Wolfpack recruits dominate Georgia All-State Team

08-09 Basketball Basketball Recruiting147

Tip of the hat to Pack Pride for the following video of NC State commit, Ryan Harrow. Friends of mine in Georgia told me at the end of the season that Ryan Harrow was the best player in the State of Georgia not named Derrick Favors this past season.

Georgia’s All-State Basketball team has been announced and the first team includes three of NC State’s prized recruits over the next two years.

Link to AJC Article

Lorenzo Brown was named Class 5-A Player of the Year!

Class 5-A First team All-State
G: Trae Golden, McEachern, 6-2, Jr.
G: Ryan Harrow, Walton, 6-0, Jr.
C: Richard Howell, Wheeler, 6-8, Sr.
F: Lorenzo Brown, Centennial, 6-5, Sr.
F: Ari Stewart, Wheeler, 6-6, Sr.

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08-09 Basketball Basketball Recruiting

147 Responses to Wolfpack recruits dominate Georgia All-State Team

  1. wolfpackbball 03/30/2009 at 6:26 PM #

    This link was posted at Pack Pride. Thought I’d add it to Wolfman’s post above. Forgive me if it’s a repeat and I missed it.

    http://www.lex18.com/Global/story.asp?S=10096463&nav=menu203_4

  2. JeremyH 03/30/2009 at 6:41 PM #

    How much money did we offer Calipari? Why is UK a better job than NCSU?

  3. wufpup76 03/30/2009 at 7:05 PM #

    “Tony Bennett to UVA. Did a sound job turning Washington State around. Princeton principles and excellent defensive coach. I like the hire.”

    ^Great hire for their program. Can’t say I saw that one coming though, I never really heard his name come up for that position.

    I am really impressed with the younger Bennett. He’ll probably do well at UVa, and I know Wazzu hates losing him.

    And you’re right about him being a good defenisve coach. Tony was an assistant under his dad Dick at both Wisconson and Wazzu … get ready for some 40 point games. Slow down offense and tough, grind it out defense. Can’t say I like watching that style of ball, but the league really needs some upgrades at the coaching positions.

  4. Greywolf 03/30/2009 at 9:01 PM #

    choppack1
    March 30th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
    “Gray – just an fyi. HWSBN and Sid do not have identical ACC records for their first 3 years. Herb won more if you count the ACC tournament (and I do.)”
    `
    Chop, did you mean Grey? I took regular season records because they were readily available and it gave apples to apples comparisons. I just don’t see a significant enough difference in Herb’s first 3 years and Sid’s first 3 years to justify the “Herb was good, Sid sucks” being bantered about. (not by BJD) I grant it’s a silly argument but if the triage (now there is a play on words worth noting) gave Lowe 5 years to ____________________ (fill in the blank) I’m not one to have them go back on their word and cut it to 4 years based on_____________ (whatever).
    `
    Changing the subject: What do you think the impact of all this AAU activity is having on the CALIBER of college basketball? My opinion, and it’s just that my opinion, is that with all the travel and higher level full time coaching these boys are getting — AAU coaches aren’t teaching Civics half the time — many of today’s 3-Star recruits would have been 4 or 5 Star recruits not too very long ago.
    `
    This is IMO a real consideration when considering what Sid inherited coming in. Personalities, and I use that term loosely here, like Herb I would not think had the ongoing relationships with AAU coaches to recruit the young men who we see in the AAU games. If I don’t make sense here, it’s because I really DON’T know what I’m talking about.
    `
    This is probably my last bb post for a while. The football thread opened up is too much fun. I spent an hour looking at NCState video on YouTube. My first look was TB up the middle, dipping his shoulder and sending some hapless safety flying back on his ass. This fb season has a good chance to be special.

  5. BJD95 03/30/2009 at 9:18 PM #

    The three best jobs in college basketball are UCLA, UNC, and UK. It makes me feel better if Cal gets the UK job because he would have left State for that gig, too.

