Dynomite! J.J. Hickson Commits To NC State (Updated 4:30)

Basketball Recruiting General NCS Basketball94

Big day for Sidney Lowe and the NC State basketball program. J.J. Hickson (Scout.com rated: 5 Star recruit, 3rd best center in the ’07 class, and #21 overall) commits to Coach Lowe at a press conference in Georgia. Kudos to Coach Lowe, and Larry Harris, the lead recruiter, reeling this top notch player into the Red & White.

Hickson’s commitment to Coach Lowe and the Wolfpack program cannot be understated. The big man will provide the program a legitimate defensive and offensive presence in the post similar to that of Cedric Simmons last year. (Different than Simmons, we expect Hickson to be in the starting line-up his freshman year in Coach Lowe’s program.) Hickson will most likely be named a McDonald’s All-American this season, joining Brandon Costner as the Wolfpackers with that distinction in the program.

In addition to searching for a true point guard to run the show, Coach Lowe continues to recruit talented forwards Tracy Smith and Mike Scott to complement Hickson down low. The addition of either of these highly-regarded forwards would allow Coach Lowe and the Wolfpack to tailor other versatile personnel on the roster to strategically exploit advantageous match-ups. The versatility provided by Courtney Fells, Gavin Grant, Brandon Costner and Johnny Thomas would create quite a talented and versatile 2007-2008 squad as detailed below.

Obviously, the glaring hole in the Wolfpack’s ’07-’08 roster is the presence of a proven pure point guard to run the show and help manage the Pack’s talent; Fernold DeGand may ultimately fill this role for the program but is currently an unknown commodity.

Some perspective on the Hickson commitment and some great comments from David Glenn can be found by clicking here.

Projected 2007-2008 NC State Basketball Roster

Senior Class
(1) Gavin Grant (2G/3F)

Junior Class
(2) Courtney Fells (2G)
(3) Ben McCauley (4F/5C)

Sophomore Class
(4) Brandon Costner (3F/4F/5C)
(5) Trevor Ferguson (2G)
(6) Dennis Horner (3F/4F)
(7) Fernold Degand (1PG)
(8) Bartosz Lewandowski (5C)

Freshman Class
(9) Johnny Thomas (3F)
(10) JJ Hickson (5C/4F)
(11) N/A
(12) N/A
(13) N/A

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Basketball Recruiting General NCS Basketball

94 Responses to Dynomite! J.J. Hickson Commits To NC State (Updated 4:30)

  1. redfred2 10/12/2006 at 7:31 PM #

    I AM HAPPY FOR SIDNEY LOWE!!!
    and his staff!!!

  2. redfred2 10/12/2006 at 8:09 PM #

    Here we go… straight UP…that slippery slope!!!

    Better slow down, we’ll need to start turning ’em away shortly if this stuff keeps happening.

    THE WOLF IS ONCE AGAIN SHOWING SOME TEETH!!!

  3. vtpackfan 10/12/2006 at 8:12 PM #

    Way to friggin’ go SID! This is so huge I don’t even know what to say. Look at the past champions in NCAA and you see one dominant trend come tourney time. The big men who play above the rim get you to the promised land. Now with a little bit of a bumpy ride this year we will see if Grant, Fells, Ferg, Degand (and maybe Hunter) can establish themselves for ’07 so we can roll out the RED carpet for Hickson and hopefully a break out year for Costner. Keep on keepin on Sid, we would love to reel in Mr. Smith from Mt. Zion to unveil a bumper frontcourt for our ACC pals to see up close and personel. GO PACK!

  4. dthompson44 10/12/2006 at 8:15 PM #

    I wonder how much notice this will receive from the media (esp. national) who were killing us over the “inept” coaching change…. (not saying it wasn’t, but end results outweigh process, IMHO.

  5. RAWFS 10/12/2006 at 8:19 PM #

    Any of y’all hear the guy on 850 after 5pm today who told Adam Gold that State was crazy to try to recruit the same kinds of athletes as Duke or UNC because “in his view” there’s “no conceivable way that an NC State can compete with Carolina or Duke.”

