Pack Pride: Simmons Hires an Agent
Pack Pride is reporting that DraftExpress is reporting that NC State star center, Cedric Simmons has signed with an agent and will be inegible to play for NC State in the future. (Link)
If true, Simmons’ departure would leave State’s roster extremely thin of depth and talent for next season, particularly in the post. The only true post player that would remain on scholarship would be Ben McCauley, who has been rumored to be seeking a transfer. (Link to McCauley’s recruiting biography)
Looking to next season, one would expect that (So) McCauley and (R-Fr) Brandon Costner could/would claim significant playing time along side (Jr) Andrew Brackman in the 5C and 4PF post positions for the Wolfpack. For all intents and purposes, Andrew Brackman will move to the “center” position on the roster. But, it won’t matter who is listed as “center” as the two post positions will probably be more interchangeable next season in the absence of a true offensive threat on the post.
* Brandon Costner is a blend of a small forward/power forward who reportedly prefers playing with his face to the basket. Costner definitely has the height and strength to contribute in a post role as needed.
* With guaranteed significant ACC playing time now in his immediate future, if McCauley is still considering a transfer then most fans would be very perplexed. With so much playing time and opportunity now falling in his lap, a transfer at this juncture would be curious.
* Simmons’ departure could also play a factor in recruit, Dan Werner’s decision. Werner, listed as a very versatile power forward (rated the #16 PF in the country) could see more early playing time in Raleigh than was otherwise projected.
* In a perfect world, the Pack would be able to find a stud post presence from the junior college ranks to help cushion the loss of Simmons AND help with scholarship spacing problems that are developing on the roster – State currently has only three scholarship players in the combined junior and senior class.
* State is not currently listed as a potential choice of any uncommitted junior college centers or power forwards; but quite a few JUCO centers remain uncommitted, including 6-feet-10-inch Hernol Hall. Hall may be tempted by State’s ability to offer immediate playing time in the ACC now that Simmons is (reportedly) out of the fold. Hall seems to be interested in the general geographical area since he currently lists schools like Charlotte, Georgia, Maryland, Clemson, and Wake Forest on his list. Additionally, national programs like Kansas, Ohio State, Washington, and Oklahoma are also pursuing him.
* Hall, an NJCAA All-American was recently released from his commitment to Duquesne and may represent a little different profile of a typical JUCO player because he is of Costa Rican decent. This may play better with admissions and compliance officers at State than a US player that has more academic problems and was forced to go JUCO out of high school. From Scout.com:
The Limon, Costa Rico native finished his sophomore season at Lon Morris College in Texas as the the Co-MVP of the NJCAA Region XIV. Hall averaged 14.3 points, 10.0 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.3 steals. He shot 61.8 percent overall (123-199), 37.5% beyond the arc (3/8) and 64.3 percent from the charity stripe (90/140) in 24 of LMC’s 28 games.
Is there any indication that the staff is going to look to JUCO’s to fill immediate gaps?
If so, we might as well consider PG’s as well.
Is there any indication that the staff is trying to save any of our future recruits as well?
What do you think?
Why was Hernol Hall profiled? Is something going on? Does SFN know something?
I think L Davis can safely be removed from the Unk column and placed in the Seton Hall one. That roster, along with the probable losses of top 25 recruits Wright and Turner, isn’t exactly giving me the enthusiasm for the next few seasons that I see some fans on the other boards overflowing with.
Well, our new coaching crew has it’s work cut out for them. Simmons and Davis likely gone. Questionable Werner and 2007 recruits(Wright and Gillstrap). Horner is sticking. Ruff Start!
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2006/news/story?id=2462337
Looks like espn picked it up, also has the name of the agent.
I hope no one is surprised by this. I figured if 2 out of 3 recruits stayed it’d be the best one could hope for. A price had to be paid for Sendek leaving, and recruits looking elsewhere is that price. But nobody seems to consider that other recruits will pop up who never would have considered playing in Sendek’s offense. It was statistically a VERY unpopular offense among the vast majority of elite players and fans. A short term price is definitely being paid, but the benefits will be forthcoming. I hate Simmons left, but this was the year to go in the draft because it’s a weak one.
And re. Davis- didn’t he get into a fight pretty recently? I didn’t get the impression that he is the most level headed of kids.
