Gott To Da Choppah!!!

[Wufpacker]

ACC Basketball: N.C. State plans helicopter visits for Dennis Smith Jr., Bam Adebayo (FayObserver.com)

A live recruiting period for NCAA basketball coaches opens Wednesday, and N.C. State has big plans for its top Class of 2016 targets.

The Wolfpack has made arrangements for a coach-carrying helicopter to land at point guard Dennis Smith Jr.’s school, Trinity Christian in Fayetteville. There are similar plans to visit power forward Edrice “Bam” Adebayo in High Point.

Smith is listed at No. 4 overall, two spots ahead of Adebayo, in ESPN’s latest Class of 2016 rankings.

[snip]

Fourteen years ago, during a quiet recruiting period, then-Florida coach Billy Donovan made a splash by flying to Raleigh, renting a car and driving to Broughton High School so he could simply wave to prospect Shavlik Randolph.

[NCSU88]

Seems a little over the top and expensive. I hope the player is worth it.

[TheCOWDOG]

Do they have a helipad at the Hunt Library? If so, I’m on board.

[Wolfanatic]

^Yeah, there was one, but it’s kind of like the hockey rink at Reynolds.

[BJD95]

I like it. The last thing we need to do is start counting our chickens and take these two CRUCIAL young men for granted. Good to hear MG is too smart for that.

[PackerInRussia]

I thought maybe he was going to finally do that parachute jump that got cancelled a few years back. That would be an impressive recruiting trip.

[redisgood]

I think this is a terrific idea. These two guys are crucial in terms of the team getting to the next level. We are still in the lead for both of them, but every major program in the country is after them.

Regarding cost, the helicopter is privately owned by a donor, and not costing the university anything.

[Rick]

You can never fault Gott for working hard on the recruiting trail.

[MrPlywood]

BJD95 wrote:

I like it. The last thing we need to do is start counting our chickens and take these two CRUCIAL young men for granted. Good to hear MG is too smart for that.

I was thinking along the same lines. All seems to be going according to plan, but it’s a fine line between smothering a recruit and “We good? Alright, I need to get some work done. See you in 2016.” And as we’ve all seen, it’s not over til it’s over.

[BJD95]

I hear ya, Ply. Therein also lies the plus of having a coach like MG who has people skills (unlike, say, ME). He can likely read the situation and judge stuff like that.

The art of persuasion, it’s good in so many contexts!!

[Author]

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