Sidney Lowe quietly gets another recruit

[wolfpackdevil]

Earlier Today, Deshawn Painter, a 6-9 225 PF out of Virginia commited to NC State.

Painter is a 4 star recruit, that previously commited to Florida, and was recruited earlier by Duke.

Sidney Lowe picked up 3 top 20 players, in their respective position for next season.

The Wolfpack are losing Ferguson and Costner, but with all this young talent, Sidney Lowe should be feeling bette about next season.

PG- Javi Gonzalez, Julius Mays
SG- CJ Williams, Lorenzo Brown
SF- Dennis Horner
PF- Deshawn Painter, Richard Howell, Johnny Thomas
C- Tracey Smith

Now that might not be a championship lineup, but one that could save Sidney lowes job.

[Edouble]

That's a nice post. The 'pack may end up being my ACC Darkhorse.

[Bob Green]

I'm happy Painter picked State because I want to see Sidney Lowe return the Wolfpack to the upper tier of the ACC. Painter was a highly regarded recruit who saw his ranking drop between his Junior and Senior seasons, but we all know how fickle rankings can be. I wish Painter and State good luck in the coming season except when they are playing our Blue Devils.

[davekay1971]

Go Sidney!

[whereinthehellami]

I'm not a big fan of Painter. There is a reason why his ratings suffered and it was due to his play. Some of these guys get caught up in the game of recruiting. Both of the transfers out of Florida left because they don't want to be down low, which is consistent with the weaknesses of their games. A lack of toughness and a misguided belief that they have the ability to thrive on the perimeter. There is not much of a record of success with guys who take the easy way out in sports.

[FerryFor50]

I'm not a big fan of Painter. There is a reason why his ratings suffered and it was due to his play. Some of these guys get caught up in the game of recruiting. Both of the transfers out of Florida left because they don't want to be down low, which is consistent with the weaknesses of their games. A lack of toughness and a misguided belief that they have the ability to thrive on the perimeter. There is not much of a record of success with guys who take the easy way out in sports.

Hey, it works for Dirk Nowitzki. Kind of.

[Boozer]

Earlier Today, Deshawn Painter, a 6-9 225 PF out of Virginia commited to NC State.

Painter is a 4 star recruit, that previously commited to Florida, and was recruited earlier by Duke.

Sidney Lowe picked up 3 top 20 players, in their respective position for next season.

The Wolfpack are losing Ferguson and Costner, but with all this young talent, Sidney Lowe should be feeling bette about next season.

PG- Javi Gonzalez, Julius Mays
SG- CJ Williams, Lorenzo Brown
SF- Dennis Horner
PF- Deshawn Painter, Richard Howell, Johnny Thomas
C- Tracey Smith

Now that might not be a championship lineup, but one that could save Sidney lowes job.

Good pick up for State. State also loses another key player in Ben McCauley. To me, losing Big Ben hurts worse than losing Ferguson or Costner..

State should be better next year. Hopefully good enough to get back into the Big Dance. It is better for the conference when State is a factor..

[Olympic Fan]

I'm not nearly as optimistic about State's chances next season as some of you seem to be -- and, believe me, I would like to see the Pack be competitive.

To begin with, it's hard to see how a team that was 16-14 (6-10) last season could lose its three top scorers (McCauley, Costner and Fells), plus one of its best 3-point shooters/wing defenders (Ferguson) and be much better without a great infusion of talent.

Frankly, I don't see a great infusion of young talent. Painter is a nice pickup, but hardly a program-changer. Overall, it's a good class, but nothing special. There's not a impact player (top 25 recruit) in the bunch. As an earlier poster noted, Lowe got three players ranked in the top 20 at their respective positions -- that's not top 20 overall.

When I look at the prospective depth chart posted above, that screams second-division ACC. What are you seeing that makes you optimistic? Tracy Smith at center -- he should improve his 10.0 ppg., 4.5 rpg., unless you think he got a lot of opportunies last season due to the defensive focus on Costner and/or McCauley in the post. Dennis Horner at SF? Well, I guess as a junior Javier Gonzales might be ready to me more than a train wreck at point guard, but he's not Ty Lawson ... ne's not Ish Smith.