    Remember, it was another one of those three (UCLA) that almost snagged V – a guy who came back and sang our fight song at midcourt, while dying of cancer and in spite of how we unfairly tossed him out on his ear.

    The elite programs will all now have elite coaches, and are set for decades of glory. Damn it all to hell.

  6. Greywolf 03/30/2009 at 9:25 PM #

    I lied about no more posting on bb threads.

    BJD, I was here 2 years ago. What you did was give sound reasons for your opinions. You cited events to back your opinions. Citing events that back up your opinion is not documentation. Roy Williams is a better coach than Sid is NOT a fact. Roy Williams has a better record than Sid is a fact. Mike K is a better recruiter than Sid is NOT a fact. Mike K gets more McDonalds AAs than Sid is a fact. Mike K’s recruits have better results as a team than Sid’s is a fact. Mike K has established Duke as an elite program is a fact.

  7. Greywolf 03/30/2009 at 9:38 PM #

    BJD95
    March 30th, 2009 at 9:18 pm
    “The three best jobs in college basketball are UCLA, UNC, and UK…..
    The elite programs will all now have elite coaches, and are set for decades of glory. Damn it all to hell.”
    `
    NC State ended UCLA’s decade of glory in 1974. For what it’s worth, IMO Calipari has a ways to go before he can be called “elite.” I’m going to laugh my ass off when the NCAA fries his ass for recruiting violations and UK goes on probation.
    `
    I got bad news for the elite. The AAU programs are negating their advantages. When John Wooden was coaching, he got more than his share of blue-chippers. Whoever that elite coach is at UCLA is not going to get near the percentage of blue-chippers Wooden got. Too many of them these days.

  8. choppack1 03/31/2009 at 7:51 AM #

    I did mean Grey.

    “I took regular season records because they were readily available and it gave apples to apples comparisons. I just don’t see a significant enough difference in Herb’s first 3 years and Sid’s first 3 years to justify the “Herb was good, Sid sucks” being bantered about.”

    I just use this comparison to say that HWSBN didn’t meet our expectations – and Sid, at best, you can say is off to an equally rocky start.

    At the end of next year – where we are right now shouldn’t mean squat. If he goes 4-12, we’ll know he’s not the guy and it’s time for him to go. If he goes 7-9, he probably gets another year. If he goes 9-7 or better, we’ll all be happy.

  9. Greywolf 03/31/2009 at 9:08 AM #

    choppack1
    March 31st, 2009 at 7:51 am
    “I just use this comparison to say that HWSBN didn’t meet our expectations – and Sid, at best, you can say is off to an equally rocky start.

    At the end of next year – where we are right now shouldn’t mean squat. If he goes 4-12, we’ll know he’s not the guy and it’s time for him to go. If he goes 7-9, he probably gets another year. If he goes 9-7 or better, we’ll all be happy.”
    `
    There’s a grace period that every new coach gets, what the coach does with it is IMO what makes the difference. What is the new coach trying to accomplish. Herb used his to bring in players who would do well in his slow, methodical offense. Herb’s offense was one the less athletic players could do well in.
    `
    Sid was inexperienced and those responsible for the decision to hire him knew it and I assert were prepared to go through the learning curve. Sid also intends to bring in the athletes that most if not all the elite coaches are recruiting. I don’t and I don’t think the people he answers to expected him to immediately bring in top 10 recruiting classes. Larry Harris is doing and excellent job of recruiting the type talent needed to move into contention for ACC championships with UNX and Dook (and Maryland and Wake).
    `
    Renovating a building takes less time to produce a first class facility than demolition and reconstruction. Sid or any coach would have a tough row to hoe trying to renovate — take the athletes that were here when he started — and build the best. Demolishing LOOKs like nothing is progressing IF you are looking for getting better. The route Sid is taking is not getting better, it a route intended to be the best.
    `
    Judging how Sid is doing in a plan to be the best by looking at what should be accomplished at this point in time if he wanted to merely be good, is to be expected by fans who aren’t in on the inner workings of the plan to be the best. Even if we are 4-12 next year — and I highly doubt such a poor won/loss record — if the admin promised 5 years, I want NCSU to honor it’s word and use the time to evaluate all possible options. We should hire a consultant who can operate out of the public eye to find who would be willing to consider NCSU.
    `
    After all that and Sid is here a 6th year, we will know that NCSU is not willing to meet the salary demands of a coach with the track record that distinguishes him from the wannabees. Then we can piss and moan about LF not caring about winning, not being the AD we deserve and covet the ADs and coaches for whom we are not willing to pay the going rate. Actually no one will be responsible for our irrelevance, it will be the chosen status of the University. The BOT will conclude that athletics has gotten out of hand and we are not paying millions of dollars for basketball coaches so that the fans can have bragging rights with their Tarhole friends and co-workers. I for one will not argue the case.

