Torian Graham re-commits to NC State [11:00am Update]

Basketball Recruiting35

Merry Christmas, Wolfpackers.

Today, NC State secured a (re) commitment from 6-foot-4, 175-pound Torian Graham. Graham is generally considered at Top 50-75 national recruit who is ranked amongst the top 10 shooting guards in the country. You can click here to read our story from Graham’s original commitment in May where you will see that Graham was a Top 25 player and 5-star recruit when he first committed to the Wolfpack. ESPN currently ranks Graham the #38 overall player and #9 shooting guard in the class of 2012.

Scout.com’s Evan Daniels says:

Graham is an athletic wing prospect that shoots it. Range is deep. Key with TG is consistency when he has it working he’s tough to handle

One of SFN’s community members (logarithm) shared the following that is worth including here:

I think the kid has more upside than his “ranking” suggests. He was ranked higher, just barely below Purvis in the Spring. He committed to us, had to have a knee surgery that kept him out of summer play, then decommitted, took his decision on where to transfer for his senior year down to the wire, and then I’m pretty sure his mom passed away a couple months back. Not exactly an emotionally serene recruitment. And I guess the talk of academic issues must have either been unfounded rumors or he’s turned his studies around. I can’t imagine the coaches want an academic project in year two when they didn’t want one in Joseph Uchebo in year one.

Recruiting is a different world today. See the video below of Graham’s announcement:

Coach Gottfried has now secured commitments from players ranked 15th, 22nd, 51st, and 61st in the country based on Scout.com’s rankings. Interestingly, all of the players are from the great state of North Carolina.

Senior Class
(1) CJ Williams (Wing)
(13) Alex Johnson (PG)

Junior Class
(2) Scott Wood (Wing)
(3) Richard Howell (PF)
(4) Jordan Vandenberg (C)
(5) DeShawn Painter (PF/C)

Sophomore Class
(6) Lorenzo Brown (PG/SG)
(7) CJ Leslie (SF/PF)

Freshman Class
(8) Tyler Harris (F)
(9) Jaquan Raymond (G)
(10) Thomas de Thaey (PF)

2012 Commits
(11) Tyler Lewis (PG)
(12) Rodney Purvis (PG/SG)
(13) TJ Warren (SF)
(1) Torian Graham (SG)

2013 Commits
(2) Departure of Scott Wood (Wing)
(3) Departure of Richard Howell (PF)
(4) Departure of Jordan Vandenberg (C)
(5) Departure of DeShawn Painter (PF/C)

I don’t follow recruiting that closely, but I have seen a comment or two regarding Graham’s academics and that he may ultimately re-classify into 2013. Regardless of the truth of this speculation, a quick review of the previous ‘depth chart’ could convince you that a re-classification wouldn’t be the worst thing for the Wolfpack program over the long term. In addition to having at least four scholarships to five in the 2013 class, State is approaching a critical need to recruit some post players in the very near future.

With that said, it would not surprise me if Coach Gottfried could still find a scholarship in the 2012 class for a post player like Amile Jefferson and/or Ricardo Gathers. In fact, just today this article was posted to a college basketball recruiting blog titled, “N.C. State Aiming to Recruit Nationally Under Gottfried”.

The Wolfpack are involved with forwards Amile Jefferson and Ricardo Gathers and guard Torian Graham, a onetime N.C. State commit, all of whom will sign in the spring.

The 6-foot-7 Jefferson out of Philly Friends Central has a list of several suitors, but word on the street is that Kentucky currently has an edge — although it remains unclear by how much.

“Still looking at Ohio State, still looking at ‘Nova, N.C. State, UConn, Kentucky,” Jefferson told Five Star at this week’s City of Palms Classic in Fort Meyers, Fla.

Jefferson does speak highly of N.C. State, where he has already taken an official visit.

“I think they have a great program going there,” Jefferson said. “Coach Gottfried and his assistants are great. Then being able to get those players there and recruit … They definitely have a future. That’s a school on the rise and having those guys [the three recruits] really means something.”

Jefferson also likes how Gottfried employs forwards like C.J. Leslie and Richard Howell.

