Harrow’s commitment a result of “great recruiting” by Wolfpack

It is no secret that poor point guard play has plagued NC State’s Basketball Program for years. (Link to BJD’s recent positional analysis)

Even if Farnold Degand doesn’t bounce back from his knee injury this year, a fix for this problem may be on the near-term horizon after Ryan Harrow, a rising high school junior point guard, committed to play basketball at NC State. We discussed Harrow and the Wolfpack’s future roster was discussed in this entry at the time of Harrow’s verbal commitment.

On Sunday, the N&O’s Tim Stevens wrote a great article about Harrow and his potential for stardom.

Lots of interesting things to discuss in the article. A couple of real quick ones:

(1) Telep’s Turnaround

He has been out of the recruiting mainstream to the extent that Dave Telep, the director of recruiting for Scout.com, has not yet evaluated him. “I need to see him more,” Telep said. “I honestly haven’t seen him enough yet to say much about him accurately.”

I *think* this is a change in position for Telep as I could have sworn he made some comments when Harrow committed that indicated that Harrow was certainly not going to be one of the top/elite/top 10 players at his position.

(2) Potential Growth

Harrow isn’t impressive physically — he weighs just 150 pounds. But he wears a size 13 shoe and he has long arms. Doctors have told him that he may grow to the 6-2 or 6-3 range. “If he does that, he is going to be one of the top 25 players in the country before he is done,” Goydish said.

Not many people with size 13 shoes finish their growth under six feet. Not many finish under 6’3. This is very exciting for Harrow’s future potential. I just hope that he can keep his ankles from twisting too much as he grows into his frame.

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59 Responses to Harrow’s commitment a result of “great recruiting” by Wolfpack

  1. SMD 07/22/2008 at 2:21 PM #

    I also think that last year’s suckiness was the result of much more than poor point play. Were we a good team pre-Degand’s injury? Not really. But the buzz seems to be that this year’s team is having a much better offseason than last year’s team. Take away JJ, throw in Costner with shed poundage (which would seem to imply a new attitude as well, since you have to work hard to achieve that…) and perhaps many of the intangibles that plagued us are gone. I am not saying they are or they aren’t, just throwing it out there.

  2. b 07/22/2008 at 2:28 PM #

    Just to let you know the foot thing goes the other way, too. (and to add extra weirdness to a weird post) I’m 6’4″ and wear a size 11. But I do have a 6’8″ wingspan.

    The wingspan thing sucks everywhere but the basketball court, BTW. I’m 250 pounds so I have to special order shorts so I don’t look like a low-budget Incredible Hulk.

  3. Girlfriend in a Coma 07/22/2008 at 3:33 PM #

    So are you guys hung like horses or what?

  4. b 07/22/2008 at 4:21 PM #

    Yeah, that should have read shirts.

    GFIAC, you know what they say about guys who have big feet……….they wear big shoes.

  5. pakfanistan 07/22/2008 at 4:22 PM #

    I’m so big people say horses are hung like me.

    And I wear a size 12 girls shoe.

  6. Sweet jumper 07/22/2008 at 5:05 PM #

    6’0″–Size 9–6’4″ wingspan
    I feel like I am logging into the old Dan Patrick Show on ESPN radio!

  7. highstick 07/22/2008 at 5:47 PM #

    If some of you guys would cut your toenails, you wouldn’t have to wear such a large shoe! My size 10 D’s work just fine!

  8. wallacepark 07/22/2008 at 6:13 PM #

    Based on all the videos I’ve seen Ryan Harrow is a special talent, but I’m confident Javi and Mays can handle the point until he gets here. Javi showed a lot of improvement last year, and he’ll be a pleasant surprise for a lot of people.

    As for Degand, I’d rather see him as a wing guard. He’d be an outstanding defender, and with his speed and ability to penetrate, he could be a real fast break threat as well.

  9. Dogbreath 07/22/2008 at 7:13 PM #

    Quick question: where on the 2008 and 2009 roster is a guard who can reliably put the ball in the basket for us?

    I keep hearing about some kid named Brown, who hasn’t yet committed. If we miss on him, who is going to put the ball in the basket?

  10. Primewolf 07/22/2008 at 7:25 PM #

    Am I the only one with normal proportions, 6’4″ and size 12.

  11. RabidWolf 07/22/2008 at 7:45 PM #

    “UNC gets top recruiting classes and we talk of possible height based upon foot size.We sure do give UNC blogs things to ridicule.”

    Since when do any of us actually give a rats ass about what is said on the UNX blogs? Most of the time it’s unintelligible drivel and sophomoric at best. Those numbnuts would ridicule State regardless.

  12. JeremyH 07/22/2008 at 8:10 PM #

    this is nice and all, but who are we getting for NEXT year? And we say Lowe’s job is not on the line, sure, that’s fine…but if we have something that resembles the production of last year or worse, people that frequent this site will go ballistic again, and maybe call for his head *indirectly* as before.

    However, if we attribute much of our problems from last year to chemistry and effort, if that is duplicated again, well, for that to be repeated perhaps should raise the question.