  10. choppack1 03/31/2009 at 11:55 AM #

    Greywolf – so let me get this straight, it takes 6 years to find 6 guys who can play basketball AND are good atheletes?

    I’m sorry – I’m just not buying it…All Lowe really needed to thrive these last 2 years was a few good guards. To his credit, he went and signed 5 of them. Of course, if you believe our lineups, none of these 5 are capable of play the 1 AND the 2, and until Javi started to emerge in the second half of the year, none of 4 he brought in to play the point had been able to effectively do so.

    I’m just wondering if this coach didn’t play such a significant role in Wolfpack lore what your opinion of him would be.

    As for your contention that those in charge expected this. If that’s the case, NC State administrators should give away tickets since obviously they don’t give a tinker’s damn about winning basketball games for his five years.

    Also, what proof do you have that we aren’t willing to pay for a top notch coach? After all, in 2000, we had one of the highest paid football assistant coaching staffs in the country.

  11. GAWolf 03/31/2009 at 12:46 PM #

    He got Hickson to come here with nothing to sell other than some 30 to 40 year old tradition. Other than that and immediate playing time, what else in the world can one say positive about NC State from a strictly basketball perspective. Sure Raleigh is a great town to live in and sure a kid coming here will get exposure from the always hyped ACC in addition to a chance to play against (supposedly) the best of the best just down the street… but other than that what is there?

    I think if we can ever get over the hump and win a few the ability to recruit superior talent will shoot through the roof. Maybe we’ll land some of these close calls we’re losing out on to teams with recently winning programs. I think no matter who the coach is here the acceleration from the top of the hump to greatness could be very quick. It’s getting over the hump that is the job of it all. Just in simple physics terms it’s easier to maintain momentum than it is to get something rolling from stop. And whether you like it or not, after the huge losses in the transition from Herb to Sid our program all but stopped.

    In this analogy, our program right now is pretty square. It’s not hip, cool, popular or any of those things. It takes a while to cut the edges off of that square and get it where it can even roll to get it going and ultimately pick up and maintain momentum. These classes coming in in 2009 and 2010 are building on a pretty solid class from last year. Hopefully those guys can play to a level that will make our program appealing to some of these *other* blue chip recruits.

    If you think about all of that objectively and openly, it’s easy to see how 1) this process will in fact take some time, and 2) we’re walking in the right direction. Hopefully soon we can run.

  12. choppack1 03/31/2009 at 1:21 PM #

    GA Wolf -I see your point. However, there are very real clouds on the horizon. For one, as of right now, we only have 3 guys to play the 4 and 5 spot heading into next year.

    CJ Leslie’s de-commital further causes some issues. Have you looked at the Top 100 list for next year? From what I’ve seen on our options for 2010, right now, they don’t look great.

    I’m thrilled to have a commit from Harrow, but we desperately need more size and I still don’t think we’ve solved that speed and/or upcoming depth issue unless we are planning to play Thomas and Davis at the 4 spot.