I'd be amazed if the Pack is a tournament team in 2009-10. I'll be surprised if Lowe is still the NC State coach a year from today.

[jimsumner]

I agree with OF that State looks like a team with the NIT as their ceiling.

Lorenzo Brown could be an impact frosh. But he's a natural 2 and I fear Lowe may try to shoe-horn him in as a point. Even, if he keeps Brown at his natural position, it's hard to see how he could be good enough to lift State into the first division.

I could easily see Brown as next year's Landesberg, a freshman who leap-frogs more highly-touted newcomers simply because he gets more touches and more shots than then they do. But Landesberg didn't win that many games for the 'Hoos and I suspect Brown won't win many for the Pack.

Painter? Nice pick up for a program that badly needs nice pick-ups. But not likely a game-changer for a program that even more badly needs game-changers.

[ChicagoCrazy84]

I don't see a whole lot of firepower in that lineup. CJ Williams is talented, and Painter could be a double digit scorer to fill the void of Costner, but other than that, there isn't much to be feared. Javi Gonzalez still has a ways to go before he is much of an offensive threat and Tracey Smith will be inconsistent. They could get some decent wins to build on for the next few years, but I still don't see a posteason for them, unless it's the CBI.

[Matches]

I would love to see State get competitive again - my dad and both sisters are alums and they've suffered long enough - but I don't think it will happen w/ Sidney as the coach.

I think he'll be there more than one more year though. Believe it or not there are quite a few influential State backers who are STILL blaming the current state of the program on Herb Sendek.

[JasonEvans]

A day ago I was all ready to post a note about how I did not think State would be very good next year, but I did not have the time to do it.

Now that I have the time, I see that Oly Fan and Jim Sumner have already weighed in with the same view. Ain't no way I am going to try to add anything to what those two learned gentlemen have to say!

So will simply be one more person agreeing with them, saying that I will be quite surprised if State makes it to .500 in the ACC next year. I have not looked a the entire unbalanced schedule, but State gets 2 games with UNC and Wake every year, so their schedule cannot be all that easy.

--Jason "if I was forced to pick, I'd probably put State in the bottom 3 in the conference next year" Evans

[devildeac]

A day ago I was all ready to post a note about how I did not think State would be very good next year, but I did not have the time to do it.

Now that I have the time, I see that Oly Fan and Jim Sumner have already weighed in with the same view. Ain't no way I am going to try to add anything to what those two learned gentlemen have to say!

So will simply be one more person agreeing with them, saying that I will be quite surprised if State makes it to .500 in the ACC next year. I have not looked a the entire unbalanced schedule, but State gets 2 games with UNC and Wake every year, so their schedule cannot be all that easy.

--Jason "if I was forced to pick, I'd probably put State in the bottom 3 in the conference next year" Evans

I will be petrified when JE ardently wishes for NCSU to be good/great again because we (Duke) need them to be good/great again for our program/s. Y'all saw what happened the last couple years when he rooted for unc to be good/great again. (I don't have/recall his exact quotes but he really did post that.) Way to go, Evans. You know the old saying, "be careful what you wish for..."

[Boozer]

Ok guys, I was trying to be an optimist and give them a fighting chance to have a good season and possibly make the Dance, but I defer to Jim and Jason... NIT it is...

Bad part is, if that happens, I am afraid El Sid will get his walking papers...

And like Jason, I am one of those that believe it is better for ACC Basketball if all of the Big 4 schools have good to great teams. And now that the holes have their NC quota for about a 15 year period, lets hope it is a long time coming before they win another one....

[JasonEvans]

I will be petrified when JE ardently wishes for NCSU to be good/great again because we (Duke) need them to be good/great again for our program/s. Y'all saw what happened the last couple years when he rooted for unc to be good/great again. (I don't have/recall his exact quotes but he really did post that.) Way to go, Evans. You know the old saying, "be careful what you wish for..."

The rivalry with State is not significant to Duke's national image. The Duke-State game has not been "must see basketball TV" for quite some time. State has not been a real player on the national scene in anything other than a one or two year mini-run in about 2 decades (since the ambidextrous Shckelford and Fire and Ice). State does not need to be good for the good of Duke.

As most of you know, I feel differently about UNC. The Duke-Carolina game is the most important game of the regular season in college basketball almost every year. It is good for Duke that everyone who follows college basketball knows that. As I often say, I root for Carolina to be 2nd best in the land every year. Sorry.

