Projected NC State Basketball Roster

09-10 Basketball Basketball Recruiting113

Since the news of Justin Gainey’s departure for Elon became public today, we thought we would also update from previous roster changes entry.

On paper, State’s starting lineup looks like: Javier Gonzalez at the point, Brown at the 2-guard, C.J. Williams at small forward, Howell at the 4 and Smith at center.

Off the bench State has guards Julius Mays, Farnold Degand and Wood. At forward, Dennis Horner and Johnny Thomas are the other returning scholarship players, plus Davis.

Additionally, Ken Tysiac has added a great blog entry about the Wolfpack’s prospects next year that can be seen here.

When you look at the roster the Wolfpack has returning, it’s impossible to deduce that the team will be better off without Costner and reserve guard Trevor Ferguson, who also is leaving.

[snip]

As a whole, this roster will not scare North Carolina when it gets off the bus next season at the Smith Center. Against the rest of the ACC, N.C. State might hold up OK because there is a lot of backcourt talent leaving from the traditional middle-of-the-pack schools.

Toney Douglas, Tyrese Rice and Jack McClinton all were seniors, and Maryland’s Greivis Vasquez has already announced his intention to test the NBA waters.

But hoping the competition falls back to N.C. State’s level is not a where the Wolfpack hoped to be in Sidney Lowe’s fourth season.

Coach Sidney Lowe’s incoming recruiting class might turn out to be his best yet. But the members of his past classes will be sophomores and juniors next season comprising the bulk of N.C. State’s roster. Lowe’s initial difficulties gaining a foothold as a recruiter after coming to N.C. State from the NBA look like they will come home to roost next season.

Projected 2009-2010 NC State Basketball Roster

Senior Class
(1) Dennis Horner (F)
(2) Farnold Degand (PG)

Junior Class
(3) Javi Gonzalez (PG)
(4) Tracy Smith (4F)

Sophomore Class
(5) Johnny Thomas (Wing)
(6) Julius Mays (PG/SG)
(7) CJ Williams (Wing)

Freshman Class
(8) Scott Wood (Wing)
(9) Lorenzo Brown (PG/SG)
(10) Richard Howell (PF)
(11) Josh Davis (WF)
(12) Jordan Vandenberg (C)
(13) Hold for top player if we can get the commitment

2010 Commits
(12) Ryan Harrow (PG)
(13) CJ Leslie (hopeful)
(1) Departure of Dennis Horner if no other scholarships issued for 2009 class
(2) Departure of Farnold Degand if no other scholarships issued for 2009 class

2011 Commits
(1) Departure of Javi Gonzalez
(2) Departure of Tracy Smith

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09-10 Basketball Basketball Recruiting

113 Responses to Projected NC State Basketball Roster

  1. Gene 04/30/2009 at 2:32 PM #

    To me Brandon Costner and Courtney Fells were the biggest dissapointments/ most overrated incoming freshman ever in states history…..

    (some would argue Dam Wilkins but Atleast he made it to the pros so he cant be counted as overrated)

    I agree that Costner was disappointing and agree with Alpha’s assessment that he could’ve been a better player if he wanted to.

    He carried us to the ACC finals three years ago. He reminded me a bit of Larry Bird during that run. What made Bird so tough to guard was that he was stronger than smaller players you tried to guard him with on the perimeter and could post them up inside, while he could score pretty easily from the perimeter, which would drag bigger, stronger, players out of their comfort zone and force them to play perimeter defense on someone, who has a bit quicker than they were.

    I’m not saying Costner’s could’ve been second coming of Larry Bird, but he just seemed to have that inside / outside game going that can cause match-up nightmares for opposing teams.

    I’m not going to rip him for underachieving or not living up to the potential he showed as a red-shirt freshman. I underachieved at things in college for various reasons.

    Hope he can get his head on straight and be successful wherever he goes.

    But Costner is a cautionery example, in my opinion, of what could make or break us in the upcoming year: how much better our returning players get. So far, I’ve rarely seen appreciable season-to-season improvement from NCSU players and not just Costner.

  2. Alpha Wolf 04/30/2009 at 2:33 PM #

    State is going to almost always have a talent gap (if not always) with the Royal Blues as long as Williams and K are on the bench. That being said, it is imperative to have players on the floor who never give in and play as hard as they can. That will be the only way to take it to those guys, and the only way in the long run to win games in tournaments.

  3. Alpha Wolf 04/30/2009 at 2:36 PM #

    I do have reason to believe that everyone is pretty confident that Brown will qualify. — rtpack

    Which in turn makes me more confident.

    Seems like Tracy Smith had a similar scenario if Alzheimer’s has not set in as yet.

  4. Pack Leader 04/30/2009 at 2:42 PM #

    Gene- Fair assesment I dont disagree much but for me, it takes more than playing well in a 3 day tourney over 3 years to be considered a great player..

    Alpha i couldnt agree more we will have a talent handicap aslong as those coachs are still there. So to me that means we HAVE to get kids with passion for the sport and the school. We can not afford get the soft spoken, High rated, melencholy superstar whos alltime goal is to play pros as soon as possible. Our players will have to HATE unc/duke and generally WANT to see a banner hanging in the rafters. Heart and Team work will have to be the way we win at ncsu. Thats why im high on Harrow. Being God-brothers with Lo Brown and having 3 of the 5 best players out of georgia come in all knowing eachother is a huge plus.