    If I hadn’t been on the phone with AG just prior to five I would have called in and taken that sucker apart. Gold, for his part, dissected him as it was.

  6. bTHEredterror 10/12/2006 at 8:29 PM #

    Thanks JJ! Congrats to Coach Lowe and his staff. I appreciate the info on
    Warren too. Good to know Sid had a Plan B, and put it in action before the dust even kicked up from the Wright commit. If they add Smith or Scott, and Warren. I’d say it’s a successful first recruiting class, and would probably be a top 10 class.

    Boy, if he can sign those guys, we are gonna be a TOUGH out in ’07. Great news!

  7. bTHEredterror 10/12/2006 at 8:30 PM #

    Uhhh, hopefully we’ll be a tough out in ’07. I meant ’07-’08.

  8. WolfPup35 10/12/2006 at 8:32 PM #

    ^Stole my thunder!!!

    I was listening to Gold on my way home from work, and was so shocked when I heard this numbnut that I almost ran off the side of the road!!
    I mean, WTF??? There’s no way we could ever compete with UNC or Dook? This guy showed that he has absolutely NO CLUE what he’s babbling about, in the last 5 years, we have defeated BOTH of those other schools, finished 2nd in the ACC. If this IDIOT really thinks that nobody should come to NCSU to play ball because of our competition, it shows me only one thing…..THE FEAR STARTS NOW!!! If you’re scared….Say you’re scared!! CHIN-NUTS!!!

  9. Woof Wolf 10/12/2006 at 8:37 PM #

    rf2

    Glad you’re back. I was worried that the good news had done you in. This is GOOD STUFF. To get a guy this big in the time Sid had to get it done is awesome. I think we’ve got a good shot at Chris Warren. If we can ink him and the two commits, this will be way past anything most of us thought was possible.

    Add Tracy Smith to that and this would be the best recruting year, I think, since Thompson, Towe and Stoddard. Well I guess I’m getting a little to pumped up. But if we can beat W FU on Saturday this will be the best 10 days NCSU athletics has had in awhile.

  10. vtpackfan 10/12/2006 at 9:36 PM #

    The media will be forced in a few years what we few are being treated to right now. With Sid and Monte on the bench I have confidence that they can sculpt a cohesive unit running the point of attack for Sids first couple cracks at the ACC as a coach. Atsur should segway into Degand, Fells, and Hunter with although players on the practice roster atleast this season. With Warren hopefully inked to join the mix I am confident these past NCAA champion pg’s can coach up this position to atleast reach par for ACC level play. Obviously if this trick can be worked on unknown quantities then imagine what the future could hold if we sign a superstar pg in ’08. Will have to wait and see.
    What had to be done has come to fruition in the form of JJ. Sid and Monte know how to get the ball into the big mens hands, they can both draw up the plays and push the envelope by getting the best out of their players. What their limitations are are where the studs like Hickson and Smith come in. Finishing, cleaning up the boards and intimadating. Great players who play pg that turn into coachs know that their success depends on who they can get to sorround their wealth of experience and knowledge. Thank you JJ! I know that it has been said that no one player makes a program but this was symbolic, and it proves the Sid is no fool. He is wasting no time making the best of an awful situation.
    (p.s. If people had regrets that State was hiring an untested commoditty in college coaching that carried a losing record in the NBA as head coach, chew on this. He has taken his lumps already searching for the formula in fixing messed up situations in Vancouver, ect. Lets hope he sees something in JJ that helps him bridge the gap between a program/franchise on the rocks to one on the rise)

  11. ncsu_kappa 10/12/2006 at 9:43 PM #

    Go Sid and the Coaching Staff. I’m excited up here in OH and I only hope I get to see a good showing down in Cincinatti. But even if not I’ll be repping for the Pack regardless! GO PACK!

  12. redfred2 10/12/2006 at 10:28 PM #

    This is that first little glow, that one spark that starts it all. This is the ray of hope that I knew was out there for this group of coaches, but didn’t know how long it would take to arrive. So climb on board former all of you former sunshiner’s and hater’s alike, we’re getting ready to all become one again.

