Vitale: Lowe Returns to NC State

General NCS Basketball Sidney Lowe71

Chris Wright visited Raleigh this weekend for the NC State-App State football game — a sport and piece of the student experience that Georgetown cannot offer. By most accounts, the visit went great and a lot of Wolfpackers had the chance to see Wright at the game on Saturday night.

Before Wright got to Raleigh on Friday, State received some good news in his recruitment when Wake Forest appeared to have fallen out of the running for his services. (This is why you should always go back and review old entries if you don’t visit for a few days!)

By most accounts, the Wolfpack is still very much in the mix for two of the top high school post players in America – (F) Tracy Smith and (C) JJ Hickson. By choosing not to aggressively pursue Jamelle McMillan, Coach Lowe and NC State have obviously chosen to put all of the Wolfpack’s “point guard eggs” in Wright’s basket. The potential addition of Wright to State’s existing class (see Johnny Thomas) would be a huge boon for Coach Lowe’s recruiting and the momentum of the program.

In other basketball news today, ESPN’s Dick Vitale has penned a great piece about Coach Lowe’s return to Raleigh. (Link). The timing of the piece coming off of Chris Wright’s visit and just before other visits in the coming weeks couldn’t have been better!

The following are some excerpts from Vitale’s piece:

Sidney Lowe is getting ready to start his career as a college coach. He has a great passion and love for his alma mater, N.C. State. He displayed it by representing his university in a classy way as a player. He was the quarterback, the guy who made it happen magically in 1983 when Jimmy V’s Wolfpack stunned the basketball world by beating Phi Slamma Jamma in Albuquerque.

Lowe created opportunities for his teammates as a leader on the court. He was very cerebral, had a great mindset of the game and the team concept. Lowe has had no problem adjusting to his new challenge.

He has formulated an outstanding staff with about 100 years of basketball experience. Larry Harris remains from the Herb Sendek era and he brings a wealth of knowledge and familiarity with the NC State program. This will be his 22nd season as a collegiate assistant coach.

Monte Towe was a vital part of the Wolfpack history and he gained experience as the head coach in New Orleans. Remember how Towe teamed with David Thompson to lead NC State to the national championship in 1974. He also played two seasons in the ABA under Larry Brown, a very good coach in his own right!

Peter Strickland played at DeMatha and was the head coach at Coastal Carolina for seven seasons. Quentin Jackson was a starter on NC State’s 1987 ACC tournament championship squad. He’ll contribute as director of basketball operations.

Lowe was smart to put together a group that can provide all sorts of basketball information. They will be familiar with the NCAA rules.

The new head coach said he is excited and thrilled to represent his university. He has a love affair with the alumni. The staff is working hard to bring in new players and recruiting has gone well.

I can tell you that Mr. Lowe is a class act. When I mentioned to him the President’s Club with the Jimmy V Foundation, which entails a five-year commitment, Lowe gladly accepted a role. My friends, he cares about people.

Lowe helped N.C. State win the championship under Jimmy V. He also played for a Hall of Famer at DeMatha in Morgan Wooten. I spoke to people in the NBA and they said Lowe had a great basketball mind. His record in the pros was very misleading because of a lack of personnel.

One key to NC State in the upcoming season is the status of Andrew Brackman. Lowe feels he will be an NBA first-rounder. The coach also realizes he throws a 97-MPH fastball and a lot of major league people are interested in him as well.

After all the waiting and chasing, N.C. State athletic director Lee Fowler appears to have hit a home run. He has a guy with tremendous enthusiasm and energy. Lowe has received rave reviews as he has been accepted by the fans down in Raleigh. In time he will get players and his NBA experience will help him as he teaches future stars.

There certainly was confidence in Lowe as he received a six-year contract. N.C. State did well by getting a guy who will be a positive force. Lowe is a flat-out winner. Just look at his success as a player and understand he will do it as a college coach as well.