    Look at it this way, if you were a disinterested third party who sold stocks in college basketball programs, would you have the Wolfpack as a “buy”? I think realistically, the only fair rating you can give us right now is a “hold” and that’s because our current price is only a few points above it’s all time lows (so, there’s no point in selling since it can’t get much lower.)

  13. blackdom 03/31/2009 at 1:44 PM #

    ^”He got Hinkson to come here” Yes ,that was a total disaster. It did not help anyone,and also set us back another year or so.
    Grace period is over and you don’t need 4 classes to turn a Basketball team around. And if this is bottom line as it should be ,who get’s grace period’s?

  14. wufpup76 03/31/2009 at 1:46 PM #

    Ok, this is pretty hilarious …

    http://kentucky.rivals.com/showmsg.asp?fid=1383&tid=126728854&mid=126728854&sid=888&style=2

    I thought our fans tracking the “Pig Plane” was really cool, but this may have that topped. UK fans have been tracking a door at the Memphis athletics office non-stop via a live feed.

    The feed has recently been cut, but just go to the Cats Pause (Rupp Rafters) message board and search for some posts on “The Door” … The jokes and stuff are really, really funny 🙂

  15. MrPlywood 03/31/2009 at 1:49 PM #

    These guys say Cal’s gone…

    hxxp://www.wreg.com/wreg-calipari-decision,0,7710064.story

  16. wufpup76 03/31/2009 at 1:51 PM #

    ^Looking more and more like a done deal … most Memphis stations are reporting he’s gone.

  17. GAWolf 03/31/2009 at 3:09 PM #

    Blackdom… from everything I’ve heard (and much of it from people extremely close to the program) JJ Hickson had nothing to do with the chemistry problems we saw last year. Granted, I’m sure some were upset with his minutes and in turn their lack of minutes, but that was more of an attitude problem on their part than anything Hickson did.

    There’s so much more to that story than most people know, and truthfully it should stay that way. But to say it (Hickson coming here) was “a disaster” is not taking into account the totality of the circumstances. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, then I understand why you’d see it that way. Chemistry on that team was a WRECK for reasons that would have existed whether JJ came here or not.

  18. Gene 03/31/2009 at 5:12 PM #

    Sure Raleigh is a great town to live in

    Raleigh’s a nice town to settle down and raise a family…it’s not the hippest, most happening town for a teenager…

  19. JeremyH 03/31/2009 at 5:51 PM #

    The Sidney Lowe experiment was only ever going to work if he got plenty of time to learn on the job. So the administration is going to stay with that plan. It’s been noted that we are not the right situation for elite coaches, and any up-and-comer is a gamble (see Gillipse, Gillen).

    What’s been established is this guy can recruit, with his personality and nba connections as assets in that regard. I don’t think that can be overstated in the dog-eat-dog world of fast-talking reality-distortion-field-creating Italian coaches. I don’t know if HS would have been able to get guys like J. J. Hickson, Lorenzo Brown, and Ryan Harrow (who was discovered by the coaching staff).

    When considered the whole body of situations that a coach needs to be successful in recruiting is a major one. So is in-game coaching, which Lowe has shown some good signs but at times lapses. It’s obvious that is area is a work in progress. He needs to have his players reflect some fundamental defensive ability, which has been lacking. We have said two off-seasons in a row that Lowe should bring in a defensive specialist. So we’ll wait and see.

    As for the Calipari situation, if I was Sid I would be in the ear of Wall, and probably EVERY

  20. JeremyH 03/31/2009 at 5:52 PM #

    ..EVERY memphis recruit.

  21. redfred2 04/01/2009 at 11:42 AM #

    X

  22. Techno_Wolfpacker 04/27/2009 at 8:12 PM #

    New recruit!!!

    Jordan Vandenberg 7-0/230 Australia

    http://northcarolinastate.scout.com/a.z?s=178&p=9&cfg=bb&c=4&yr=2009

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