On a Roll – Pack picks up Howell (N&O Link Added)

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It is reported that the Pack picks up 6’7″ PF Richard Howell. Second verbal in as many days. Here’s an important nugget from the N&O write-up:

J.J. Hickson, who was N.C. State’s leading scorer and rebounder as a freshman last season before leaving for the NBA, also played at Wheeler. “It didn’t hurt that J.J. went there [to N.C. State] and had a very successful season,” Wheeler coach Doug Lipscomb said.

About Rick

1992 and 2002 graduate from NCSU. Born and raised an NCSU fan. I remember the good ol' days and they weren't in the last 20 years.

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43 Responses to On a Roll – Pack picks up Howell (N&O Link Added)

  1. SidtheKid 07/28/2008 at 6:42 PM #

    ^I’m with you, we just fired a coach who could recruit a more Southern State (florida) but couldn’t coach worth a lick.

  2. Daily Update 07/28/2008 at 7:43 PM #

    b: That connection helped. But IIRC Larry Harris had recruited JJ prior to Sidney being hired while Herb was still our coach. I was living in Atlanta at the time which is why I remember that.

  3. packalum44 07/28/2008 at 7:46 PM #

    ^ There is this misconception that Amato was a great recruiter. Correct me if I am wrong but at one point I checked scout’s recruiting class rankings to see what a “great” recruiter this guy was. He only had 1 or 2 top 25 classes in his tenure. He never had a top 20 or 15 class. He only recruited about 3 5-star players (Toney Baker, Demario Pressley, 1 more?) Did some of his recruits make it pro? Sure. Moreover, his recruiting was very unbalanced. His o-line/receivers/secondary were only average at best. Oh, and how did any of his quarterback recruits turn out? TOB is a much better recruiter. Its called spotting talent. Chuck probably used scout.com to rank players. I mean come on. Poor guy had no business being a head coach.

    Back to the topic, I am thrilled with these past two commitments. Sid will learn to coach in college and if he doesn’t, I am sure the new coach wouldn’t mind having some talent. I am also optimistic about Scott Wood. He’s a top 150 player. Every team needs a shooter. Doesn’t hurt to be 6’6″ either.

    Also, can anyone who has access provide quotes from the recruiting websites about the past two commitments?

  4. packalum44 07/28/2008 at 8:11 PM #

    B…Mind explaining the Shareef Abdul Raheim connection with Sid and Atlanta? Just curious.

  5. ChiefJoJo 07/28/2008 at 8:22 PM #

    ^ I believe Sid coached him in the NBA. I guess with the Grizzlies or T-Wolves.

  6. Sw0rdf1sh 07/28/2008 at 8:40 PM #

    Hasn’t this been a great day?

    How many days do we, as State Fans, get to say that with a strong and hopefull outlook towards the future?

    Great combo of pickups….you would almost think this was all coordinated a little……….hmmmm… 🙂

  7. sf59 07/28/2008 at 9:41 PM #

    looks like we just offered 2011 #1 prospect 6-8 wing Ross who is leaving MS for WOG. we alos just ofered Hood in 2011 Betwen WOG and the ATL Sid and Harris are on a roll.

    hope this mo continues…

  8. packalum44 07/28/2008 at 9:43 PM #

    TOB picked up a commitment as well….Denzelle Good from Gaffney, SC

    6’6″ 325 pounds…sounds like a beast. There are no stories on him and he is ranked 1-star. Sounds like we landed a sleeper from the Palmetto State. Good recruiters do this. Remember when Jake Vermiglio handled #3 draft pick Chris Long of UVA? Who the heck was he in high school? Our O-Line will be above average by next year (hopefully this one too) and dirty good in 2. Go Tom and staff!

  9. b 07/28/2008 at 10:05 PM #

    Indeed Sid coached Rahim (and i absolutely ruined his name, its Shareef Abdur-Rahim)in Vancouver , and he played at Marietta Wheeler. My understanding, which is far from 1st person, (I believe I read it in the Marietta paper)is that JJ spoke to Raheim about Sidney and was ready to commit after the conversation. Either as a simple lycnhpin or not, it was part of the connection to Wheeler, and apparently has netted a future recruit from a school that has three current NBA players to its credit, and one from our hallowed institution. Keeping Harris very likely had a role to play, no doubt, and was smart for many reasons. But it took meeting Lowe and speaking to others about him, or JJ would have had his one year somewhere else.

    It’s great to have any pipeline from such a talent rich area for both major sports, so any recruiting in roads or brand recognition in the area could help in football as well.

  10. Ismael 07/28/2008 at 11:05 PM #

    Re: Denzelle Good – Maryland and Virgina had offered him so not only did we get what appears to be a sleeper but we got him away from two pretty good programs in our conference.

