Lowe Lands Another ’10 Prospect (Projected Roster Update)

Basketball Recruiting NCS Basketball82

ACCBasketballRecruiting.com – along with everybody else – is that point guard Ryan Harrow has committed to NC State joining consensus Top 20 high school star, CJ Leslie in the class of 2010. (Link here).

Harrow – a rising junior from Marietta, Georgia – is a little shorter than his listing of 6’0 and weighs only 150 pounds. As ‘seeinred09’ stated on an NC State message board, “Let the record show that Chris Paul was 5’10” and around 150 lbs as a high school sophomore.”

Harrow plays AAU basketball for the Louis Williams Elite 16s and is reportedly close to Lorenzo Brown, a top 20 wing prospect in the class of 2009 who has reportedly narrowed his list to NC State and Memphis.

The University of Florida’s Rivals.com site recently had the following report on Harrow that was shared on Pack Pride’s free message boards:

There may not have been a guard in the entire tournament field that was faster and more slippery than the 5-foot-10 guard from Walton High School in Marietta, Ga. Harrow was a blur with the ball in his hands and because of his size and speed, he was able to sneak into small cracks in the defense.

His frame is tiny but his game was big. Harrow’s ball-handling skills and overall basketball are tremendous for a 2010 prospect. He’ll have to continue to fill out, but his game was one of the best of any point guard in the tournament.

It appears that Harrow couldn’t be more enthusiastic about the recent developments in his recruitment. The Wolfpacker ran this story highlighting Harrow’s spark with NC State on Sunday.

The North Carolina State elite camp experience left such an impression on rising junior point guard Ryan Harrow, he couldn’t wait to come back to Raleigh with his mother.

Harrow, who played three games with Louis Williams Elite 17s on Saturday in Norcross, Ga., is flying to Raleigh today, arriving around 9:30 a.m., where he will meet his mother, Fern Harrow, and his brother-in-law, Erasto Hatchett, who is an assistant coach at the Concord (N.C.) Cannon School, his former school. Harrow transferred back home to Marietta (Ga.) Walton High last January.

NC State coach Sidney Lowe will be meeting today with rising junior point guard Ryan Harrow, and his mother and brother-in-law.
“My mom wanted to meet [NCSU] coach Sidney Lowe about my scholarship and me committing early,” Harrow said.

Harrow attended the elite camp for two days, June 11-12, yet the experience could alter his life.

One question on the minds of many Wolfpackers will be, “How does this impact NC State’s recruitment of John Wall in the class of 2009.”

Personally, I do not think that Harrow would impact Wall in any way. If Wall (were to commit to NC State and) is a one-and-doner as many predict then Harrow simply replaces Wall’s scholarship. The best case scenario would be if Wall stays at least two years; giving Harrow at least a year of growth and development and competion in practice vs Wall (and Javi Gonzalez and Farnold Degand).

Projected 2008-2009 NC State Basketball Roster

Senior Class
(1) Courtney Fells (Wing)
(2) Ben McCauley (F/C)

Junior Class
(3) Brandon Costner (F)
(4) Trevor Ferguson (G)
(5) Dennis Horner (F)
(6) Fernold Degand (PG)
(7) Marques Johnson (PG/SG)

Sophomore Class
(8) Javi Gonzalez (PG)
(9) Tracy Smith (4F)

Freshman Class
(10) Johnny Thomas (Wing)
(11) Julius Mays (PG/SG)
(12) CJ Williams (Wing)

HS Sr Commits
(13) Scott Wood (SG)
(1) Open – [Wing player along the lines of Lorenzo Brown] (Courtney Fells Scholarship)
(2) Open – [Center along the lines of Derrick Favors] (Ben McCauley’s Scholarship)
(3/4/5/6/7) Potential open from potential departure in junior class to be used only on a superstar like John Wall.