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General NCS Basketball Sidney Lowe

71 Responses to Vitale: Lowe Returns to NC State

  1. Jeremy Hyatt 09/05/2006 at 12:10 PM #

    wow, i would love to hear Vitale spouting out and championing nc state like he has for UNC-CH for so many years–keep it coming Dick. And SFN, its ok it keep these bytes comin, our first game is in only 2 months against Wofford.

  2. Dan 09/05/2006 at 12:54 PM #

    I’m sure this has been posted elsewhere but NJHoop’s Mike Sullivan has basically rescinded the story regarding Rashard’s Green committment. Odd stuff that story. Sounds like Sidney was not quite ready to hand out an offer to him at this time. That is good news.

    As regards JJ Hickson, the guy tore it up at Rucker Park this last weekend. Here is a link from basketballspotlight.net that talks about the event and how each prep player fared. Not all these kids were class of ’07. Several Jr’s and So’s to keep an eye on as well.
    http://basketballspotlight.net/Website/News%20Pages/Boost%20Mobile%20Elite%2024.htm

    Nice story by V as well. While V respected other coaches we’ve had since his friend, Jimmy V, they really werent the charismatic type that V would latch onto. I for one give V as hard a time as anyone for being up Duke and Chapel Hill’s backside, but you know his old friendship with V would make him love to see the Wolfpack get back on top.

  3. thebigwood 09/05/2006 at 1:04 PM #

    So what is the deal with Green? He wants to commit but we didn’t offer him a scholarship?

  4. ShootingGuard 09/05/2006 at 1:19 PM #

    With regard to Vitale…

    Vitale will likely give Lowe the positive props Lowe deserves in taking on the challenge of coaching a Lee Fowler damaged program…And, if Sid wins, Vitale will jump on the bandwagon like he always does…Sid’s involvement with Vitale and the Jimmy V Foundation will only help as Vitale will surely look to promote a guy who is helping him…And, I am sure if Sid wins and Vitale screams from the bandwagon, we will all like Vitale a little more than we do currently with him firmly on the Duke and UNC bandwagons…

    With regard to Jamelle…

    This past weekend, I spoke at length with someone who positively knows the deal with the recruitment of Jamelle (don’t even think about asking who). And, just as SFN and many others have surmised, State didn’t get rebuffed and Sid didn’t whiff—it was a group decision among ALL the parties involved to do what was best for Jamelle and for the program. And, of course, comfort with Degand vs Jamelle and shooting for the fences with Chris Wright and his potential upward impact played big parts in the decision from the program’s interests. (This all seems so obvious and worthless in repeating, but I guess I am doing so in case Dan is back from the UNC-Rutgers game…)

    With regard to Chris Wright…

    I spoke to Chris briefly as introduced among the players at their tailgate / buffet and told him that I hoped to someday get him to autograph the photograph that Sports Illustrated or ESPN The Magazine would feature of him with his NCAA trophy along side Monte and Sidney with theirs—the 3 point guards who won NCAA titles at NC State…I would frame a copy of that along with my framed SI picture of Sid, Whitt, and Thurl!!

    I don’t have a gut feel either way, but I hope Chris Wright realizes that Georgetown will ALWAYS be thought of as Big Man University, Patrick Ewing U, and that NC State’s history is rich but far enough removed from him that he can come in and be a king among a fanbase that is rabid and hungry and waiting to crown him. If Hodge could win ACC POY while carrying us back to the NCAA’s and over UConn to the S16 almost solely on his skinny back alone and one great game vs Duke could make Ced Simmons a millionaire, then what could NC State do for Chris Wright and vice versa?? THE SKY WOULD BE THE LIMIT WITH A POINT GUARD LIKE CHRIS WRIGHT AND THE OTHER GUYS THAT WOULD LOVE TO PLAY WITH A PG LIKE HIM AND FOLLOW HIM TO STATE…Hopefully, Chris Wright will commit to State soon and get his first 2 assists with Tracy Smith and JJ Hickson…

  5. choppack1 09/05/2006 at 1:42 PM #

    Shooting Guard – Thanks for the info – what was your overall impression of Wright’s feelings about State and the visit? (Or can you say?)

