Signing Day Wrap Up

GoPack.com press release:



I think it's a solid class. It's not a spectacular one, by any means, but one thing Tom O'Brien and recruiting coordinator Jerry Petercuskie have shown over the years is that they are very adept at finding skilled, hard-working kids that are "coachable."

Petercuskie had a fantastic quote in this piece from Tim Stevens that stuck with me this week:

"We want to coach football, not coach effort."

Exactly. Stars are great and indicative of tremendous potential, but O'Brien and company have done a fantastic job of looking past the stars and looking for work ethic.

Hard to believe that Spring Football is right around the corner.

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N&O: O'Brien's system works

Nice piece from Tim Stevens in today's N&O/Charlotte Observer.

It reads like a small measure of sunshine on a dreary Wolfpack Monday following Saturday's game and--if you were like me, rooting for Adrian Wilson and Steve Keim--Arizona's come-from-ahead loss in the Super Bowl.

It sheds some light on O'Brien and recruiting coordinator Jerry Petercuskie's philosophies and methods in the world of recruiting. Here's a snippet:

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"As long as we're meeting our needs with players that meet our criteria, we'll be pleased with the group," said Jerry Petercuskie, the Wolfpack's football recruiting coordinator.

One reason for the variance in the perceived quality of each class and its actual achievements could be that recruiting rankings do not evaluate how players fit into a specific program.

"We rate players on things like size, speed, strength and skills and project how they will develop," said Mike Farrell, who covers the Atlantic Coast Conference for Rivals.com. "What we don't do is figure in anything about the program where a player is going. That's not part of our evaluation.

"But it is a huge factor in a player's development."

When you look at the players O'Brien has developed over the years (the piece mentions both Matt Ryan and Mathias Kiwanuka) and the number of offensive linemen he and his staff have put in the NFL (tops of any college), it's tough to argue with the results.

Other fanbases can bleat on about stars and rankings, but I'll trust Major Tom's proven method over star power any day of the week (preferably Saturday).

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Kansas' Bill Self commits a violation meeting with John Wall

More "accidental" recruiting slip-ups, this time from a coach trying to get in with John Wall.

From the Springfield, MO News-Leader, via Deadspin, via the ACC Sports Journal:

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Best Watergate-like moment: Like us reporters normally do when seeking interviews, we wait outside locker rooms for players and coaches to come out. Since there weren't enough locker rooms to hold all eight teams, some were placed back at Hammons Student Center.

Yes, it's a haul from JQH to HSC, so I was the only one hanging out. There was no accidental foot traffic.

That's what was so curious when Kansas coach Bill Self came rolling through. I was puzzled because it's an evaluation period in the NCAA's eyes, meaning coaches and recruits can have no contact, except for an exchange of greetings.

Of course, Wall is the top uncommitted recruit. Self had to know I was a reporter and even said hello to me.

I just thought he'd stand there, maybe even wave to Wall to let him know he was there. Instead, when the Holy Rams poured out of the locker room, Self was excited:

Self: "Johnny, great win man. You really played well."

Wall: "Thanks."

Self: "I'm not supposed to be talking to you, and you know that, but I just wanted to tell you that was a great win."

Then Self vanished.

I called Missouri State NCAA compliance officer Kyle Yates, curious of Self's behavior. Yates insisted what Self did was wrong, but not unique, as I suspected.

"(He) definitely shouldn't have done that, but it's not uncommon," Yates said. "If he would have sat him down and had a conversation, that would have been a big deal."

Still, it was no accident he was there in that isolated location. And Memphis coaches John Calipari and Orlando Antigua didn't do it either.

John Wall better be LeBron, KG and Kobe all rolled into one to warrant this kind of blatant rules violation. Kansas to date has never really been a frontrunner in the JW sweepstakes, and yet here is Self, basically putting his job and team on the line, trying to get a word in--if ever so briefly--with Wall.

That Self admits, in the moment, that he wasn't supposed to be there is the kicker. How more blatant can one be about flaunting the law? This, of course, was no accident, despite what Self will tell you about how he wanted to just meet with the coaches after the game. This was calculated, as was Duke assistant coach Chris Collins' "accidental" appearance at the GSK Holiday Invite back in December in which Ryan Kelly--one of Duke's most coveted recruits--was participating. No one "forgets" when the evaluation periods end and begin, especially not at Duke or Kansas.

