respect and has that much faith, then I must show that same courtesy back.

Myself and Lorenzo are on NC State’s blogs and forums everyday and we look to see all the support you give us, but now a days we see so much negative and it has become really discomforting to my godbrother and I. The things that are said about the fans giving up and not wanting to show the support like I know ya’ll can. I was at the Duke game. Our fans can get crazy lol. Those statements matter to me. I came to the school at first solely for Coach Lowe but when I come to see games and people are greeting me, saying ” thank you so much for joining us”, it made me realize I love the atmosphere to. These fans can get better. I hate going on the forums reading those things.

Also Lorenzo and I see the statements about coach Lowe and it really makes me think, ” what am I getting myself into”. Coach Lowe works hard and is very passionate about the game. He just needs people and players around him like Lorenzo, Luke, C.J., and me to transpire that fire onto the court. Every bad game we cannot criticize coach Lowe. It comes down to the players performing on the court. I know Coach Lowe is going to help my game and make me the best point guard I can be. But it will come in time.

The 2010 class will be a great one, especially adding to the players that’s already at the school. We will get better as the year goes on. But ya’ll have to remember, even though I think myself and Lorenzo are two of the best guards out there in the nation, we are coming into a new experience so we have to learn a little first. So if we don’t get the results ya’ll want right away, plz don’t give up on supporting the team and don’t say we need to fire the coach. We are going to be a great team and one of the best teams to come through NC State. It just takes time. I hope Lorenzo and I have not offended anybody and would hope that ya’ll understand where we are coming from. My family and Lorenzo’s family are Wolfpack until we die now, but we need support and comfort. Thank you and Go STATE!”

Tim Hall of WRAL put his thoughts about NC State’s current situation and the Ryan Harrow ordeal on WRAL Sports Fan this morning. Pretty interesting stuff.

This year is gone. It’s done. The NCAA Tournament went out the window with a six-game ACC losing streak. It has been almost a month since the Pack’s last conference win. They’ve been beat up by a depressed North Carolina team, twice. They’ve been bloodied by everyone, including Virginia and Maryland.

With five games left, the Pack has to play Maryland, Wake Forest, at Miami, at Virginia Tech and Boston College. Maybe the Wolfpack can win two of those. But it will be a fight to keep the 14-12 record at .500 by season’s end.

But look to the future. Don’t fire Sidney Lowe. Don’t kill the momentum, as small as it may seem, because the talent level is about to go up in Raleigh.

10-11 Basketball ACC Basketball Recruiting College Basketball Sidney Lowe

66 Responses to Ryan Harrow has a message for Wolfpack fans

  1. JEOH2 02/16/2010 at 3:11 PM #

    I have been frustrated to my core this year but, I have been one who is of the “Let Him Coach These Recruits and Evaluate Him at The End of the Year” Crowd. Yet I think VaWolfs point that this may be a short-term solution to a long-term problem resonates with me the most. Unless we were to win an ACC Championship or make a serious run in the NCAAs, I think there would be the belief that we would have a very small window to succeed without top 15 recruiting classes every year under Sid. I have argued that next year’s team should be a near steller balance of experince, talent, depth, and leadership (w/ chemistry unknown of course)…

    PG- Harrow- Fresh
    SG- Brown- Fresh
    SF- Wood- Soph
    PF- Howell- Soph
    C- Smith- Senior

    w/ Cothron (F), Javi (Sen), Davis (Soph), Mays (J) etc…

    So to me there are no real excuses next year for not finishing in the top 6 of the conference w/ a winning record and a serious shot at the NCAAT…thats just my personal expectations…but VAWolf makes a great point…and I think the only thing that would guarentee acceptable short-term success (w/o fans looking at any long-term coaching plans) for the overwhelming majority of fans would be something LIKE an ACC championship or a deep NCAA run…Otherwise there will still be strong elements of the fanbase calling for Lowe’s head, if we don’t improve by some serious leaps this coming year…

    I do think Lowe is very aware of this small window of success he has now…and I am sure he wants to do something about it…

  2. Ed89 02/16/2010 at 4:28 PM #

    Interesting tidbit of info I found on Rivals from Jerry Meyer:

    “North Carolina State has more than a decent shot at landing Leslie. A number of schools are pursuing the five-star forward. Leslie recently visited Kentucky, but there are some significant factors that bode well for North Carolina State.

    First, Leslie is from Raleigh, N.C., and has spent a lot of time around the N.C. State program. Secondly, he is good friends with North Carolina State signee Ryan Harrow. Thirdly, he plays for Harrow’s brother-in-law, Erasto Hatchett, at Word of God Christian Academy.