    If you have young kids who haven’t expressed much interest in WOLFPACK BB lately, do your best to get them involved right NOW. This next decade is going to be one hell of a ride!!!!!

    JJ Hickson, hit the books, study hard, and I’ll be waiting at the RBC to see you hit the hardwood for your first time all decked in NC STATE issue RED in 2007!!!

    You are to be commended for latching onto a coach, not following the crowd, and going a on gut feeling instead. Your instincts will serve you well in the future!!! I am forever indebted to your talented little, bb playin ass, young man!!!

  13. ncsu_kappa 10/12/2006 at 11:25 PM #

    forever indebted?…lol good read none the less

  14. class of 74 10/13/2006 at 7:08 AM #

    I wonder what J.T. Valvano would say about this to all of those who doubted the hiring of Coach Lowe?

    No college background, lousy pro record, did not graduate in four years and doesn’t have a clue about the in’s and out’s of the recruiting game, huh! Those people, if you can find them, will be slithering under some well hidden rocks by the time this man finishes his work here in Raleigh. Better get on the train if you haven’t already, it’s going to be a great ride.

  15. redfred2 10/13/2006 at 8:23 AM #

    “forever indebted?…lol”

    That may be a little too dramatic, no doubt. How about the word ‘grateful’ instead? But just in case no one had noticed, I was starting to get a touch antsy about the situation around here.

    Wait a minute, that last sentence is not dramatic enough. I was freakin losin it all over the place around here. Now, if ol’ Chuck A and crew can keep the momentum going, which I’m confident they will, we will be seeing the postings on this board getting shorter and shorter. Just a bunch Wolfpack fans trying to out do each other’s superlatives.

  16. Lock 10/13/2006 at 8:29 AM #

    This…this is beautiful. I dread the upcoming year, but to have this happen, I see this as the tilting of the slope. The uphill climb is a bit less steep…Lowe has shown he can land an amazingly high-level talent, and we have something to look forward to. Dark as this year may be, things should hopefully get easier from here on out.

    Here’s hoping to more reports like this in the future!

  17. choppack1 10/13/2006 at 8:33 AM #

    Media Bias alert:

    No mention of the Hickson committ in the Winston Salem Journal. We did get a nice article on Tyler Hansboro. I also imagine since there was a pretty long article on Tank Tyler, they thought that this was enough publicity for the largest school in the state for one day.

  18. Dan 10/13/2006 at 8:40 AM #

    My coffee tastes better this morning.

  19. redfred2 10/13/2006 at 8:53 AM #

    ^Mine too. Kinda sweet.

  20. TampaPack 10/13/2006 at 8:56 AM #

    Nice article in the N&O this morning about Mr. Williams and his actions which were part of Kansas’s NCAA violations. Not that the NCAA would ever touch one of their largest most profitable programs like UNC, but still very interesting….

    ‘The school also said that under former men’s basketball coach Roy Williams, “three representatives of the University’s athletic interests” provided cash and clothing to graduating players who had exhausted their eligibility.

    Williams, currently the head coach at North Carolina, issued a statement:

    “I feel extremely comfortable about the way we ran the program during my tenure in Lawrence. … The report speaks of two individuals — one of whom was providing small graduation gifts to players before I got to Kansas and the other whom I told that he could provide a graduation gift to one player. Regarding that one player, I am 100 percent certain I was given clearance to do that by the compliance staff.”‘

  21. TampaPack 10/13/2006 at 8:58 AM #

    ^That’s alright soon we will be beating them regularly, no matter if they play by the rules or not. There’s a new power rising in Raleigh, ready to tip the balance of power in the triangle…..

  22. redfred2 10/13/2006 at 9:01 AM #

    “I dread the upcoming year”

    Lock, I really don’t think you’ll be saying that by mid season. We may not be winning a bunch of games, I think maybe a few more that most believe, but you’ll see players starting to step up and developments that will excite you for our future.

    We’ve taken the first step, it will take a while to start running.

  23. redfred2 10/13/2006 at 9:05 AM #

    When did that report about Roy boy come out?

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