Since the early 1990s, even in their best years, State is no more than our 4th or 5th most important opponent -- probably not even that high.

--Jason "bring it on folks-- I can take the pounding" Evans

[CameronBornAndBred]

If anything, it looks like next year could be the year that Sidney proves his worth as a coach. As posters have noted, his lineup isn't outstanding, but it is better. Good enough to be above .500 in the ACC? I think that depends on his coaching. He had some wins last year that weren't expected, so maybe with a little higher talent level we see it happen. I'm pulling for him, I so want NCSU basketball to be relevant again, and I'm not a state fan. Here's wishing Sidney the best.
(On the flip side of that coin, if they have a sub par year, I think Sidney will have worn his red coat for the last time in the RBC.)

[devildeac]

The rivalry with State is not significant to Duke's national image. The Duke-State game has not been "must see basketball TV" for quite some time. State has not been a real player on the national scene in anything other than a one or two year mini-run in about 2 decades (since the ambidextrous Shckelford and Fire and Ice). State does not need to be good for the good of Duke.

As most of you know, I feel differently about UNC. The Duke-Carolina game is the most important game of the regular season in college basketball almost every year. It is good for Duke that everyone who follows college basketball knows that. As I often say, I root for Carolina to be 2nd best in the land every year. Sorry.

Since the early 1990s, even in their best years, State is no more than our 4th or 5th most important opponent -- probably not even that high.

--Jason "bring it on folks-- I can take the pounding" Evans

I agree with the importance of the basketball games every year and I believe Duke fans realize that. However, for a multitude of reasons, and this is also coming from a "house divided," I root for unc to be the 2nd worst team in the land on a regular basis. Or, would/should that be the worst. I believe we can have top sports programs playing all the other traditional powers without our neighbors being good.

But, I have digressed from the thread topic and I am the instigator so back to the original discussion. I really do hope the Pack can be better on a regular basis. We live in Raleigh and we have family and friends who are NCSU grads, too. I'd much rather see the Wolfies continuously thrash their neighbors in Orange County and their other conference foes than to be embarassed repeatedly as they have been in recent years.

So, c'mon folks, let's wish El Sid some good times and take Jason "He's really a good sport" Evans up on his invitation and give him a thorough pounding at the same time.

[Slackerb]

Scout's recent ranking of recruiting class has State at #13, just a few slots behind Duke, FYI.:

http://northcarolinastate.scout.com/...8&p=2&c=865198

They bring in:
Lorenzo Brown - **** - SG - #6 - #28 overall
Richard Howell - **** - PF - #16 - #64 overall
DeShawn Painter - **** - PF - #20 - #69 overall
Scott Wood - *** - SG - #29 - #133 overall
Jordan Vandenberg - ** - C - #58 position
Josh Davis - ** - SF - #100 position

Prepstars recently ranked them all(http://www.prepstars.com/):
No. 24 Lorenzo Brown
No. 71 Deshawn Painter
No. 74 Richard Howell
No. 76 Scott Wood

That's a influx of talent right there. Sure they'll be young next year, but that's should remedy some of the talent gap. Sure they lose their top 3 scorers, but later in the year the younger guys were practically carrying that team, and you could certainly argue that losing Costner and Fells would be addition by subtraction next year.

[Bob Green]

The Duke-Carolina game is the most important game of the regular season in college basketball almost every year. It is good for Duke that everyone who follows college basketball knows that. As I often say, I root for Carolina to be 2nd best in the land every year. Sorry.

--Jason "bring it on folks-- I can take the pounding" Evans

You'll receive no pounding from me. I actively root for Carolina almost all the time. Obvious exceptions are when they play Duke or a Carolina loss will result in Duke moving into 1st Place in the rankings!

Bob "we are going to see a Duke-Carolina National Final some year" Green

[Matches]

The rivalry with State is not significant to Duke's national image. The Duke-State game has not been "must see basketball TV" for quite some time. State has not been a real player on the national scene in anything other than a one or two year mini-run in about 2 decades (since the ambidextrous Shckelford and Fire and Ice). State does not need to be good for the good of Duke.

I thought he was amphibious?