Cothron Decommits

It is being reported on other sites that Cothron has decided not to attend NCSU. It is doubtful he would have been a starter ahead of Smith and Howell but he could have provided some depth.

Jerry Meyer of Yahoo Sports reported on Cothron’s decision Monday night.

Four-star prospect Luke Cothron has been considered a soft commitment to North Carolina State, but now the 6-foot-8, 210-pound power forward is officially decommitted.

Cothron, an Alabama native who is now at Red Springs (N.C,) Flora Macdonald Academy, has opened up his recruitment and is likely headed elsewhere that NC State.

Cothron’s statement on his decision to decommit

“I want to come in and play as a freshman,” said Cothron. “I also want a good relationship with the head coach, and I want to be surrounded by a great team.”

About Rick

1992 and 2002 graduate from NCSU. Born and raised an NCSU fan. I remember the good ol' days and they weren't in the last 20 years.

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90 Responses to Cothron Decommits

  1. Sw0rdf1sh 03/16/2010 at 8:30 AM #

    CJL come on down. I was hoping Cothron wouldn’t be the “guy” he was being painted as in the media. Suddenly, after reading more of his own quotes, I’m happy we are freeing up that ship.

  2. packfan03 03/16/2010 at 8:35 AM #

    Either we should have never recruited him or we lost a player w/ a lot of potential.

    I’m not disagreeing with you, but playing time has always been Luke’s highest priority. That’s why I’m not surprised by this. As always, we don’t know what’s happening behind the scenes.

    But I’m not sure if I buy into the above logic, simply because Luke was recruited very late in the game. What was the downside in talking to him? Even after his verbal, he continued to talk with Tennessee and Bruce Pearl.

    Luke’s verbal commitment was very unique, to say the least.

  3. Cardiff Giant 03/16/2010 at 8:36 AM #

    Truly, we all go to NC State.

  4. jbpackfan 03/16/2010 at 8:37 AM #

    Seems to be a good player, but in the end another guy that doesn’t have what it takes to play for the Pack. Sounds like he wants to be given everything as opposed to working for it.

  5. StateFans 03/16/2010 at 8:38 AM #

    Here is what I just read:

    “I want”

    “I want”

    “I want”

    “I want”

  6. coach13 03/16/2010 at 8:41 AM #

    I have been leary of Cothron from the get-go. But why recruit him? The reason, you recruit more players than you need because you’re not gonna land them all. If you’re not sure the bigs you have are gonna pan out or think one might leave early you recruit a big. The talent you have starts working out and the star stays another year. It’s not a big deal, and probably the reason it was a soft recruit from the start. I doubt their are any hard feelings as both Pack and Cothron will be OK in this.

    As long as the guards come, we’ll be OK. I still think we need more shooters than big men anyway.

  7. one00_proof 03/16/2010 at 8:41 AM #

    After the whole debacle with 2004 class (Fells, Big Ben, Costner), I’m willing to take this one on the chin for the sake of team chemistry (which has finally been salvaged this year). Getting Leslie though would soften this blow a ton. Hopefully this helps with recruiting Leslie because now it’s changed from “We WANT CJ Leslie” to “We NEED CJ Leslie”.

    I hope he recognizes that.

  8. sbas2 03/16/2010 at 8:41 AM #

    when he didn’t sign in the fall, i always felt he would never wind up at State. i bet Painter is happy, and if’n i were Painter i would be. one less big to battle for playing time.

  9. Pack Mentality 03/16/2010 at 8:42 AM #

    The whole WTNY segment has been using his name as one of the good recruits for next year as part of their argument. Now that he decommits he’s not that good. Which is it?

  10. coach13 03/16/2010 at 8:42 AM #

    I thought the line “I want a good relationship with the head coach” was an interesting thing to say.

  11. stately 03/16/2010 at 8:43 AM #

    Do any of these guys (i.e., Harrow, Brown, Leslie, and Cothron) have a qualifying SAT/ACT score?

  12. JEOH2 03/16/2010 at 8:45 AM #

    I don’t see this as good news nor do I see it as horrible news either…

    Truth is Cothron was the odd man out in the ongoing debate about next year’s team…the hype was firmly placed on the shoulders of Harrow & Brown (haha starting to feel like those two will be conjoined at the hip in NCSU lexicon for a while now) with the hopes that CJL would recommit and we’d have a team with the potential to do some big damage…Cothron was rarely ever mentioned if but for any reason that he made the recruiting class that more attractive…

    With Cothron and CJL, we would’ve had 6 “bigs” with one being able to play multiple positions…playing time would be scarce…w/ the bulk going to Tracy & Howell…Guess Who’d Be the Odd Man Out…

    With Cothron & NO CJL…he is STILL the Odd Man Out…w/ Tracy & Howell deserving the bulk of the minutes and Painter/V showing that they can contribute…

    With NO Cothron & CJL…there’s very little loss as we’d have good experienced depth at each position…

    With NO Cothron & NO CJL…well we wouldn’t be world beaters…but we’d definitely still be much improved from this season potentially…

  13. coach13 03/16/2010 at 8:45 AM #

    “The whole WTNY segment has been using his name as one of the good recruits for next year as part of their argument. Now that he decommits he’s not that good. Which is it?”

    I think this was a bit of icing on the cake, I’ve followed the posts and the center of the excitement has always been on the guards (and CJ which I still think is not likely contrary to the goofy optimists in here).

    So some of the icing got knocked off…

  14. coach13 03/16/2010 at 8:48 AM #

    I guess ditto to JEOH2 would have worked…: )

  15. Thinkpack17 03/16/2010 at 8:48 AM #

    “Do any of these guys (i.e., Harrow, Brown, Leslie, and Cothron) have a qualifying SAT/ACT score?”