It will be interesting to see what comes of this. If this is brushed aside, much like the Reggie Bush/USC incident appears to have been, it speaks further to the uneven playing field with which certain programs know they can operate. The NCAA knows who butters their bread in basketball and football, and they seem very, very reluctant to upset the apple cart with respect to these programs.

Expect nothing to come of this more than an "aww, shucks, we'll remember next time" from the Kansas coaching staff.

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Nice article from the News and Record...

...on Sidney Lowe's ties to the Georgia basketball scene.

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Sidney adds another to '09 class

So, how was your Sunday and Monday?

Unless your name is Sidney Lowe, Larry Harris or anyone else associated with the basketball team, your last two days have likely paled in comparison.

In just 48 scant hours, Lowe and crew added commitments from two legit recruits that could help quickly reverse the sharp downward trend the team took last season. On Sunday, Lowe added blue chip PG/SG Lorenzo Brown. Yesterday he picked up a frontcourt player to compliment him in 6'8", 220-pound power forward Richard Howell.

Howell comes to the Pack via Wheeler High School in Marietta, GA, which should sound familiar to Pack fans, as it was J.J. Hickson's old stomping grounds. The state of Georgia has been very kind to State basketball of late, as Brown hails from nearby Snellville 40 miles to the east.

Here's what ESPN has to say about Howell:

He has a Division 1 frame that is well-built with solid length. Howell has superior quickness and strength that he utilizes when operating in the paint area. He is a quick leaper and can finish with contact. He has nice spin moves in the key and he's gifted passer out of the post as well. What makes him more difficult to defend is his ability to face-up and either shoot the mid-range jump shot or take his opponents off the bounce. He does have a tendency to over-handle it at times which makes him turnover prone, but that's a habit that can be rectified with coaching. Defensively, he has the strength and bounce to defend in the post and the lateral quickness to check versatile 4-men.

The additions of Howell and Brown already make for Lowe's best recruiting class thus far, but he may not be finished yet. There are still two big targets left on the board in Derrick Favors and Ryan Kelly, both 5-star forwards. State has one scholarship left to give (assuming no one leaves the team unexpectedly), so adding either Favors or Kelly would shoot this class into the stratosphere and certainly be one of the top classes in the country.

These past two days have been crucial for Lowe, above and beyond what the recruits themselves are worth to the team. It's proven that Lowe can not only recruit at a high Division-I level, but that he can do so after a disastrous season. One wonders what he could do on the heels of a sweet 16 run in the tourney! Let's hope we get to find out soon.

A big tip of the hat, again, to coach Larry Harris, who continues to put in the major legwork and effort in identifying prospects early on in their maturation process. It's not uncommon to see recruits mention that State, and more specifically coach Harris, were the first to show major interest in them. Pounding the pavement early is reaping its rewards.

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Beasley cleared to play

Rivals.com

As mentioned in a post last week, we listed incoming LB recruit William Beasley as one of several who failed to qualify. Well, turns out there was some sort of error on the NCAA Clearinghouse's part that missed some of Beasley's credits initially. Now that the error has been caught, Beasley is cleared to play.

This is good news for the Pack for a number of reasons.

One, anytime you see a young man put in the time and effort necessary to earn a scholarship offer from a BCS school, only to have the carpet yanked out from under them at the last moment, it breaks your heart. So you root for those folks who do the work to get things squared away in time to not miss a beat.

Second, linebacker is a definite area of weakness for the Pack this season. As a three-star recruit, standing 6'-2" and 225, Beasley has the skill and size to play right away if the Pack needs him. Given our injury state of recent years, there always seems to be one group that takes a big hit during the course of the year (running backs last season). The linebacking corps is one that can ill afford a single player to go down. Beasley gives a small matter of insurance in the case that someone does.

This is not the first time Wolfpack fans have seen one of their recruits fall victim to a Clearinghouse issue. If you'll recall, Tramain Hall hit a last-second hiccup on his admissions process back in 2002 that ultimately delayed his entrance to State nearly two years and cost him a year of eligibility.

We're fortunate that Beasley did not have to go down that same road.