Hopefully Werner will stay, but if not, no huge deal.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…this is going to take a long long time for Lowe and Co. to rebuild. Be prepared, and don’t rush to judgement on Lowe for the first 5 seasons. We are certainly in deep trouble next season.
No two ways about it – the 2006-07 Wolfpack basketball sqaud is going to suck eggs. Hopefully Grant and Fells will flash enough skill to give us some hope and excitement along the way. But ours is not a roster that will win many games.
That said, I do believe that this was a good decision for Big ced, personally. He showed more than enough in his high profile NCAA showdowns against Cal’s Powe and Texas’ Aldridge to be drafted high, especially given the dynamics of the next 2 years’ NBA drafts.
It won’t take Sid long to get things going.
Disappointing but not unexpected given the financials.
This has really turned into a rebuilding job. Through the transition, we have gone from an upper half ACC program to a lower half ACC program.
That is really a shame that we had to take steps backwards in this process.
^ Couldn’t agree more. It would have been very nice for Lee Fowler and NC State to have controlled this situation by being proactive in the removal of Sendek and the hiring of a new coach years ago. By just sitting around and letting Herb dictate everything and waiting until 2006, our program becomes a victim of a failure to act years ago.
Can you elaborate on the source for your assumption of the “probable losses”?
Based on all the euphoric comments I have read over the past month, I thought recruits would be breaking the doors down to come and play for someone like Lowe with his NCAA championship ring and NBA coaching experience. Unfortunately its looking to me like people are breaking down the doors to get out , not in. 2006 recruiting class down the toilet, a possible top 5 2007 recruiting class down the toilet. Yep, we sure were lucky to get rid of Herb. Things couldn’t look brighter right now. If we’re lucky, there might be an NIT somewhere in our future.
There is no doubt that there will be some pain from the transition but I do think the eventual outcome will be a better. As SF mentioned above it is really a shame that the administration let this situation fester for years. I think we have lost many of the improvements that Sendeck had made in the program (and he did make many as the program was “dead”). I think the change had to come at some point but I also think it was long overdue.
I can’t blame Simmons for making the move given the whole situation. His move will set things back a bit but I have an optimistic view that the new staff will fight through the transition and do well. Beyond the considerable talents of the staff there is evident a fire for Wolfpack basketball that was never evidenced under Herb. Even with some losses ahead I welcome back that fire.
“A step backward”? Can a step backward be taken from a 24 point home loss to UNC? Or from the feeling that State may never beat UNC or Duke again? Or that State has a lesser program than Wake Forest during a terrible year for the Deacons? Or a shellacking by f’n Texas? Is Texas supposed to be better than State?!? They certainly have been of late. If I have to wait a bit for a step past that, I’m fine with it.
There have been and will be losses related to Sendek leaving, but that would have been true at any point in the last 5 or 6 years. And personally, I think Sendek did a good(bad) job of masking some of the talent on the roster- consider Bennerman for the first 3.25 years, Grant until the last 4 or so games last year, and seemingly Fells now.
All that said, I’m a Simmons fan and wish him the best. I truly hope he develops into the player he may be. But under a different coach in college, I bet he would have gone higher in the draft than he will as a Sendek player.
Statefans: Turner said himself he was going to commit to NC State this past weekend. He is a top 25 player. By most accounts, Herb was going to sign his best recruiting class to date on paper. Turner would have been the 2nd top 25 commitment along with Chris Wright. It sounded like we might bet another one in a guy from the Atlanta area as well. We may still get these guys, but at this point they aren’t in the fold yet.
SFN: Did Turner himself say that he was never going to commit to NC State in the future? Big Fucking Deal that Herb looked like he was going to put together a great recruiting class. Kind of like Hodge’s #3 class in the country. How wonderful those years were!
Ced leaving is certainly not unexpected but nevertheless, disappointing. I hate to whine but why does this have to be announced by ESPN.com. I think we missed an opportunity to spin this decision as a good move by an NC State player fully supported by the new coach with deep NBA ties. Two straight first round NBA draft picks and we get absolutely nothing out of it.
I am not nearly as pessimistic about next year’s team as many of you. Other than Duke, UNC & GaTech, I don’t think we are overmatched at all. We have a lot of talent and no poor players (unless Ferguson is). We will be picked very low in the preseason polls, but this could be a good thing.