    I’d love to have Favors and/or Wall but after seeing Kelly play, i think i’d rather have him. He looks like he’d stay around awhile and i hate to start following players and then they leave, yet another reason i hate the NBA.

  11. packbackr04 07/29/2008 at 7:39 AM #

    so sid and Harris can be our recruiters. Whether or not sid is able to hire someone who can teach X’s and O’s is the real question. I dont have any problems with someone else running the huddles and drawing up plays during time outs if need be.

  12. StateFans 07/29/2008 at 8:12 AM #

    ^Nobody needs to be drawing up offensive plays other than Sid. I doubt that there are many coaches out there that can do better.

    But, this staff is yet to prove that it can teach defense, rebounding and fundamentals to a point that can get us to the next level. That is where the need for improvement lies.

  13. JimValvano 07/29/2008 at 8:24 AM #

    Back on the subject at hand.

    I can’t wait to HOWL every time HOWELL does something good. We can HOWL every time the kid touches the ball, or plays good defense, or any time his name is mentioned over the p.a.

    HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWLLLLLLLLLLL!!!

  14. Rick 07/29/2008 at 8:53 AM #

    On a side note, I never thought V was very good at teaching fundamentals.

  15. choppack1 07/29/2008 at 9:35 AM #

    Rick – V wasn’t. V was very good at coaching the game, making adjustments in the game, finding the best way to beat an opponent. He also did a good job of evaluating talent. I think he was one of those coaches who could take his’uns and beat your’uns or take your’uns and beat his’uns.

    He really coached in a different era. I think today’s era may take different skils – more organizational, long term planning stuff.

    About Sidney and offense – I don’t think that’s our biggest challenge. Like Statefans said, teaching fundamental D, rebounding and preparing for our opponent are areas of growth.

  16. NCSUownsJoo 07/29/2008 at 9:39 AM #

    It’s embarrassing to me to listen to some of the people here who call themselves state fans. Only State fans can take a thread about a good recruit and turn it into a bashing of the current coach and that even though he does something well, to focus on the things that they perceive he doesn’t do well. First of all, there were many mitigating factors within last years season that caused a lack of focus and concentration on the part of the players. I don’t care how good a coach is, if a player doesn’t have his head in the game, there’s nothing the coach can do about it, other than sit him. However, when you don’t have an acceptable backup, sitting him is not a viable option.

    Richard Howell is a good recruit and should be a valuable contributor for 3 or 4 years. I’m very happy that he’s now a part of our team. GO WOLFPACK!!!!

    Also, for the record, Amato was a good recruiter. He was not a good recruiter because he got loads of 5 star prospects, he was a good recruiter because he was extremely proficient at evaluating talent. He could evaluate a 2 star prospect whom he had a feeling would turn into an NFL prospect and he was right many times.

  17. packalum44 07/29/2008 at 12:14 PM #

    i personally think Coach Lowe will do a fine job after he has his players. i don’t forget the UNC game two years ago. he simply outcoached our over-rated southern talking sweet tea drinking baby blue sweater vest wearing neighbor. speaking of over-rated, our team last year. however, i do think most fans still want to hold Coach Lowe accountable for coming in last place. the more intelligent fans seem to put things in perspective. there were tons of issues, none more important than what he was dealing with personally. i know my performance at work is highly correlated with my personal life, and i don’t have ailing parents or children in the pen.

    to give you credit, I checked out some past players’ ranksings. This is not all inclusive.
    1 star players that now play on Sunday: Lawson, Oliver Hoyte, Leroy Harris
    2 stars: Steven Tulloch etc…
    3 stars: Tank Tyler etc…
    5 stars I missed in earlier post: AJ Davis, Derick Morris, Richard Washington

    So you are right to an extent. He did scout talent well, especiall on the defensive side. However, look at what TOB inherited. Very unbalanced and his earlier years of recruiting were better than his latter. Likely b/c kids saw that he couldn’t coach. Overall, I would not label him as a great recruiter. Maybe he was above average but heck, just about any BCS school has as many pro players than us. Steve Spurrier is great. Nick Saban is great. Bob Huggins is great. Those guys are great recuiters. I think we will see TOB recruit really well. Just my opinion based on scout.com’s empirical data and at our past several teams. Probably my first mistake.

  18. TomPack 07/30/2008 at 1:38 PM #

    So far it looks like having JJ even for a short time has been a positive for other recruits in possibly be coming to State. I wouldn’t want to stock up on one-and-dones but it seems that Coach Lowe is recruiting a team position by position. I think next year will be obviously better than last (I guess how could it not) but it seems as though he is building something at NCSU. With this good recruiting news in BBall and what Coach O’B is doing in fiootball I a can hardly wait for the fall college sports to start!

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