Deshawn Painter: Florida’s loss becomes NC State’s gain

8pm Update: BREAKING NEWS! – The Wolfpacker beat Pack Pride by about 15 minutes on this one with their report that Deshawn Painter has chosen to play basketball at NC State. SFN heard last week that NC State was ‘expecting’ to land Painter, but you never count your chickens before they hatch. We felt pretty good about State’s odds after Painter got out of his visit in College Park this past weekend without falling in love and committing in person to Gary Williams. So, we got ready to run this story this evening so that we would be prepared. Good timing/ CONGRATULATIONS, Coach Lowe and the Wolfpack!!

The recruitment of the one of the top remaining post prospects in country ended on Wednesday when Deshawn Painter chose NC State over Maryland after eliminating Virginia Tech from consideration earlier in the week.

Painter, of Chatham (Va.) Hargrave Military Academy, is a very athletic, ‘lengthy’ 6’9 power forward who has a well rounded game that includes the ability to rebound and block shots. After originally committing to Billy Donovan at the University of Florida, DeShawn ultimately changed his mind and re-opened his recruitment.

He is ranked as one of the Top 75 high school players in the country; Scout has given him four stars and Rivals has given him three stars. ESPNU ranks Painter #19 on their list of top power forwards in the country, achieving “score” of 92 as NC State’s other post commit – Richard Howell. Howell is ranked #20 on ESPNU’s list.

  • Wolfpack Hoops’ biography/profile of Painter can be seen by clicking here.

Make no mistake about Painter’s potential impact on NC State’s 2009-2010 team and on the program into the future. In this thorough entry on March 23rd we stated the following:

Much is made about State’s struggles and needs at the point guard position…and, Ryan Harrow may be scheduled to arrive in Raleigh one year too late for Coach Lowe. But, I see an even more glaring deficiency on the Wolfpack’s roster after the departure of Brandon Costner – NC State desperately needs some size, heft and toughness in the post. Despite the addition of Richard Howell in the 2009 recruiting class, an ‘ideal’ candidate for one of the Wolfpack’s remaining scholarships would be a junior college big man – preferably a true center of close to 7 feet – who can defend, block shots and rebound. Additionally, this would be ideal for current and future scholarship spacing needs.

Although Painter may not represent the ‘ideal’ situation that we projected with a hypothetical junior college prospect, he’s damn close and would obviously contribute to the program for more than just two seasons. Having versatile and skilled bookends in the post like Richard Howell and DeShawn Painter (as freshmen) behind Tracy Smith and Dennis Horner would create an awful lot of depth for the Wolfpack next year, and beyond) while helping to blunt the blow of (potentially) losing CJ Leslie from next year’s class.

Projected 2009-2010 NC State Basketball Roster

Senior Class
(1) Dennis Horner (F)
(2) Farnold Degand (PG)

Junior Class
(3) Javi Gonzalez (PG)
(4) Tracy Smith (4F)

Sophomore Class
(5) Johnny Thomas (Wing)
(6) Julius Mays (PG/SG)
(7) CJ Williams (Wing)

Freshman Class
(8) Scott Wood (Wing)
(9) Lorenzo Brown (PG/SG)
(10) Richard Howell (PF)
(11) Josh Davis (WF)
(12) Jordan Vandenberg (C)
(13) DeShawn Painter (PF/C)

2010 Commits
(1) Departure of Dennis Horner – Ryan Harrow (PG)
(2) Departure of Farnold Degand – Previously CJ Leslie (PF/C)

2011 Commits
(3) Departure of Javi Gonzalez
(4) Departure of Tracy Smith

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Basketball Recruiting

174 Responses to Deshawn Painter: Florida’s loss becomes NC State’s gain

  1. Bubba 05/13/2009 at 7:52 PM #

    Painter to the Pack Nice pick up Sid. Prolly a top 15 class now

  2. TheAliasTroll 05/13/2009 at 8:06 PM #

    This makes me feel a little better about next season. Could we go .500 in the ACC and should that be the expectations? Or should we raise the bar real high and say we need to be a NCAA bubble team? I sure love sports.

  3. StateFans 05/13/2009 at 8:11 PM #

    .500 in the ACC would be on the good side of being an NCAA Bubble team.

  4. phunisher 05/13/2009 at 8:24 PM #

    I just wanted to make sure everyone has seen this

    http://ncstate.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=945653

    We have all seen rumblings about this in the past week (if you check out recruiting) but does Sidney’s recent class and eye for talent give him any leeway in regards time to show he can make this thing work? I hate how when good things happen, they all happen at once. Next thing we know Jed will be gone tommorrow. Lets spread some of this good MOJO around a little.

  5. blpack 05/13/2009 at 8:24 PM #

    Great pick up. Needed more depth in the front court and this helps a lot. Practice should be much more competitive too.

  6. burnbarn 05/13/2009 at 8:25 PM #

    This a nice cherry on this class… we swung for the fences and still got very good talent. The staff is to be commended. Welcome aboard Mr. Painter!!!

  7. Pack Leader 05/13/2009 at 8:47 PM #

    This is HUGE!!!! that gives us 4 players in the top 75 in the nation!!! this could end up being the best class we have seen in over 20 years!!! he will no doubt battle with Howell to earn his PT on the court!!! Sid really pulled this one out of the air!!!!! maybeee JOHN WALL will see this and want to join!!!

  8. agentorange 05/13/2009 at 9:01 PM #

    We’re looking better. But, we still need someone to run the show. According to YahooSports it won’t be John Wall. His “advisor” Brian Clifton says it’s down to U.K., the Dookies, and Miami.