HS Junior Commitments
(5) CJ Leslie (F)
(5) Ryan Harrow (PG)
(6) Open
(7) Open

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Basketball Recruiting NCS Basketball

82 Responses to Lowe Lands Another ’10 Prospect (Projected Roster Update)

  1. redfred2 06/30/2008 at 9:36 PM #

    I was *attempting* to be funny right along with you there Dr B. After re-reading, I think maybe Dr B could have taken my last post wrong, hope not.

    I’m also thinking that I will really have some mixed emotions IF this year’s group of BB players shows every bit of the enthusiam that was sorely lacking last season…back when they weren’t exactly the stars of the show…back before a certain kid signed at #19…in the recent NBA draft.

  2. redfred2 06/30/2008 at 9:49 PM #

    Hell Dogbreath, going by your player profile, that kid is bound to end up in Tempe before all is said and done anyway.

  3. kyjelly 06/30/2008 at 9:59 PM #

    Everyone knows Wall will come only if he wishes to stay home, I think Sid needs this year or all this other stuff is futile.

  4. ktoh 06/30/2008 at 10:13 PM #

    I also think that Sid needs a decent showing at the very least some signs of effort,fundementals as well as some chemistry this year more than anything. If we see more of the same I too think he may not get to coach these new prospects.

  5. Dr. BadgerPack 06/30/2008 at 10:16 PM #

    redfred- don’t worry, I thought that was funny… Just working/reading at the same time, so not posting much.

    I forget exactly where I dug it up, but I thought I recalled seeing this recruit put down 50 in a game…

  6. redfred2 06/30/2008 at 10:49 PM #

    I know I’ve given Lowe a hard time but he is rebuilding an entire program, whether some people care to believe it or not.

    I do not care what anyone says, there is no way any self respecting human being/BB player would play in the matter that some of these kids played last season. We, and me especially, have harped on “teaching the fundamentals” but I don’t necessarily believe that you have to teach a kid how to block out, or how to ‘attempt’ to get a rebound, or fight for a loose ball, most of that is desire and determination, and you either have it, or you don’t.

    Lowe may have severly overestimated in some areas while underestimating just as boldly in others, but if he’s as smart as most people seem to believe, then we should start to see some improvement with each player he adds to HIS roster.

  7. ErB 06/30/2008 at 10:52 PM #

    Dr. BadgerPack- I just read that too on Pack Pride. It said it was at a Clemson team camp… I’m not sure how competitive those things are, but I’d say 50 points is pretty solid wherever you are.

  8. redfred2 06/30/2008 at 11:01 PM #

    Sid needs time to reinvent the NC State basketball program. I don’t necessarily need any championshipd right now, but I do want to start seeing some evidence of a philosophy that could possibly produce one at any time. Lowe knows exactly what NC State is (supposed to be) all about, now all he has to do is figure out if he has it in him to begin translating it. Either way, I definitely do not want to revert back to anything remotely resembling the five in a row…of no way to climb any further, ceiling pressing down, compressing every vertebra in my neck and spinal column until I can no longer look up.

  9. b 07/01/2008 at 2:34 AM #

    All I could find was an area scoring leaders list in the CO from 1/19, and a blip from the Concord/Kannapolis Independent Tribune on 12/8. In both articles he was averaging 17 points, and the earlier article mentioned 5 assists. He wasn’t mentioned in the team preview from October and ended up leading the team in points and assists.

    Cannon school is an indy and classified 3a, not great competition but they beat Ravenscroft in a postseason tourney and they also beat Archbishop Molloy in a holiday toruney. They did get dusted by G’boro day school though.

  10. Wolf74 07/01/2008 at 6:57 AM #

    I don’t understand this talk about Lowe rebuilding a Wolfpack basketball program. It was just two short years ago that we had been to 5 straight NCAA’s. I believe we’ve had 3 first round NBA drafts picks since 2005. We’ve got one Mickey D AA on the returning team.

    We were not put on probation. We did not lose any scholarships. Our coach just up and left and our AD was caught flat footed. That should not mean we have to rebuild a program. Maybe we should have some building to do to get to the level of UNC-Ch and Duke but after last season it appears we have some building to do to get to the level of Clemson and Miami. That I don’t understand.

