Charlotte Observer Hints Hickson Going Pro

Here’s the full article. Key excerpt:

“Coach is a great man,” Hickson said. “When I came to this program, it was more like he cared about J.J. as the person rather than J.J. the basketball player. I think he does have my best interests at heart. If me and my family feel like it’s comfortable and I should go to a team that needs me, then make the decision.”

Lowe, who coached 15 NBA seasons before coming to N.C. State, said he will wish Hickson well if he decides to leave.

Reading between the lines – Hickson is leaving, and Sid (with JJ’s help) is framing it in the best possible light, hoping to attract other high profile recruits with NBA dreams. FWIW, everything that SFN has heard is consistent with Hickson going pro. You should have no real hope, and certainly no expectation, of Hickson returning for his sophomore season.

About BJD95

1995 NC State graduate, sufferer of Les and MOC during my entire student tenure. An equal-opportunity objective critic and analyst of Wolfpack sports.

07-08 Basketball NCS Basketball Sidney Lowe

84 Responses to Charlotte Observer Hints Hickson Going Pro

  1. senez 03/14/2008 at 10:26 AM #

    maybe you won’t delete this comment for no reason

    SFN doesn’t delete a comment ‘for no reason.’ If it’s deleted; there’s a reason. If you can’t figure out why, or if you don’t agree with the reason, that’s a different matter. — SFN

    I still think it’s really up in the air on staying or going. If he really projects to the second round like I’ve heard some say, what’s the harm in one more year for him? Though you guys make it hard for anyone to want to come here anyway.

  2. Astral Rain 03/14/2008 at 10:27 AM #

    I wish him the best if he goes, and after this year- I understand completely.

  3. Wulfpack 03/14/2008 at 10:34 AM #

    “what’s the harm in one more year for him?”

    1A) Chance of injury.

    1B) Chance of going 0-16, being quadruple teamed each time out.

  4. SuperStuff 03/14/2008 at 10:35 AM #

    If your a high first round draft pick you should definately go. That’s alot of money. If you can make that kind of money at a job then it’s a no brainer. If your projected as a late 1st round or 2nd round you should stay to improve your stock.

  5. marybethrizalucy 03/14/2008 at 10:36 AM #

    God bless you Hickson! Hopefully you can find a team with players that will accept you. Again I am sorry you had to waste a year with our other talentless, classless players.

  6. BJD95 03/14/2008 at 10:42 AM #

    Multiple, independent sources saying he’s gone. I’ve not heard a soul (in a position to know or make an educated guess) so much as hint that JJ might stay.

  7. choppack1 03/14/2008 at 10:49 AM #

    I imagine the only thing that could keep him here is him being a borderline first, likely 2nd round draft pick.

    The question to all parties involved would be:

    So – was this foray worth it?

  8. RAWFS 03/14/2008 at 10:55 AM #

    This would not rank high on my list of big surprises for 07/08. We all knew he was planning on one year and then chasing his NBA dream.

    Too bad it will start as NBADL.

  9. RBCRowdy 03/14/2008 at 10:57 AM #

    ^^ it was 1,000% worth it. Don’t discount JJ for the injuries and lack of effort from other players. If we played 40 hard minutes like we did once or twice this year we could have been a 10-6 ACC team.

  10. McPete 03/14/2008 at 10:58 AM #

    McPete knew it was over when JJ referred to himself in the 3rd person. that’s never a good sign.

    “Though you guys make it hard for anyone to want to come here anyway”

    I call BS on that one. JJ thought lowe could help him get into the league, he didn’t think statefansnation.com would hurt his chances to get into the league.

  11. foz 03/14/2008 at 11:04 AM #

    I can see from his perspective – stay and develop, or get paid and develop in NBADL. Sure, he may not get the huge contract to start with, but he will be paid plenty, and he probably thinks he will be in the league for a while with the chance to sign a huge deal once the initial is up.

  12. Rochester 03/14/2008 at 11:25 AM #

    You simply cannot project logic on this when a kid has it in his mind that he’s one and done from the day he drops 31 on William & Mary. You can try to reason that he’s better off coming back if he’s not projected in the lottery, etc. Whatever. I will be stunned if he comes back. Even though he’ll probably be riding D-League busses next year, he’s gone.

  13. Pack92 03/14/2008 at 11:35 AM #

    ^ Exactly Rochester. Thank you for blessing us with your presence JJ. The one thing seemingly not up for debate is you won’t be a star next year. Maybe ever again. Remember that on those bus rides.

  14. DRW 03/14/2008 at 11:48 AM #

    Go ahead and go already! Sheesh! I’m tired of these guys with marginal NBA talent coming here, staying one or two years and then going pro and languishing on the bench. I’d rather have four or five really good COLLEGE players who will stay four years than these one or two and done guys.

  15. RAWFS 03/14/2008 at 11:49 AM #

    My personal opinion is that Lowe told JJ he’d showcase him for a year when he talked him into coming to NCSU over UT.

    The kid’s goals at NC State have nothing to do with college, and everything to do with satisfying the entry requirements for the NBA. He’s done that, and if he gets drafted after the fifteen guaranteed picks he’s going to be fine with that and won’t have to worry about school at all, because he never intended to seriously pursue a degree in the first place. Were there no age requirement for the NBA, Hickson would have never come to college at all.