The JC big man is a good idea, particularly if McCauley or Werner is not on the team. This is almost worth it to hear the weeping and gnashing of teeth that would ensue if Lowe’s first recruit is a JC transfer.
I respectfully disagree with the continuing comments that we have to give the new coaching staff 3 to 5 years before rendering any judgements. I don’t think anybody at the high D1 level should get this long.
“I think the change had to come at some point but I also think it was long overdue.”
Just reminding us all that a “change” wasn’t made. Sendek chose to leave on his own doing. If he chose not to listen to ASU or others, he’d still be here. With all due respect JT, I’d rather be in the Big Dance than struggling to beat the Clemson’s and Va. Techs of the world. If we fail to make it in the next few years, is that really going to lure recruits our way anytime soon? That’s why I’m saying it’s going to take some time. I anticipate a considerable fall-off, perhaps even strugling to finish over .500 and NIT bids. The question then becomes what is the staff going to do to right the ship? We have to give them plenty of time to figure this out as a staff. I do believe they’ve been put in a very difficult situation where it’d be easy to fail by many Pack backers’ standards for the first few years. That, in my opinion, would be a step backward. But yes sometimes you to have to take a step or two backward to move forward in the end.
And I keep saying that I could have taken a band of one-handed midgets and had them shoot threes from the time-line every game and those games we hit 60% we would probably win while those games we shot less than 20% we probably would lose. Not to mention, I’m pretty sure I could have taken those same one-handed midgets and called four timeouts against Boston College in the decisive closing minutes of the game… and overtimes… and at least gotten the ball in bounds and a decent shot off.
It might get worse before it gets better, but I’m confident things will indeed get better. You Chicken-Little-Sendek supporters are killing me.
We’re better off, people… don’t lose sight of that.
“Be prepared, and don’t rush to judgement on Lowe for the first 5 seasons. ”
Sorry, I’m not going to wait that long – but that doesn’t really matter at this point does it.
At present, we have 8 scholarship players on our roster. The worst case scenario is that McCauley transfers, Brack decides to give up round ball AND Grant is deported. I doubt all 3 of those happen, but there’s certainly a possibility at least one will.
Finally, if you think we got raked over the coals during the coaching search, just wait until we actually play b’ball next year. Fowler deserves a lot of criticism for the way he handled the search -and the atmosphere surrounding the program. I don’t think anyone would call this a “smooth” transition.
I cannot believe this website just endorsed the JUCO route. What in the hell is wrong with you people?
This site was one of the hardline anti-Sendek sources. I heard repeatedly that short term losses were no excuse to keep Sendek. Now, it sounds like people are tearing their clothes and jumping off bridges.
This, combined with the complete misconception of what coaches were even available, should only reinforce the need here to become better educated about the world of college basketball.
Lunatic fringe is by far the most inappropriate term. I’d call this contingent the “Novice Ninnies”.
A JUCO player from Costa Rica. Brilliant! C’mon guys. Is it too much to ask for an attempt at a educated response, or did the coaching search just wipe you guys out?
Wulfpack,
I agree that without Sendeck making the move we would be seeing the same old fold at the end of the year – but regardless of who made the decision there was a change (it’s just so sad that the administration let this situation fester for years).
For others – I think it is unrealistic to judge the new staff in less than 3 to 5 years (I think more along 5). This is certainly a rebuilding effort and even though we don’t like it time will be required. Another coaching change in a couple of years would just set the program back more. The Carolina siutation with Roy was nothing like the one Lowe is facing.
“You Chicken-Little-Sendek supporters are killing me.
We’re better off, people… don’t lose sight of that.”
I’m an avid supporter of NCSU athletics just as you are, GA Wolf. I support our coach regardless of the situation. I respect a man for staying the course and restoring a sense of pride in the program, a program that was in horrific shape and the joke of the league. We may not be able to beat Duke and UNC consistently today, but lest I remind you we couldn’t beat ANYBODY a decade ago. We were the laughing stock of the league.
With that said, I also admire Sidney Lowe for taking on this respnsibility and I, as a loyal fan, will support him to the bitter end. But what I do think is worth acknowledging is that Lowe is today in a very tenuous situation. That much I think is true and we’ll see that on the court this season. Are we better off today? Hardly. May we be better off May 30, 2010? Hopefully. But there’s a ton of work to do today…I’m just trying to be realisitc so as not to get my hopes up and dashed when we have a terrible first season.