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4-star Combo Guard Lorenzo Brown commits over weekend

After a tumultuous year for Sidney Lowe, the Wolfpack basketball coach got some good news this weekend with the commitment of 4-star combo guard Lorenzo Brown from Alpharetta, GA.

All the stories on PackPride.com and ncstate.rivals.com are premium info, so you'll have to subscribe to their sites (if you haven't already) to learn more about him. But all you need to know is that this is a huge get for Lowe after such a dissappointing season.

Here's some basic info on Brown:
- 6'-4", 175 pounds
- #8 SG in country (by both Scout and Rivals), #37 player overall by Rivals
- Offer list included Texas, Florida and Memphis, among others. VERY solid.

He could be a one-and-done player with the Pack, but his departure timetable will likely depend upon how successful State is his freshman year in '09-'10. He would really have to light it up as a freshman to jump after one year.

From all accounts he sounds like a grounded individual, as well, that's not afraid to put in the work in the gym to be successful.

Landing Brown may have other recruiting implications, as well. Big time prospets like to follow other big time prospects to programs; it makes sense, so long as you're not looking to share time with the other name. So landing Brown may improve our chances with two other targets on the '09 board--Derrick Favors and Ryan Kelly, two five-star forwards who--along with Brown--could make for one of the best recruiting classes in the Pack's recent history.

Nevertheless, Brown is a big get, and a great addition to the '09 class.

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'83: Should we just move on already?

As I was riding into work today I was listening to 850 The Buzz, as I'm apt to do, and the topic of conversation centered around the '83 Championship.

This year, of course, is the 25th Anniversary of said title. Tonight, WRAL plans to run a special at 7:30 on the title run and all the magical moments that surrounded it.

It was a special time for my university, and it's one we--as State fans--always will treasure. But I think I have to agree with the hosts, Adam Gold and Joe Ovies: It's time to move on.

We've been living in the past for too long. When I started at State, '83 was just over a decade away. Now it's a quarter-century. I was at Technician when we put together a 15th Anniversary piece, and I remember thinking then that 15 years was a long damn time away. Now it's a decade longer.

We need to focus on the here-and-now, because that's all we have to show to potential recruits. We can point to some trophies in a glass case--so can San Francisco and Oklahoma State. But kids today know nothing of our past success, unless they just so happened to grow up State fans with parents who shared it with them as a child.

Cold reality: In a year or so, a college freshman will have been born in the 90's. Given that our last real solid team--with Corchiani and Monroe--was the 1990-1991 squad, the entirety of these kids' lives will have been lived AFTER our last great team. Even scarier: The kids born during the year of our last ACC title, 1987, are beginning to graduate college this year.

It sucks, because it means I'm old.

It also sucks because it means there's no legitimate reason a top-flight recruit should know of State ever having been a great program. No more so than they should think the same way of Houston. We haven't posted any measure of real, tangible success (read:titles) in their lifetimes.

All we have are old trophies and great memories, but those can't recruit for us anymore. We have to sell what we have, not what we had.

Unfortunately, we're competing against programs in the area that have tremendous built-in recruiting advantages. Duke and Carolina don't have to recruit at all, really--they choose. I could sign three McDonald's All-Americas with my eyes closed at one of those two programs. The hype for the Duke-Carolina games seems to get bigger each year, and has turned into its own self-hyping phenomenon. Are we surprised that the two top programs in the league by a good margin are Duke and Carolina, and have been for a decade?

All that success builds the recruiting pool for these two schools across the country. Hell, one of the top point guard prospects in the country, John Wall, is right in Carolina's backyard in Cary, and despite his own admission that he grew up a Carolina fan, he wasn't offered because they ALREADY have too many top-flight PGs on their roster! When you have the luxury of not offering the best talent in the country because there's no room on your squad, a trained monkey could coach your team to 20-win seasons year-in and year-out. (Which makes you wonder about Matt Doherty...)

All of this is to say: we've got a tough fight ahead of us, and it's not made any easier by where we're located. But, we've got to shed this anchor of the '83 championship, because all it's doing is weighing us down at the moment. The more we scream about past titles and miracles and magic, the more desperate we appear to the outside world--including recruits.

Sure, show them the trophy case. Make your point about returning to that level of greatness. But if Sidney's wise--and we're wise as a fanbase--the '83 and '74 championships will be near the end of the recruiting tour, not near the beginning.

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