    SFN: Well then you need to talk to Lee Fowler because since the day Sendek left everything that he has said and done indicates how much rebuilding was needed in Raleigh. He gave Sidney an atypical six year contract when Lowe was hired because of the special need to give him a little more time because of the rebuilding that was needed. Just last week on one of his many interviews with 99.9 the host started a question about how NC State was in rebuilding mode and Fowler agreed with the premise.

    ^This infuriates me in light of how Fowler used the supposed strength of our program as a reason to keep Sendek all of those average years after all five years of failure.

    To be fair – Sendek ‘coincidently’ chose the season where he had ONE player returning that had any experience and was facing the use of a couple of freshmen in key roles. He actually did leave us in rebuilding mode. My issue is with the untrue perspective that Fowler spouted for your years that we had program that was stronger than it was in reality.

  11. Rick 07/01/2008 at 7:05 AM #

    “I don’t understand this talk about Lowe rebuilding a Wolfpack basketball program. It was just two short years ago that we had been to 5 straight NCAA’s”

    This has been hashed and rehashed. Lowe had 7 scholarship players when he showed up. Only two that had any playing experience at all.

    I have a feeling we have found Mebanewolf’s new alias.

  12. jmnorris 07/01/2008 at 7:55 AM #

    Are we that much in the mix for Favors, Kelly or Wall. I know Brown is seriously considering us (crossing fingers), but I had the impression that we are a longshot to get any of the other 3.

  13. Rick 07/01/2008 at 8:10 AM #

    “To be fair – Sendek ‘coincidently’ chose the season where he had ONE player returning that had any experience and was facing the use of a couple of freshmen in key roles. ”

    Anyone who thinks that year under Sendek would not have been miserable has their head in the sand. It is almost like he planned it that way. Hit that magical 5 year in a row in the NCAAs, go to another school and leave NCSU with a boatload of inexperience.

    Is there anyway that group of players could have mastered the complexity of the weave and heave? You know, the one that took player until their junior year before they knew how to stand in one spot and chunk up three pointers.

  14. choppack1 07/01/2008 at 8:58 AM #

    A couple of thoughts here since we’re going down “that road”.

    1) Of the last 5 commitments Sendek had to NC State – just one – Horner – ended up on campus.

    2) Sendek played a very specific style and recruited players who would excel in this format. This format helped NC State make 5 straight NCAA appearances, but also made us very susceptible to collapse when he left.

    3) While Atsur was the only returning starter, we did have some talent returning. We’ve been told that one strong PG would have given us better results last year (or that the injury to the existing starting PG caused the collapse.) I think both of these statements are partially true. That being said, it should require a total rebuilding effort. Especially since this is basketball and you only have to play 5 starters.

    4) Our current situation has been aggrivated by some questionable scholarship allocations. If you believe it by the positions they played last year, our staff recruited 3 guards who are incapable of playing anything but PG. Whether it was a lack of flexibility or a lack of scouting, in college b’ball today, you can’t afford to have 3 guys w/ average production, taking up a scholarship if they can only play one position.

    5) Sidney didn’t inherit a lemon, but he sure as hell didn’t inherit lemonade – and the delayed coaching search only added to his challenge. My problem the first 2 years was the lack of effort and preparation I’ve seen. The 6 year contract may have been needed since Sid had never been a part of college coaching staff for 1 day prior to taking this job. (It underscores just what a huge risk this hire was.) This program is his now, the results are his. If the returning players had responded better to their first complete offseason under Sidney – I’d lay more blame at Sendek’s feet. But the huge step back – especially in effort – was this year, not last year.