  6. tcthdi-tgsf-twhwtnc 09/05/2006 at 1:53 PM #

    It is so nice to have a true professional leading the Pack. The childish whinning from the Arizona State coach was so old. I’ll never understand why so many “State fans” wanted to deal with that crap.

    Way to go Lowe. Chris Wright would really of had the wool pulled over his eyes if he doesn’t want to play for Towe, Lowe and Jackson. I just pray we don’t read that he has decided Arizona State is the best place for him.

  7. StateFans 09/05/2006 at 1:54 PM #

    Shooting Guard,

    Thanks for sharing the info.

    Now that you have shared a little more about it…we will share echo your comments about the Jamelle McMillan decision being a group decision by “all”. And, we mean “ALL”. Sidney and Nate were in contact during all of this and Nate was a part of this decision. Jamelle’s style of play (self-admitedly) did not fit what Sidney wants to run at State. Jamelle was cool with that; Nate was cool with that; and Sidney managed though the situation beautifully.

    (A lot of people will never see this since they don’t read the comments sections!)

  8. ncsu96 09/05/2006 at 2:08 PM #

    thanks for all the info.

    I just noticed that scout(packpride) has JJ Hickson listing us, Florida, and Tenn. as ‘High Interest’. Seems to be recently updated info… sweet.

    gotta love the Vitale article…Is this the 1st national media writer to give Lowe props? Wow, certainly suprised by seeing this one.

  9. BJD95 09/05/2006 at 2:37 PM #

    I would feel even better after reading this article if Vitale didn’t gush about pretty much every D-1 coach this way. 🙂

  10. Dan 09/05/2006 at 2:40 PM #

    “I would feel even better after reading this article if Vitale didn’t gush about pretty much every D-1 coach this way. ”

    Bwahaha!

    Yeah, I think I remember a similiar article about Quinn Snyder.

  11. ShootingGuard 09/05/2006 at 3:00 PM #

    choppack,

    Yeah, I couldn’t and wouldn’t say much that related to the State side of this. When this is all over, I might. For now, obviously, a kid can’t help but have a great time on these trips, and I was lucky to have a birdseye view of some of it. I had never met Chris Wright before, but I will say that, after meeting him and watching him interact with old and young State fans, he seems like an incredible kid who is definitely handling all of this very professionally. And, let’s face it, committing and then seeing a coaching change is very unnerving for a kid, especially when you add in the AD’s keystone cop coaching search. It says A LOT about CW’s class and character that he is giving us a serious second chance. It also says a lot about Sidney Lowe’s likeable personality, resume, and DC connections as well as saying a lot about State and the ACC.

    From the Georgetown side, JT3 has been on CW all summer and JT3’s quick success works in GT’s favor as does Austin Freeman’s and some of the current players’ active recruitment of CW over the summer. Of course, GT has that stickly scholarship issue which would make CW’s commitment contingent on someone going pro or being forced out. After having to deal with a coaching change, does Chris Wright want to commit to Georgetown and risk that the guy or guys that GT is planning on going to the NBA get hurt or have bad seasons?? Or, does he want to commit contingent upon GT forcing another kid out?? It would be nice to see one or two of the MANY other kids GT is recruiting (not Hickson or McLain) commit and make the scholarship issue even more stickly. Chris Wright chose NOT to go to GT once before for his own reasons, so there is plenty of hope, but I will definitely be on pins and needles during Midnight Madness weekend if CW hasn’t committed to State by then and visits GT…unless, of course, he brings JJ Hickson back to State with him.

  12. choppack1 09/05/2006 at 3:05 PM #

    Thanks SG – I appreciate the info.