    As with football, we just need to see some kind of incremental improvement, and maybe even get pleasantly surprised if the effort is there, these guys can play together. Some of the keys will be ACC experience carryover for Javi, Costner/Ben tandem in old form, and some energy off the bench from these new guys Mays and Thomas. (And who knows maybe Smith can have a Cedric Simmons-esque sophomore season.

  13. Ed89 07/22/2008 at 8:32 PM #

    ^^^Some of the keys will be ACC experience carryover for Javi, Costner/Ben tandem in old form, and some energy off the bench from these new guys Mays and Thomas. (And who knows maybe Smith can have a Cedric Simmons-esque sophomore season.

    While I agree it will have to be a team effort, the unmentioned “key” to next year is a very productive Courtney Fells. He has All-ACC talent, and needs to realize that if he wants to be drafted. He has the ability to take a game into his own hands…..we’ll see if he uses it.

  14. wufdog 07/22/2008 at 8:33 PM #

    Primewolf-you are the only one with normal proportions and how many years of eligibility do you have left. I also have to agree with Rabid’s assesment of the unx boards-sophmoric drivel-and they have small feet. All joking aside I am pleased with some positive press re: recruiting. I have a 5’9″ wingspan and I like pina-coladas. Hey we have to lighten up after some of the recent slap fests that have taken place. GO PACK

  15. wufdog 07/22/2008 at 8:53 PM #

    I do realize a lot of people put in a lot of hard work compiling facts and figures for the realm of statefansnation and it does not go unappreciated. That being said I am confident that a more experienced and enlightened team will be able to hold it together and put together a season that exceeds the debacle of last year. Really i think we hit rock bottom last season and Cos and Mac are going to come out swinging.

  16. kyjelly 07/22/2008 at 9:53 PM #

    Thank you : what about next year ? Sid has been playing that Degand card like no one had seen him play last year? Sid is safe here for sure so long as our AD is a buffoon I heard Sid just got a commit from pg class of 2022 !

  17. Ed89 07/23/2008 at 8:21 AM #

    There you go again, KY….

    Anyway, speaking of Harrow, if anyone has seen his video highlights, they are impressive…to tell you the truth, VERY impressive…he really looks alot like Wall with the basketball. If/when he fills out a bit, he is going to be a very good basketball player. I also like the fact about how he said he was solid with NC State — “They found me.”
    I like that attitude….he’ll be a solid player!

  18. JeremyH 07/23/2008 at 12:37 PM #

    “He has All-ACC talent, and needs to realize that if he wants to be drafted. He has the ability to take a game into his own hands…..we’ll see if he uses it.”

    I’ve criticized him for being more of an athlete than a basketball player, but I would love him to disprove that. He has developed that outside shot, which I hope he does not fall too much in love with. As has always been the case for Courtney, and anyone with his set of physical attributes, if he can improve his ball handling to any significant degree and become a penetrator or just slasher to the basketball, that would help mitigate the the deficiency at guard.

    But I think what Ed is saying has to do with Courtney taking the game into his own hands, well, instead of fading into a #2 or #3 option on offense in an arbitrary half of each game.

  19. packbackr04 07/23/2008 at 12:47 PM #

    since we suck at basketball and football, can sid and TOB at least change our ugly uniforms?

  20. Ed89 07/23/2008 at 12:47 PM #

    ^^^But I think what Ed is saying has to do with Courtney taking the game into his own hands, well, instead of fading into a #2 or #3 option on offense in an arbitrary half of each game.

    You’re right, JeremyH — I’m not saying he needs to score 20+ per night, but he can’t have the 3 points on 1-4 shooting nights. He has to be a MAJOR player in every game!

  21. Ed89 07/23/2008 at 12:59 PM #

    ^^^since we suck at basketball and football, can sid and TOB at least change our ugly uniforms?

    I concur. I like our football helmets, but the uniforms need work. For bball, I’d like to see us go retro with STATE across the front, and PACK on the shorts.

  22. Wolf Dog 07/23/2008 at 1:07 PM #

    I’m 6’4″ and wear size 13. My 15 year old son is size 14 and 6’2″. Be interesting to see if he gets any taller based on the shoe size theory.

  23. Wolf Dog 07/23/2008 at 1:15 PM #

    My question with our B-Ball team this fall is where do our points come from? Lets say we get 25 a night from Costner and McCauley. Where do the rest of our points come from?

  24. packbackr04 07/23/2008 at 2:41 PM #

    Wolf Dog^ thats the problem, there are no other options.. i hope everyone is looking forward to beating Presbyterian 50-41 again this year.

    DIdnt Sid say that someone wouldnt let him put just State on the front of the jersey? or is this Q’s job and he got too high and couldnt remember what he was supposed to be doing.

    and what is with all you tall ass people on this blog? I’m 5’11” size 9… and i personally feel like everyone on here is lying about their height. if all of you are 6’4″ maybe yall could try out for the bball team. lord knows we need the help/

  25. Noah 07/23/2008 at 4:03 PM #

    I’m only 6-1, so I’ll have to handle the point for this team.

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