“Coach Gottfried runs that UCLA system, where they [bigs] do a lot of things,” Jefferson said.

He has a connection to the current recruiting crop, having teamed with Warren at the NBA Top 100 Camp.

“Bringing in those players like T.J. Warren, you know what you are going to get out of those guys, Rodney Purvis,” Jefferson said. “You already know you are going to be able to compete playing alongside those guys.”

He added: “To be honest, that’s what you need to win, you need talent. And with a good coach like that and [those] talents, it a good key to success.”

As for the 6-8 Gathers, a rugged power forward from Reserve (La.) Riverside nicknamed the “Bayou Bull,” Gottfried and the N.C. State staff got working on him late because they weren’t hired until April. He then committed to St. John’s over the summer before decommitting.

Still, Gathers currently lists N.C. State along with Duke, Florida, LSU, St. John’s, Cal, USC and Baylor.

“I want to reassure myself of where I want to be,” Gathers told Naples News at City of Palms. “I just want to make sure I look at all my options. I wanted to re-evaluate everything.”

As always, we encourage you to spend a few minutes hitting multiple topics on our message forums that are accessible by clicking here.

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Basketball Recruiting

35 Responses to Torian Graham re-commits to NC State [11:00am Update]

  1. Plz2BStateFan 12/22/2011 at 10:52 AM #

    “No coach can compete with UNC and Duke right down the road.”

  2. cWOhLFrPAiCKs 12/22/2011 at 10:53 AM #

    Another great addition to an already amazing class! Any update on his academic situation? I seem to recall there being some talk that he would need to reclassify for 2013 or something…

  3. logarithm 12/22/2011 at 10:59 AM #

    I think the kid has more upside than his “ranking” suggests. He was ranked higher, just barely below Purvis in the Spring. He committed to us, had to have a knee surgery that kept him out of summer play, then decommitted, took his decision on where to transfer for his senior year down to the wire, and then I’m pretty sure his mom passed away a couple months back. Not exactly an emotionally serene recruitment. And I guess the talk of academic issues must have either been unfounded rumors or he’s turned his studies around. I can’t imagine the coaches want an academic project in year two when they didn’t want one in Joseph Uchebo in year one.

    We’d need somebody to leave early for the NBA or transfer in order to sign anybody else in 2012, wouldn’t we?

  4. Lunatic Fringe 12/22/2011 at 11:09 AM #

    The talent influx is obviously important, but positive vibe from recruiting is great for overall program.

    Gott has done a good job of building positive energy around the program and through the media. TG’s commit should keep us in top 5 of classes for remaining of the season regardless of what happens with Amile or other teams.

    It keeps us “in the conversation” on recruiting shows (recruits watch those) and gives some positive things for announcers during games.

    I am excited about the talent in this upcoming class and how it fits with the pieces we have in place.

  5. TruthBKnown Returns 12/22/2011 at 11:12 AM #

    It would appear that the Jules indeed knew something was coming down the pike. Guess we can consider him a good source? He’s been right about a couple of big recruiting news stories now.

  6. redcanine 12/22/2011 at 11:13 AM #

    He looks pretty happy about his decision, and so am I. Great day for the Wolfpack!

  7. STLPack01 12/22/2011 at 11:17 AM #

    We have five spots with the departure of CJ Williams, according to the SFN article linked above.

  8. Packfan28 12/22/2011 at 11:23 AM #

    That was an older article, and left out Thomas De Thaey. We have used all the available scholarships barring early entry to the NBA and/or transfers.

  9. Alpha Wolf 12/22/2011 at 11:25 AM #

    @Plz2BStateFan — your post was my first thought when I saw the news.

    That and how butthurt some certain news outlets are that Twitter, blogs and forums are stealing their thunder. Ironically, I saw that on Twitter a few minutes ago.

  10. Lunatic Fringe 12/22/2011 at 11:30 AM #

    FYI – ESPN HS page now has “Welcome Back” article by Telep and NCSU now listed as #2 recruiting class behind Arizona. 🙂

  11. Rick 12/22/2011 at 11:33 AM #

    Great news
    We need a shooter

  12. logarithm 12/22/2011 at 11:35 AM #

    I hate to even bring it up but does anybody else wonder if Jaquan Raymond transfers? I like the kid and certainly don’t want any quality kids ousted from the program but I don’t think he’s played at all this season. With 3 highly touted guards coming in 2012, it looks worse for Raymond than it did for Julius Mays when we had Brown and Harrow coming in. And he’s doing very well at Wright State. It was the best thing for him to transfer then.