    The most pivotal factor for the Wolfpack’s chances at signing Leslie – and soft verbal commitment Luke Cothron – is whether Sidney Lowe returns as coach next season. If Lowe returns, it doesn’t guarantee that either of these recruits sign with North Carolina State. But if Lowe doesn’t return, it pretty much guarantees that neither prospect will sign with the Wolfpack.”

    No matter how you feel about the last few seasons, we need to give Sid a chance to get his guards, and hopefully, Luke and CJL, here to show what they can do. If we flop next year with those guys, it’s fair to start looking for answers. I think next year has the potential to be Sid’s break-out year. I’m keeping my glass half-full.

    Per the original thread, thank you Ryan. 99% of Wolfpack Nation is 100% behind you and can’t wait for you to suit up with the Pack.

  3. blackdom 02/16/2010 at 5:48 PM #

    We will flop and than next year it will be he just needs another year .

  4. RaleighWolfpacker17 02/16/2010 at 6:51 PM #

    I say shame on Pack Pride for for exploiting Harrow for page views, publicity and whatever few subscribers they got out of it. The people over there should have the coomon sense to not put a high school player in this kind of spotlight. It’s embarrassing, or at least edit him and shape his thoughts in a better direction.

    Harrow has lost locker room cred with the current players. They aren’t too happy about a high school player syaing they aren’t good enough until he arrives to save them.

    Now everyone thinks that Sidney Lowe is so poor a coach that he needs to be saved. Indirectly. Younger recruits are all thinking about how NC State will be firing their coach soon. This thing has started a firestorm and divided the fan base.

    I’m sure Kendall Marshall will have his letter ready on saving Roy Williams for IC.

    Pack Pride guys know that Harrow has this weird desire to be seen and heard on the web, and they are milking it to the last drop. The last thing he needs is extra exposure. Him talking about loyalty is such a juxtoposition. He threw his Walton team and coach under the bus with threatening to transfer to Word of God all fall and even at Glaxo. He ditched his AAU team and just hopped around and ended up playing for four AAU teams. He loves his stats and being in all-star games more than winning.

    I have simple requests in my letter to Harrow:

    The time spent writing and reading sites, use it to become a better player and to get stronger. Dude, just go underground and leave this other nonsense behind. End this nonstop obsession of people wanting to know everything you do. It’s not healthy. You knew when you signed that this was a rebuilding project and that Lowe might get fired. After another season where Lowe has lost the spirit of his team, Harrow will most likely have a new coach by his sophomore year. So, are you going to roll up your sleeves and get to work or take the easy way out and transfer to a powerhouse? I’m sure you’ll explain it away on a Web site.
    So, I get why Harrow keeps trying to win over the fans, but why his family and people in the media let him cross dangerous lines, I don’t get. It’s just setting him up for a major fall.

  5. D_Medlin 02/16/2010 at 7:23 PM #

    If the people at Pack Pride had edited Harrow’s thoughts, wouldn’t that be worse?

    If that had happened everyone would kill them for that. It seems like they can’t win regardless of what they do…

  6. PoppaJohn 02/16/2010 at 7:28 PM #

    formerpackplayer – Thanks for that. You’ll probably be ridiculed or accused of being involved in the supposed ‘conspiracy’ to say good things about Sid, but I appreciate you sticking one out there.

    By all accounts Mr Harrow is a talented player coming to campus next year who will immediately improve our talent level in the position at which we’ve been terrible forever. I think that means we will be better next year. I look forward to it.

  7. 61Packer 02/16/2010 at 7:52 PM #

    We will be better next year only if we have a new coaching staff in place.

  8. Wolfy__79 02/16/2010 at 9:25 PM #

    i think leslie is a lock. there’s no jynx in this. there are very close ties with he and harrow. if he’s not a lock, oh well. it’s not going to break my heart. but they all went to the duke game together and were sitting right behind the bench.. i can’t imagine any better a place to be as a recruit and what about the circumstances.

    totally random, but i can say this with 100% confidence. during the additions of lowe and TOB, i immediatley noticed the disapperance of the fat ass cheerleaders we had.. now we’ve got nice thin fine little thangs…. thank you! we already catch enough sh*t with the “cow college” crap.

  9. Sweet jumper 02/16/2010 at 9:45 PM #

    Thanks for the post formerpackplayer–a much appreciated voice of reason. I agree, it’s not worth losing sleep over our coaching situation. Sid will be here for his 5th year. We will also have a new chancellor here in the very near future. I hope the chancellor will take a serious look at our entire athletic department and evaluate the AD’s performance sooner than later. Then, the chancellor and hopefully new AD can evaluate Sid’s performance at the end of year 5. Hopefully, two 5-star guards (and maybe two 5-star forwards) can come in with great talent, poise and attitudes and help Sid and staff turn this program around. If not, he had 5 years and he provides a smooth transition for a new coach by encouraging the players to fulfill their committment to N. C. State. In Norm Sloan’s book, Sloan says that when he and AD Casey had their differences and he was leaving for Florida, Sid came into his office and said he was going to Florida with him. Sloan told him that he needed to stay at N. C. State and have a great career and the rest is history. Go Pack!

