NC State Assistant Basketball Coach, Larry Harris (link to entries) gave an interview to Triangle Sports talk that is archived for your listening pleasure here.
There isn’t a lot in the interview, but there were two key comments on which I wanted to highlight:
(1) Harris commented that he spoke with Coach Lowe when Sidney got the job and they discussed some things that Larry “wanted to do at NC State” – namely “win a National Championship.”
I can’t tell you how much I love hearing that. Look, NC State may never add to its cache of two national championships…but, NC State will definitely never compete for a national championship if we are scared of talking about chasing the goal and choose to hide from our history while trying to create false realities about new definitions of “success”.
I LOVE hearing that the topic of pursuing the brass ring was THE topic that was discussed, and perhaps THE impetus to keep Coach Harris in Raleigh.
(2) The other very interesting piece of information that came from the interview was that NC State may not be done with recruiting for the 2006 season – Harris said that teh Pack was in the process of searching for a couple of guys and involved with a couple of guys now.
This information is contrary to the comments made by Pack Pride’s James Henderson last week that State was done recruiting for next year. I do not have a clue about any particular names that the Wolfpack is still recruiting for next season, but I have assume that the Pack is targetting a post player to help replace the scholarship lost with Cedric Simmons’ departure. In this entry, I threw out the name of Junior College player, Hernol Hall. IMHO, Hall represents the type of player to whom the Wolfpack is hopefully talking (and offering immediate playing time in the ACC).
If you have any insight or thoughts regarding potential prospects in the class of 2006 that might remain for the Wolpack, please don’t hesitate to share them in our comments section. The following are comments regarding Hall that I included in the previous entry:
* 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.