USA Today: Wolfpack recruiting getting national attention
If you haven’t read it yet, “Daily Update” posted one of the best entries that we’ve had in a while with his GSK Update post a couple of days ago.
A couple of follow-up items from that are worth sharing:
(1) In the time since Daily Update shared “Rumors from the tournament suggested that his [Luke Cothron's] commitment to NC State is solid though Tennessee and Alabama are making a run at him”, some national recruiting services have penned reports supporting the rumors that Luke is a solid commit to the Woflpack
I think it is important to re-iterate to our readers how good Cothron really is. From all accounts, he is a clear upgrade from this year’s class of forwards of Richard Howell and DeShawn Painter. And, I think we are just starting to see what Howell can do. You can click here to see a recent discussion regarding the concern around Cothron’s commitment.
(2) USA Today was at the GSK Invitational and blogged about the six best prospects they saw at the tournament – two of which have signed with NC State and one of which had previously committed to State and may still sign. The following are their comments:
“Ryan Harrow, Marietta (Ga.) Walton High: The 6-1 guard and N.C. State recruit could not weigh more than 130 pounds. With his shorts pulled up almost to mid-waist he looks like Steve Urkel but plays like Stephen Curry. Has an outstanding dribble and is a magician getting himself out of a crowd to either get to the rim or hit a 3-pointer from a different area code. Also has great court vision and is a superb passer.
C.J. Leslie, Raleigh Word of God: The 6-9 forward is unsigned. He shared the court with John Wall last year but is the go-to guy this year. He is long, lean and athletic. He will make some of the most athletic plays of the game and his ability to get to and then over the rim is extraordinary. He is a good rebounder and shot blocker. The team that signs him is going to get a major recruiting prize.
Luke Cothron, Red Springs (N.C.) Flora MacDonald Academy: The 6-8 forward will be a team up with Harrow next season. He sometimes doesn’t look smooth but the ball seems to go in the basket and he is a solid rebounder.
(3) This thread on our message boards provides a lot more discussion around our recruits and the GSK Invitational.
23 Responses to “USA Today: Wolfpack recruiting getting national attention”
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Hopefully Harrow is back at home now.
I’m really excited about seeing him play. It has been a long time since we’ve had someone like him in the background.
What’s the wager on our chances of getting CJL? 50-50? Better? Worse?
next year should be interesting
^ With Foulup around, it always is (although not usually in a positive way!)
WTNY- less than 6 hours away now. Then what?
i read a shoddy article in the N&O while at the barber yesterday that Harrow had the flu this week.. and the articles headline was that Bullock got the best of Harrow in the game against Kinston… however, Bullock scored 26 for the game and Harrow had 25 and sat most of the 2nd half.
Whether you believe in Sidney or not, he has put together 2 recruiting classes that can make NCSU really competitive again. Unfortunately, the star players followed the role players so this year will be tough as we play against teams with more talent. Next year, things are going to be very, very different.
Let’s make the NIT this year, get everyone more experience and really turn this program arond next season.
^ I love your posts. Totally agree.
My premise all year continues to be — let’s see effort, energy, fundamentals & hustle this year. Add to it competition for the the post season and that should be more than enough to keep the criticism at bay enough where it is clear that another year is warranted.
To this point, we’re experiencing it.
Going to be 12-3 in non-conference for the year not including Florida.
The Florida game is HUGE, IMHO
^ Agree… the Florida game is the difference between true respectability and just another OOC scheduled with potential but missed opportunities. If we drop this one, the AZ game REALLY hurts… win this one, and all is well.
@ MA Wolfpack
Great point concerning the role players coming before the stars. I honestly believe that could be a blessing in disguise for the future.
With players like Wood, Howell, Davis & Painter getting this experience, this confidence in being primary options this year we could have ourselves a team (if chemistry works) that over the next couple of years that could play 10-12 deep and remain very competitive at a higher level then most other schools in the country.
Look at it like this…while most other teams will be hoping for their former role players to step up as their stars leave…we will have our bench full of role players who have ALREADY stepped up this year, just as our potential stars are coming in…
The trick is for us to be realistic about expectations, the team to continue energetic, disciplined play and to reach some postseason this year, first…
while most other teams will be hoping for their former role players to step up as their stars leave
Most? If you want to be significant in college basketball, you replace stars with stars…not role players.
Well, at least it is pretty certain that we aren’t going to lose anyone early after this year. If the current players can make some sort of post season appearance then that just sets us up to have a solid returning cast to compliment what we hope are incoming stars.
Agree, we have a solid core, but they are freshmen. Let’s not expect too much this year. But when this class is juniors, we should be scary good with just normal year-to-year improvement.
“Most? If you want to be significant in college basketball, you replace stars with stars…not role players.”
I want to see what kind of class SL signs to follow the Harrow, Brown class. One class does not a program make.
But when you’re stuck in the vicious cycle of not being competitive enough to gain commitments from the higher caliber players, you have to break the chain somehow. This class CAN do that. Let’s hope it does.
One legitimate concern that arises out of MA’s great point above is that we’ve had one guy come in who was a legitimate star to take playing time from guys who would be role players on other teams. The starters turned “role players” as we all know didn’t handle that very well.
We need to hope either these kids we have now are different from some of those in the past OR the staff learned some lessons during the Hickson experiment on how to manage egos.
To clarify, I am talking about next year specifically…most programs aren’t great and most programs don’t have stellar recruiting classes year after year, so we will at least potentially have a better situation then those programs…next year…we aren’t significant yet, regaining that significance will take important changes over time but we can start at least gaining some respect this year…of course all this comes with a LOT of qualifiers…as usual with us haha
Sidney has done well developing Javi and Smith. Imagine this talented group of freshmen after a year or two of similar development. Then imagine adding to that the great talent we have coming in 2010. Gotta love that Sidney Lowe!
It just takes a few ***** star recruits to break the chain of going to the same dominating programs and decide that they want to be the one or one’s to bring a program back. Today’s kids want that instant gratification that the UNC’s Kentucky’s, Duke, Uconn’s, Kansas bring each and every year.
I no longer feel it might happen here but, now I know it will happen here. They will come and don’t worry who is one and done because once it starts to happen it won’t matter. Now will it?
I’m very optimistic for next year.
I’m optimistic for this year, and optimistic for continued improvement next year.
I’ve kind of heard the same thing as packbackr04. Harrow was nearly dehydrated and still managed to score 25 in one half. He could barely stand straight and still performed at a high level. This kid is the truth, he’s got me excited about pack bball again.
we can look at this as a good thing, but even better.. there was nothing mentioned about Larenzo Brown. 6-4 shooting guard who could shape up to be as good as Ryan Harrow and Luke Cothern. I am excited to get some sort of recognition from the press, seeing as how we are neglected and pushed aside for everything. Hopefully the Duke game will persuade CJ Leslie a little bit, but we should be set next year as far as depth and talent on the roster.
we can look at this as a good thing, but even better.. there was nothing mentioned about Larenzo Brown. 6-4 shooting guard who could shape up to be as good as Ryan Harrow and Luke Cothern. I am excited to get some sort of recognition from the press, seeing as how we are neglected and pushed aside for everything. Hopefully the Duke game will persuade CJ Leslie a little bit, but we should be set next year as far as depth and talent on the roster.