    I know Harrow has a really good GPA so he would have to completely bomb on the standardized tests to fail to qualify.

  16. Alpha Wolf 03/16/2010 at 8:50 AM #

    There’s a comment on this whole thing on PP that’s priceless:

    “I had him penciled in as the next Keith Bean.”

  17. JeremyH 03/16/2010 at 9:03 AM #

    when does Leslie have to decide by?

    I find this news only problematic if Leslie doesn’t commit. We will be thin on the type of bigs we need to win games after next year, otherwise.

  18. Thinkpack17 03/16/2010 at 9:08 AM #

    ^For us, he has all the time he wants. And for CJL I don’t think there will be an “after next year”. Whether we get him or not he ain’t gonna be in a college jersey 2 years from now.

  19. SaccoV 03/16/2010 at 9:10 AM #

    Ahh, Alpha. Keith Bean. Another jewel in our treasure chest full of suck. Just to let Sid and the coaches know, I would like to play for a great team too. I would like to come to a team that will win a championship if I don’t play. That way, I get to have a ring, and not do much to help. In fact, I would like to go to the Lakers, if I could, right now. I can wear the number 64 jersey and sit the bench. I’ll be really helpful. I’ll show up for practice. I’ll clean the bathrooms. But I want to be on a great team, because I’m pretty good, and I figure if I’m pretty good, I can help a great team become … great-ish. What a tool.

  20. BamaPack 03/16/2010 at 9:13 AM #

    One thing I haven’t seen mentioned here (but maybe because Noah hasn’t chimed in) is that it’s highly unlikely that Cothron would have qualified here. In fact, it’s more likely (from what I’ve heard) that Ted Kennedy would be able to beat Scott Brown to take his seat back in 2 years.

  21. ShootingGuard 03/16/2010 at 9:14 AM #

    LC told the Alabama guys that he didn’t want to ride the pine and wanted 35 minutes per night. That says all you need to know about what has been avoided now because he can’t play the 3, and there aren’t 35 minutes to be taken from Smith and Howell, much less if you throw the much more versatile CJL into the mix. LC seemed destined to be the next cancer, and State has suffered enough from that toxic brew in past years, dating back to Adam Harrington under Herb and running through Ben and Brandon under Lowe.

    State has a great shot at getting CJL. If they seal the deal, this works out better actually. CJL can share time at the 4 and the 3, brings more buzz to the program than LC anyway, and you can’t underestimate the friendship of Harrow and CJL. Harrow has charisma and plays the position where leadership needs to come from, and he is not going to let his friend underachieve without some timely “encouragement”. Just as important, Harrow won’t have to do it alone with Smith, Harrow, and Wood plus the other role players, and he appears to have the character to understand and appreciate the value of having a scrappy senior like Gonzalez around too.

    Hopefully, CJL understands and appreciates what his commitment would do as far as buzz goes as well as pushing things positively forward for the next recruiting class.

  22. Ed89 03/16/2010 at 9:17 AM #

    Interesting article/interview of Cothron’s H.S. Coach on Packpride. Very interesting. I’ll let others form their opinions after the read, but I don’t think we’re losing alot here.

  23. bradleyb123 03/16/2010 at 9:18 AM #

    I wonder if this is a sign about one C.J. Leslie’s plans.

    Alpha, that was the FIRST thought that popped into my mind. I’ve heard it said that one or both of CJL and Cothron did not want to come here if the other came. If that’s true, this removes any doubt from CJL’s mind. And I’d certainly rather have him that Luke.

    I don’t think it’s good news that Luke de-committed. Best case, it’s a black eye for us and makes State look bad, like we lost another recruit. Worst case, we lost a great player that could have really helped us next year. I think the truth is somewhere in the middle. If some of these comments are true (about Luke being the next Brandon Costner) then I have no problem with him de-committing. And if it’s true that he only de-committed because he knew his playing time would be little or none, then this was HIS problem moreso than ours.

    When Luke didn’t sign on the early signing day, I figured there was a good chance we’d end up losing him. He had to be waiting for SOMETHING. When he saw that Tracy Smith was returning, maybe that added to his concern that he wouldn’t get much playing time as a freshman.

    WTSD — Wait Til Signing Day. Let’s see what happens before we panic over this “loss”. I’m not sure Luke is worth a bunch of panic, anyway, based on what I’m reading here.

  24. Ed89 03/16/2010 at 9:38 AM #

    All of the “I wants” in Cothron’s statement reminds me of the line in “An Officer and a Gentleman” when Mayo says “I want to fly jets, I want to be a Naval Aviator” and Lou Gossett says, “My grandmomma wants to fly jets, boy — get down and give me twenty” “DOR – say it, Mayo!!”

    You know, it’s alot easier to play 35 minutes a game when you are lollygagging up and down the court, cherry picking, not playing D, and jacking up 3’s. Alot of guys would “want” to play 35 minutes a game and do that.

  25. ncsu_kappa 03/16/2010 at 9:38 AM #

    Before we get to excited about CJL, a player whose game I love and will only be in a college jersey for a year (two max), I heard he has the exact same attitude. Will want the ball to go through him, play a certain amount of minutes, the whole nine.

    I have heard multiple people who have been on his coaching staffs or highly influential in the scouting circles say that the teams who don’t land him will be just as lucky as the one that does.

    That said, I want him for what he adds on the bball court… but I also understand that he won’t necessarily add to our locker room.

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