  13. ryebread 12/22/2011 at 11:45 AM #

    Log: You’re coming to the same conclusion that I am. I’m not sure the staff would have taken Raymond based on reading in between the lines. They like Harris and obviously like TDT. It seems like Raymond may just be behind and be the odd man out.

    There are two “if” situations there though. The first is if Graham is a 2012 recruit. The second is if we land a big man.

    We’re in desperate need of a big man based on what I personally see. We need it not just for next year, but more importantly for scholarship spacing. Here’s hoping we can land one.

  14. Packfan28 12/22/2011 at 12:03 PM #

    This talk about Graham’s academics is old. He is very solid on the academic side.

  15. notagain 12/22/2011 at 12:06 PM #

    I may be wrong about this, but i think Kendall Smith has a scholly. I was in a class with his GF last fall and remember her coming in and telling me all about it. Sid and the former staff wanted to reward him for all of his hard work and were going to give it to him his senior year (this year). This may have fallen through the cracks when Sid was ousted and Gott came in, but I dont know. Can anyone speak to this?

  16. Lunatic Fringe 12/22/2011 at 12:12 PM #

    Scholarships are a 1-year thing so Kendall may have been given a ship since it was not being used at the time, but it would not mean he keeps it if there is a need.

  17. notagain 12/22/2011 at 12:14 PM #

    According to gopack, he is a senior so if the committment was kept, that will make another for next yr

  18. Packfan28 12/22/2011 at 12:39 PM #

    Without Kendall we have 11, losing 2 and adding 4 for 13 total next year. With Kendall we have 12, losing 3, adding 4 for 13 total.

    Doesn’t matter if he has one or not. (I won’t write what I’m thinking)

  19. Mike 12/22/2011 at 1:08 PM #

    I dont want to be all negative Nellie here, but are there enough spots on the floor for all these wing players? I am thrilled Graham recommitted, but with Graham, Purvis, Warren, and Wood all vying for two spots, seems someone is not going to get the PT they desire. This is a good problem to have but just saying……….

  20. Packfan28 12/22/2011 at 1:09 PM #

    @rpurvis_5
    Rodney Purvis We all appreciate all the tweets fans but we haven’t done nothing yet. Let’s finish out this season and we’ll be ready for our turn..

    I like that attitude.

  21. Mike 12/22/2011 at 1:11 PM #

    On my last point, I do have another idea………we could play 5 guys on the perimeter, pass it around until 3 seconds are left on the shot clock and heave a 3 at the buzzer. It seems one of the top coaches in college bball uses this type offense – might work here. NOT.

  22. PoppaJohn 12/22/2011 at 1:21 PM #

    I think if we can get Gathers or Jefferson, we’ll work it out. That class really needs some size. Raymond may well transfer if he sees more court time elsewhere. Calvin may decide he’s ready to take over the NBA, we have a history of the woefully unprepared going pro.

  23. Rick 12/22/2011 at 1:40 PM #

    “I dont want to be all negative Nellie here, but are there enough spots on the floor for all these wing players? ”

    Have you see how shallow we are a guard this year?? Even with the class we had we only had three guards total next year. TG gives us a fourth guard.
    I am not convinced Lewis does not need some time before he is ready for big time minutes.

  24. wolfie91 12/22/2011 at 1:54 PM #

    ^We haven’t been loaded with talent in the last 5 years nor this year. We need all the talent we can get at every position.

  25. JEOH2 12/22/2011 at 1:58 PM #

    PG: Brown/Lewis/Purvis/Raymond
    SG: Purvis/Graham/Brown/Wood/Raymond
    SF: Wood/Warren/Harris
    PF: Leslie/Howell/De Theay
    C: Howell/Painter/Vandenberg

    Yeah I’d say this is a good problem to have…

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