  9. Sweet jumper 05/13/2009 at 9:02 PM #

    This is a great pickup by Sid. How will we make room for Wall if he surprises us and wants to play for the Pack? It looks like we are out of scholarships.

  10. Afterglow 05/13/2009 at 9:06 PM #

    6-foot-9 and 220 pounds… is this true? I have seen other stats that list him as 200 or 195. Just wondering if anyone has anything accurate.

    In any event, nice pick up by the pack. I’m impressed with how the coaching staff jumped on this late in the game.

  11. Afterglow 05/13/2009 at 9:08 PM #

    Sweet jumper-unless Wall pulls a totally unexpected fast one on us, I seriously doubt we’ll land Wall-in any event, where there’s a wall there’s a Way… that totally contradicts itself!

  12. Sweet jumper 05/13/2009 at 9:15 PM #

    Good one Afterglow. The ncstate.rivals.com recruiting update for next year is very encouraging. CJ Leslie may wish that he had stayed with his State committment because there may be no room at the inn for him if some of the other top offers come through.

  13. tvp1 05/13/2009 at 9:20 PM #

    You have to give Lowe and staff lots of credit. After missing on Favors and Cousins they did a great job getting Vandenberg and now Painter. The front court situation went from scary to pretty solid in a few weeks time.

  14. com state10 05/13/2009 at 9:37 PM #

    Congratulations to Sid and the rest of the coaching staff.

    If Sid can get his substitution pattern down earlier this year, keep the guys chemistry together and competition strong, this class has the potential to do great great things.

    I am trying my best not to be excited about BOTH programs for the first time in a while, but I am failing miserably at it.

    Momentum is big in recruiting, but not nearly as big as it will be when we make the tourney next year with one of the younger and more electrifying teams in recent ACC memory.

    GO PACK!!!!!!!!!

  15. highstick 05/13/2009 at 9:40 PM #

    I won’t jump for joy….yet, but this is some interesting news. “What’s on paper” doesn’t impress me until I see actual results! Too many years of success followed by too many years of promises and failures!

    I’m not from Missouri, but as I’ve said before “Show Me” and I’ll be a believer!

  16. old13 05/13/2009 at 9:45 PM #

    Great pickup! This eliminates all of Sid’s excuses. Either he can coach and manage a game or he can’t. The honeymoon is over.

  17. tvp1 05/13/2009 at 9:47 PM #

    SFN: Hear anything about whether Painter will qualify?

  18. Dogbreath 05/13/2009 at 9:54 PM #

    This is a nice addition and helps to shore up some deficiencies along the frontline.

    Not to piss on the parade, but everyone needs to temper their expectations. Getting 4 top 75 players is a nice class, but its not anywhere close to the immediate impact “Fab Six” that some posters make it out to be. I would compare this to the Grant/Simmons/Brackman/Bethel class of a few years back.

    The glaring omission from next years team, indeed a glaring omission from the Pack roster for the past 6 years, is the 18ppg consistent ALL ACC caliber player.

    Maybe Tracy Smith is that guy, but I still see him as a good #2 or utility post player.

    We will need one of those freshman to be an ACCROY next year for us to begin to even think about being a tourney team.

  19. packalum44 05/13/2009 at 9:55 PM #

    This is good news but the cynic inside fears this recruiting class is good enough to keep a horrible coach around longer than need be. Sighhhh….

  20. Rufftown Wolf 05/13/2009 at 9:56 PM #

    I see all kinds of effective lineups now.

    Mays
    Brown
    Smith
    Horner
    Painter

    Gonzo
    Brown
    Wood
    Howell
    Smith

    Wood
    Brown
    Williams
    Howell
    Painter

    Brown
    Wood
    Williams
    Smith
    Horner

    Degand
    Brown
    Williams
    Smith
    Painter

    Mays
    Brown
    Wood
    Howell
    Smith

    Gonzo
    Wood
    Horner
    Painter
    Vandenberg

    Degand
    Wood
    Howell
    Thomas
    Vandenberg

    The List could go on and on.. NCSU is gonna to make some noise next year.

    GO Pack. SId can recruit…

  21. CStanley 05/13/2009 at 10:00 PM #

    Need to stop with all the Wall talk, he ain’t coming here.

    Nice pickup, but agree with the above sentiment that we need an All-ACC caliber player. Probably going to have to be one of the freshman, or T. Smith potentially.

    Still ain’t got the PG we need to get us to the next level.

  22. Pack Leader 05/13/2009 at 10:03 PM #

    Today was a Great day for the Pack!!!!
    1.Deshawn Painter commits solidifying the front court.
    2.Rivals comes out with their new summer rankings for the ’10 class
    – Ryan Harrow is now ranked 25th in the nation, 6th best PG and
    recieved the prestigous 5 stars!!!!
    – CJ leslie drops 2 spots and barley cracks the top 50 (ranked 47)

    tvp1- on Painter qualifying, ive heard from my sources he received word he will qualify few weeks ago thats why when he found out he was ACC eligible he only looked at VT, Mary, State. I expect there to be no problem if there was State would have backed out just like they did with Juco Center Roscoe.

    Look for the pack to be EXTREMELY athletic!!!!

  23. ncsufan23 05/13/2009 at 10:03 PM #

    if we dont have any scholarships left, then what happens if John Wall decides to come to State?

  24. Afterglow 05/13/2009 at 10:15 PM #

    John who?

  25. LRM 05/13/2009 at 10:28 PM #

    Degand and Horner comprise our senior class. God, grant me the strength.

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