    Lowe did what he said he would do and so did JJ. Of course, that came at the expense of McCauley and Costner’s peace of mind, but that’s collateral damage.

    Expect Hickson to name an agent pretty soon.

  16. UpstateSCWolfpack 03/14/2008 at 11:52 AM #

    Where is Simmons now? Last I knew he was with N.O. but playing junk time. I think Hickson should stay if he is projected in the second round. But I don’t blame him from high tailing it out of town after this season.

    SFN: Simmons was traded to Chicago Bulls, in a three-team trade, along with Drew Gooden, Larry Hughes and Shannon Brown in exchange for Ben Wallace and Joe Smith.

  17. RAWFS 03/14/2008 at 11:56 AM #

    I’d rather have four or five really good COLLEGE players who will stay four years than these one or two and done guys.

    Exactly, but athletic. See: Gary Williams.

  18. Rochester 03/14/2008 at 11:56 AM #

    I’m with DRW and RAWFS on this. Give me a Chris Corchianni, Rodney Monroe, Engin Atsur, Julius Hodge, 4-year, good college player over the 1-and-done NBA bench guys.

    If JJ leaves without finishing classes for the spring semester and a couple guys transfer we could find ourselves on the wrong side of that graduation report (which I seem to recall stupidly penalizes a school for too many transfers). The last thing we need now is to lose a scholarship.

  19. blackdom 03/14/2008 at 11:58 AM #

    I am so over this guy JJ a great game yesterday but a weak frontline for uof m as well, He is 6’9 post up player I don’t see how in the world he can get a run with his skills,can’t shoot from the outside,pass,rebound no natter what he did yesterday or handle……look around the country the kid alexander at west virginia is 6’10 and has all the tools …….Overated and disrupted the team or whatever we have going there now……..Thanks Sid

  20. packbackr04 03/14/2008 at 12:01 PM #

    well who is Sid gonna replace him with? oh thats right we have nothing coming in next yr. thanks for the time JJ, you were one of only a few bright spots this yr. we have no talent coming back next yr. we suck so bad and will contiue to suck for the foreseeable future. this is a bad time for NC State fans.

    is there any rumor of Sid going after Terrell Holloway?

    is there any rumor of any transfers/defections? i for one hope the whole lot of em leave. this team was so pathetic it wasnt even amusing. none of them even gave a shit. id rather have a team full of Brian Nieman type walk ons than suffer thru another yr of this bullshit

  21. Sam92 03/14/2008 at 12:03 PM #

    j.j.’s gone. i don’t see him as an nba star though, i think he’s going prematurely. tough decision for a kid his age, the chance of making more money than he’s ever seen, vs. maturing another year – on a stinky team.

    anyone who resents a college player for leaving early for the nba might bear in mind: they don’t commit to stay for four years. the current “market” for college players takes into consideration their freedom to go to the nba. if we started insisting on four-year commitments we’d quickly learn that we can’t recruit that way.

  22. vtpackfan 03/14/2008 at 12:08 PM #

    It’s worth noting here that Coach Lowe’s master plan in recruiting ’07 was bag JJ and feature him in an offense RUN by Chris Wright. We all know how that worked out.

    If the Ohio State hadn’t have reached the championship game and the frshman pair of Oden & (name of pg slips my mind) leave, does Matta and his departed players get chastised as some want to do to our guys?

  23. JT 03/14/2008 at 12:09 PM #

    JJ has the potential, but he’s gonna lose a lot of money if he goes this year. The more I watched, the more I felt his presence was a hindrance rather than a help to the team. Great scorer at the college level, but a complete funnel- the anti-McCaulley. Unfortunately the staff played into that trap and WAY too often there was JJ down low and 4 guys standing around. No movement, no cutting, no flow to the game (wistful a bit of the Princeton cutting I must admit, but not of the insane droughts). Hopefully Lowe has learned that there is something to fluid team movement and spacing. I don’t think Costner nor Ben ever had a chance to contribute this year because the ball movement only went into JJ, and when it didn’t there seemed to be no scheme to make the team function together. There’s a good nucleus even if JJ goes- Horner, Smith, Ben and Brandon all should be way better next year.

    JJ should stay and develop the skills he is really gonna need to play in the NBA at 6’9″. Right now he’s one dimensional, and as good a low post scorer he is he’s not gonna succeed at the next level on that alone. I really hope he stays and improves for himself and the team, but whatever happens, I hope next year State plays a team game, not the 1 and 4 game of this year.

  24. WolftownVA81 03/14/2008 at 12:17 PM #

    If I were JJ, I’d think real hard about transferring even if I decided not to go to the NBA. We didn’t play as a team all year long and it certainly couldn’t have been any fun for him. This season was just pathetic. I really need to see a ton of improvement starting next week.

    Note to Sid: You should layout your plan for improvement to the Wolfpack Nation very soon. Your evaluation may not come until the end of next season; however, if you don’t share some info, I’m affraid support for you and the program will be weak to nonexistent. Of course I only speak for myself but imagine others are waiting to hear the explanation for this season and how you plan to fix it.

  25. sautz 03/14/2008 at 12:25 PM #

    I think JJ should go. He’ll most likely be a first round pick. I don’t see him doing himself any service by staying in college (1. see Costner)

Leave a Reply