  13. Dan 09/05/2006 at 3:12 PM #

    He’ll probably committ for the early deadline, but I wouldnt be all that floored to see CW wait until the spring signing period to ink with anyone. He’s already gotten burned by coaches bing so mobile. Plus, several scholarship issues would become much clearer in May than they will be in September. He’ll probably sign early, but we might be in for a long, long wait on a CW decision.

  14. redfred2 09/05/2006 at 3:19 PM #

    I guess all that stuff I read about Wake having the upper hand as far as Wright was all for naught, along with my usual whining about it.

    My apologies to anyone who suffered through that.

    I’ve known all along that Lowe will get this thing headed in the right direction even while lugging LF’s dead weight around with him. It’s just a matter of time. This is a hire that may just keep ol’ LF around Raleigh for quite a while longer. Oh well, you can’t have everything.

    Wright?, Hickson?,…they’re looking already. Just wait until this upcoming season is over. Now who were those two guys that up and walked away a few months back? I can’t seem to remember their names anymore.

  15. ShootingGuard 09/05/2006 at 3:39 PM #

    SFN,

    Can you shoot me an email to the email address I registered with??

    Thanks.

    Shooting Guard

    (ps – I’m not leaving anyone out of any inside info, I promise.)

    SFN: Email should come through about 7pm this evening. Thanks so much!

  16. PackGirl 09/05/2006 at 3:41 PM #

    On a slightly different note – maybe there is some hope for this coming season. Although this got zero notice in the press or elsewhere – Engin Atsur did a terrific job playing in the recent FIBA Men’s World championship for Turkey. He started out slowly, not playing many minutes or scoring much but near the end was one of their hottest players. During the final game he played 29 minutes and scored 15 points (top scorer). Although Turkey lost the game to France, they came in 6th overall (of 16) and only 3 places behind the ‘great’ Krzyzewski’s USA team. Now if we can just keep Brackman…

  17. Dan 09/05/2006 at 3:57 PM #

    “(This all seems so obvious and worthless in repeating, but I guess I am doing so in case Dan is back from the UNC-Rutgers game…)”

    SG, I’m sorry, but I’m already married and in a committed relationship that is legally recognized by the State of North Carolina . Your obsession with me is flattering, but if you choose to live an alternative lifestyle might I suggest moving to San Francisco, Key West, or even Chapel Hill.

    ….

    Andrew Brackman was recently ranked by Baseball America as the #2 prospect from the Cape Cod League. The best summer league available to collegiate baseball players. He is sure-fire first round pick. Possibly top 10. He’s been clocked at 99 this summer. His future is in baseball. I know we all need the kid on the hardwood, but he is a rare baseball talent.

  18. PackGirl 09/05/2006 at 4:23 PM #

    I know Brackman’s a great baseball prospect but that doesn’t mean he definitely won’t play any basketball this season. He’s such a competitor, if he went with his gut feeling, I know he would. Unfortunately (for the basketball team), I’m afraid he could be talked out of that.

  19. GAWolf 09/05/2006 at 4:38 PM #

    As much as I sometimes cringe at Vitale, he’s always been overly positive about NC State. We might not get the amount of praise he shoots out there for UNC and Duke, but he’s never bad mouthed NC State. That’s something I’m not sure we can say about too many people in the national sports media.

  20. duckmanjw 09/05/2006 at 4:43 PM #

    High 90s fastball will make a person alot more money than 10ppg.

    Our only hope for him continuing to play basketball is if he hasn’t finished growing and his body outgrows baseball.

    He’s grown at least an inch and put on roughly 30 lbs since he’s been at State.

  21. redfred2 09/05/2006 at 5:20 PM #

    99 mph ranked #2 in the CC League. Who’s #1, Ellie Mae Clampett?