    5) You’re certainly right about Fowler’s take on the program before Sendek’s departure. We are left w/ 2 options: A) This program was barely being held together when Sendek left – and was as weak as a team w/ 5 straight NCAA appearances has ever been.
    or
    B) Lee Fowler made one of the worst hires ever in major college sports. (Think Notre Dame hiring Gerry Faust.)
    or
    C) A little bit of both A&B, aggrivated by a long coaching search which caused us to lose some key players who would have helped w/ skill and depth.

    Either way, Fowler should take tons of heat for where we are today and the results of the last 2 years.

  15. LRM 07/01/2008 at 9:35 AM #

    I have nothing more than a passing interest in recruiting because it’s all so speculative and more pragmatically, I’ve seen far too many Shea Cottons, Damien Wilkinses, Jay Davises, Marcus Stones, etc., to put too much stock in what “gurus” think; after all, the greatest player of my lifetime was hardly recruited and he ruined the QB position for all that follow.

    However, after seeing some of the above comments, it would be interesting to see some informed analysis on how recruiting would be affected by some of the proposed changes, namely the refusal to recruit before the junior season and an NBA change to eliminate one-and-done guys, which I feel is actually a detriment to programs.

    Just curious what some of you more informed on recruiting think about this.

  16. Wulfpack 07/01/2008 at 9:45 AM #

    “4) Our current situation has been aggrivated by some questionable scholarship allocations. If you believe it by the positions they played last year, our staff recruited 3 guards who are incapable of playing anything but PG. Whether it was a lack of flexibility or a lack of scouting, in college b’ball today, you can’t afford to have 3 guys w/ average production, taking up a scholarship if they can only play one position.”

    So very true. I guess we’ll just have to see how it all pans out but the decisions to take these three guys has clearly hampered the program. That is on Lowe and company.

  17. choppack1 07/01/2008 at 9:47 AM #

    LRM – IMHO, the best thing the NCAAs can do is put serious restrictions on what AAU is allowed to do. If there’s any much more unseemly to the current rules, it’s the emergence of AAU and how that’s influenced kids.

    Of course, it’s easy for me to sit and judge it. If I was getting free shoes and clothes and traveling around the country, it might be different.

  18. Wolf74 07/01/2008 at 9:51 AM #

    My post wasn’t any type of support of Fowler or Herb Sendek. Personally, I felt Herb should have been released after the melt down in year 5 and Fowler should have been fired, or at least put on a leash, after his “lunatic fringe” comment directed at one of the few redeeming aspects of NSCU athletics – fan support.

    My comment was directed at the fact that we sacrificed our men’s basketball program to gain so called “institutional control” under Les Robinson. Then waited through 10 years of Herb building the program back to a mid-ACC competitive level. As much as I wanted Herb gone in that he did not make us competitive with UNC-Ch and Duke, he did manage to bring us back to a level of mediocrity. I believe Herb was in way past his abilities BUT he did manage to leave us with a program in good standing with the NCAA and a near term history of moderate success. Even Lowe’s first season bears out the fact that the cupboard – while depleted – wasn’t entirely bare. However, this past season could not be classified as anything other than a total failure. There was talent enough to compete in the upper third of the conference.

    Thus IMHO we should not be considered in a rebuilding mode, at least not as it translates into competition with the teams in the ACC other than UNC-Ch and Duke. Therefore we should not be expected to sit by 3-5 years as this “rebuilding process” unfolds such as we were forced to do as the facility building process unfolded and coaches were not held accountable for their teams successes and failures. What we should be doing is BUILDING to reach the level of UNC-Ch and Duke. If this means a coaching AND athletic director change in the near future – so be it but we have to stop this foot dragging and have somebody with some vision step up and actually PLAN SOMETHING FOR A CHANGE!

  19. choppack1 07/01/2008 at 10:03 AM #

    Wolf74 – I think due to injuries, departures, scholarship allocations – we are now in rebuilding mode. We may be better than folks expect next year.

    I really think the key will be how well Degand has recovered from his knee injury and if Mays can start at the 2 G spot.

