Speaking of carousels, there’s always the basketball recruiting one, and it never stops spinning.
N&O/CO NC State beat writer Ken Tysiac posted a pair interesting quotes from hoops recuiting super-guru Bob Gibbons:
Gibbons said he has a “gut feeling†that Wall will choose N.C. State rather than Memphis or Baylor. But he said even if Lowe doesn’t get either of those marquee players, he will have a solid class.
Gibbons (espn.com, others) also said that State has a shot at Derrick Favors too, but labeled it as “wishful thinking:”
“N.C. State has positioned themselves where this may be just wishful thinking, but they apparently have a shot at John Wall and Derrick Favors,†Gibbons said.
It’s hard to say from an outside vantage point what Favors might do; he came to Raleigh but skipped Memphis and Florida State trips, but on the other hand, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution seems pretty resolute that Favors will pick between Georgia Tech or Georgia.
Where it gets interesting is that Wall once casually remarked that he’d like to play with Favors. If (and it’s a bold, capital letter, italicized IF) one or the other picks NC State first, will the other follow?
One thing is certain: Sidney Lowe is working on bringing the top recruits in the prep game to Raleigh, and that he has already secured a very good class for next year. If he gets one or both Wall or Favors, NC State’s incoming class will take a backseat to no one — not even UNC or Duke.