  10. chriscgray 02/17/2010 at 4:35 AM #

    I have to say that as someone in marketing and business. Negativity is spoken about more heavily and is spoken more of than positive things. That is understandable, considering what this basketball program has endured. Believe it or not Ryan Harrow is completely right when he says we shouldnt throw Sidney under the bus. The one problem that has hurt Sidney more than anything has been the inability to recruit gaurds that can compete among the best in the ACC. He has that now in two great recruits Ryan Harrow and Lorenzo Brown. Our drought as a basketball program has been very long and I know Sidney wishes he could have had the chance to go back and do some things better. But Pack fans we gotta wake up……..this is the ACC and it takes longer to rebuild and be successful than other places in the country. It will take some time for these young players to grow, but I can promise that there will be much improvement atleast by midseason next year. Right now our guards just arnt good enough to compete in the ACC, but with the growth of Scott Wood, Julius Mays and the top tier talent Lorenzo Brown and Ryan Harrow will bring to the table, Sidney’s gameplans will be executed much more effectively. Dont bail out Pack fans…….because we are on the verge of much improvement. Lets not forget we lost our 3 top players last year…..McCauley, Costner, and Fells who all were not recruited by Sidney. Going forward we will be successful again, BUT THE TEAM NEEDS OUR SUPPORT. NOT OUR DISCOURAGEMENT. GO PACK!!!!!!!!!!!

  11. RTPMedic 02/17/2010 at 8:54 AM #

    “For Maryland, I say put Smith, Howell, Painter, and VBerg in there together, and have the guard throw it up against the backboard and have them go at it.”

    This would require SOMEONE to actually not start running to the other end of the court every time a shot goes up. Watch some tape…90% of the time when we take a shot, all of our players are out of the picture on the TV screen when the rebound comes down…and teams still fastbreak on us. ‘Crashing the (offensive) boards’ has not been a staple of our team this year.

  12. theghost 02/17/2010 at 8:55 AM #

    So, those who are supposedly offended at Harrow “explicitly dictating” to them – it’s not okay for a kid who has committed to invest himself at NC State to express his opinion? Are you similarly outraged at fans who have never played a day of basketball posting derogatory remarks about the intelligence and integrity of our players and coaches?

    And for those who take the stance that it doesn’t matter what talent we get or what Sid does, the team will never get any better – why in the world are you still watching, much less wasting your time posting? Stop buying tickets, drop out of the WPC, stop watching games, write a letter of no-confidence to tell the chancellor to fire coach and AD – all of that is fine, if that’s what you want to do. But if you’re going to quit, then quit, don’t turn in your resignation and then go back to your desk to heckle everyone left. These 20 years have been hard enough to endure without you. If you’ve truly given up, find something else to do other than grade web posts like you’re a grammar teacher.

  13. artmanpack16 02/27/2010 at 12:56 PM #

    These blogs are filled with people who just criticize but you know what I believe the pack is on its way up. The play of the freshman this year has been amazing so with them, the in coming class with or with out CJ Leslie, and Tracy Smith returning we’ll be in the tourney hands down.

  14. RedAj4Life 03/18/2010 at 3:28 PM #

    I really like this kids character. To write a letter and let us as fans, students, supporters, etc. know that him and brown are excited to come to state and play, also hes right about us trying to give up on supporting Lowe. i mean his recruiting along with Harris and Towe is whats gonna bring us outta this funk that were in, plus his classes havent really begun to circle thru. once that happens and our success picks up then well be set. more players with amazing talent will be clawing at the door to commit. oh yeah and guys Lowe does have a national title under his belt, and many years coaching the nba. i aint saying just saying

  15. ivydog 03/31/2010 at 11:53 PM #

    I graduated NC State in 1982 (Electrical Engineering). The following year, 1983, I was proud to watch my Wolfpack win the National Championship with Lowe and Whitenburg running the point. We had great guards which is a must to compete at that level. We all know that.

    Ryan Harrow and Lorenzo Brown have a better set of skills as incoming freshmen than have any pair of guards at ANY SCHOOL in the country !

    And these guys are State type guys. Great attitudes with a perfect mix of confidence and humility.

    We’re proud of the way you each have carried yourselves.

    Let’s get it going !

    The PACK IS BACK !

  16. wolfpackfan09 04/14/2010 at 3:22 PM #

    Thank you Mr Harrow for that well thought out letter to get the nay-saying pack fans in to shape. I believe in Lowe, and i believe in you two. 2010-2011 the wolfpack nation is going to turn some heads.
    Go Pack

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