    If Mays is capable of staring or playing a key role next year – effectively – we’ll be competitive if our staff can prepare our players for the opposition and if our players can execute the game plan and play w/ some passion. I really think we’ll have a decent combo of talent and experience – and Mays at the 2G and Fells at the 3 spot should help our quickness.

    I’m not looking for an NCAA bid, but I am looking for effort and execution. I think that tells you where we are in the 3rd year of Lowe’s program.

    Oh yeah, no coaching change until we have a new AD.

  20. RickJ 07/01/2008 at 10:52 AM #

    Choppack1 – I really agree with your comments regarding Mays. The coaches deserve some slack for Gonzales and Degand because of the situation they were put in by the hiring process. However, they took an extremely early commitment from Mays (October 2006) assumingly because they felt he was highly undervalued. The same can be said about C. J. Williams. If both of these guys turn out to be better than their rating, I will be highly encouraged.

  21. choppack1 07/01/2008 at 11:13 AM #

    RickJ – I do cut them some slack for these guys. However, my main problem is w/ them bringing in 3 guys w/ they only played at one position. Degand and Johnson may be able to in fact, play the two – they just never tried it.

    In addition, I thought that Grant should have been played at PF last year, with Fells at the 3 spot. They never tried that either.

    One area where V really excelled was putting out different line ups. He’d go 3 guards on you, or he’d go 3 big men…To me, that’s what was most disappointing in actually the last 2 years – it seems like you’ve got your position and that’s that. This way – you don’t need tons of depth – you just need 3 guards, 3 low posters and 1 swing man…but you can give your opponent lots of different looks.

    In addition, it seems like you are either in the rotation or you’re not. In 2007 against Wake – we got a big lift from the receiver . He didn’t play much after that. Last year, Tracy Smith played a ton vs. Clemson, but then disappeared until later in the year. Don’t get me wrong, there’s plenty of valid reasons why a kid doesn’t get playing time, but it just makes me wonder.

    I guess what I’m really saying is that I don’t think our current staff has been too “creative” in finding solutions to the problems they’ve faced. This doesn’t mean that they’ll have to face the same challenges in the future. It just means that I don’t think we’ve maximized our opponities w/ the talent that we have had.

  22. newt 07/01/2008 at 11:41 AM #

    I think going from zero point guards to three was a smart move to 1 – bring in a point guard of some sort so that Grant wasn’t the PG 2 – have a backup in case of injury and 3 – have options in case any of these PGs didn’t pan out. Seems to me it worked the way it was supposed to work. One thing folks are forgetting is that all of these PGs have exactly 1 season of experience. By year 4 they should be better.

  23. redfred2 07/01/2008 at 11:42 AM #

    ^Nice post(s) Chop.

    I was also kind of dumbfounded in regards to Tracy Smith’s PT, and even Harris’ PT, after he was about only one who came off the bench playing with the emotion that no one else seemed to have. The overall lack of experimentation with regards to different line ups definitely had me frustrated and questioning the thought processes last season. I certainly hope that changes and we see some of the creativity that I had expected earlier on from our new coach.

  24. Daily Update 07/01/2008 at 11:45 AM #

    The videos linking on packpride are pretty impressive. Crazy handles. A couple of the clips were pretty amazing between the spins, behind the backs and between the legs with both hands. I wondered about this commitment myself, but after viewing the videos you can see why we offered.

    There are also some crazy videos of John Wall out there. He looks like this Harrow except he is taller, quicker, faster and can dunk on people’s heads. There is a video of clips with everyone showing defenders knees and ankles breaking as they fall to the floor.

    John Wall’s shot won’t keep him out of the NBA.

    This year’s number one pick shot 33% from the 3 pt. line. Mike Conley is another one that I don’t think was a great three point shooter.

  25. redfred2 07/01/2008 at 11:47 AM #

    “…this past season could not be classified as anything other than a total failure.”

    Just as this upcoming season is going to give us a pretty good indication of who was really at fault, in the prior season, with the big guy in there, who went in the first round, and possibly bruised some other egos along the way.

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