  22. Jeremy Hyatt 09/05/2006 at 5:55 PM #

    @GAWolf

    It’s not that Vitale doesn’t speak well of NC State in games he broadcasts of them. he really does go out on the deep end going on and on and on about UNC this, Duke that, JJ Redick is the prodigal son, and it didnt even need to be a Duke or Carolina game, it was like his default mode of operation [nothing to say.. nothing to say…] it’s Duke baby with a capital D!!! stfu already *mute* did anyone notice that Duke was #1 for most of the season and got clipped in the sweet 16. Geez those guys in the sports media are seriously drinking the koolaid. Sure they are good, but lay off already.

  23. tcthdi-tgsf-twhwtnc 09/05/2006 at 6:04 PM #

    Back in the day Vitale would talk a lot about V and NC State. I don’t remember for sure if he did during other broadcast but I pretty sure he did. That was before the love affair with Duke took a strong hold of him. He was part of the ‘Pasta Connection’ with Valvano and a handful of players.

  24. Wolfpack4ever 09/05/2006 at 8:07 PM #

    Very interesting reading, SG. By sheer coincidence my wife and I were sitting on the steps leading up to the area where Chris Wright met you and the others you wrote about. She had not a clue what was going on but commented on what a “nice young man” Chris seemed to be. We are both of the age where “nice young man” is the kind of thing you might say when observing someone like Chris.

    We had move up to get out of the sun, not knowing we would see Chris and Sidney be so great and gracious with all the young people as well as the usual “insiders” one might expect to see their. I like quality people. I guess that’s why I couldn’t get on the “let’s run Herb out on a rail” bandwagon.

    I just recently read through the coaching search blogs. LF was scalded for what I thought was appropriate behavior — not being on the horn salvaging Herb’s recruits for one thing. I wondered when I read those comments what Sidney might have had to say about that. My thoughts were, maybe Herb’s recruits weren’t on Sid’s list of the kind of players he wanted.

    Our “missing out” on Jamelle McMillan has been lamented here on SNF as another disaster. It makes me proud to be a wolfpacker4ever to read the way that was handled. If we are going to blame a man for all the bad that we perceive to happen, should we not give him the credit? Lee Fowler suffers from the same dynamic that I suffer from. All the good in my life I tend to credit God: all the bad is entirely my own doing. And I wonder about my lack of self-esteem. Also I’ve discovered over time that building myself up by running others down has a very short shelf-life and leaves me feeling worse than before I engage in such dispicable behavior.

    To paraphrase Shakespeare, the evil that men do lives after them; the good is interred in their bones and so it is with Fowler. If Mary Anne Fox had told Lee Fowler to fire Herb after Lee publicly backed Herb, we wouldn’t have either of them around. She would have fired Herb herself and Fowler would have resigned. He may have been lying but that’s what he told his wife when MAF requested he stop in for a meeting and she asked what was he going to do if such was the case.

    Lee Fowler is not smooth, not polished, much less slick. I have never heard or heard of Lee Fowler publicly criticizing one of his coaches and I don’t expect to. He had rather take the heat on himself — and take the heat he has — than violate that kind of principle. I was in the Case Athletic Center one afternoon when Willis Casey publicly chewed out Larry Gross, the Soccer Coach at that time. I personally was embarrassed for Willis at the time. I wondered how was Coach Gross going to get Willis for that stunt.

    I started this rant full of joy and hope for the future of Wolfpack basketball. Unfortunately this old mind wandered into territory that is filled with mines and booby traps and I expect them to blow up in my face after I spoke kindly about Lee Fowler. Just like Wolfpack football, I expect when it’s all that’s said and done, Lee’s record will speak for itself even if the folks who have branded him otherwise will have to defeng their position until death.

    Expect the devil’s advocate here when opinion gets passed off as the truth regarding Lee Fowler.

    I

  25. bTHEredterror 09/05/2006 at 8:25 PM #

    Wright, Hickson, Thomas, and…….? I would love to see a “Fab 5” type recruiting class for us to speed up the turnaround.

    Shooting Guard-Thanks for the info, and I pray in front of my Jimmy V autographed SI poster every night. I hope Dickie V’s comments mean he’s adding us to his “I just love” list.

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