    Having said all that, if i was herb and it was 2002 and i had the opportunity to have a young brandon Costner on my team, I would have taken it too.
    Curious to know if anybody knows if Herb still talks to players at state………

  5. choppack1 04/30/2009 at 2:45 PM #

    Gene – good point about Gillen. However, you can learn from the past. And while there was zero reason to think that Gillen wouldn’t work out at UVa – we can take away from his expereince at UVa and Staak’s experience at Wake Forest that it’s best to treat success at Xavier w/ some healthy skepticism.

    You don’t want to ignore success there. However, you should consider the fact that the last 5 coaches there have done well enough to take a job at a bigger school. 2 of those succeeded, 2 failed and the 1 just took a new job.

  6. RickJ 04/30/2009 at 2:58 PM #

    Short term, there is nothing more important than Brown qualifying. He is our not only our highest rated recruit, but according to some, the most underrated. I can’t think of a guard recruit as good as Brown since Chris & Rodney signed over 20 years ago. This explains where we are as much as anything.

  7. BJD95 04/30/2009 at 3:00 PM #

    If Brown doesn’t qualify, we might as well not play the 2009-10 season. Seriously.

  8. Thinkpack17 04/30/2009 at 3:02 PM #

    ^^We would be seriously boned.

  9. Pack Leader 04/30/2009 at 3:10 PM #

    If brown doesnt qualify I say we take the rest of the 4 freshman and just RS them all. then we could have a fab 5 starting in 2010. no joke if no brown cancel season….. and thats bad to say

  10. Gene 04/30/2009 at 3:34 PM #

    State is going to almost always have a talent gap (if not always) with the Royal Blues as long as Williams and K are on the bench.

    Player development would close the gap much more than anything else we can do. If our seniors can become complete enough players, they should be able to capitalize on miscues of young, talented, teams those schools tend to field once in awhile.

    Unfortunately many of our players seem to have the same flaws in their game as seniors, as they did as freshman. I hope the new coaching staff can change that, because more than anything it will help close the talent gap.

  11. Greywolf 04/30/2009 at 5:26 PM #

    choppack1
    April 30th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
    Grey – responding to your post. I’ve posted several times that my research has shown that several successful ACC coaches didn’t make the NCAAs their first 3 years. If Sid can be tied for 3rd-5th in conference and makes the NCAAs – I most of us will be happy.
    `
    Chop,
    My comparison isn’t MK with SL, I was pointing out that Duke had a 6 year or so commitment to K. Everything I can find out about this says NCSU’s intent indicates that NCSU has a 6-year plan as well. My intent was to express a minority POV related to the value of the 6-year time frame. I would think that having 6 years would take the do or die out of the first year or so.
    `
    I know it is not well received here to have a 6-year plan but that’s basically what Duke had and if you look at K’s 6th year, the plan succeeded. In this day of instant gratification a 6-year plan is unacceptable BUT it does allow enough time to do it the right way i.e., no Calipari shortcuts. The question isn’t whether or not 4 years or 5 years or 6 years is enough or too many. The question is, is Sid on track to be where we want him to be in 6 years because that is highly likely what he is getting whether we approve, like it, are upset about it, etc., or not.
    `
    As a side note, Duke was tied 3rd in K’s 4th yr. We had a 8-team league then. T-3rd is the equivilent of finishing tied for 6th today. I showed 6 seasons to coincide with what I beleive to be the commitment to Sid by the AD, the Chancellor, and BOT.
    `
    BJD: That’s the last warning I need to give on bitching about how we run the site.

  12. Rufftown Wolf 04/30/2009 at 7:19 PM #

    I hear ya Greywolf, Lowe is a good coach, we saw that when he had a good point guard, everyone has to remember that Engin got hurt that year & missed at least 6 games. If he doesn’t turn an ankle we’re in the tourney in Sid’s 1st year.

    If you don’t have a good point guard you’re not going to be able to run the sets you want to. One thing NCSU is going to have next year is experience at that position. Good or Bad those guys know what playing in the Acc is about. Talent is around the point guard now.

    When was the last time NCSU was in the running for the top recruit in the country?? If Wall decides to come to State, we’ll have the top class in the nation and be a top 25 team. Even if he doesn’t come this way state will be much improved and be in the mix in the acc

  13. newt 04/30/2009 at 9:33 PM #

    Let’s get real…

    As a senior in high school, Michael Jordan broke the McDonald’s All American game scoring record, which stood for 18 years. He was not the under-the-radar sleeper that folks make him out to be. Nowadays, he would have likely gone straight to the NBA.

    By year 4, equivalent to next year for Lowe, Coach K had recruited 3 McDonald’s All Americans to his roster, including National Player of the Year Johnny Dawkins. That is why Duke suddenly became a good team. He added several more All Americans the next year and every year since.

    This is why folks pay such close attention to recruiting. If Lowe can recruit like K, Dean Smith, Roy Williams, etc., then his teams will win like theirs have, and he will be a hall of fame caliber coach. Lowe knows this and that is why he goes for the big fish. Heck, his own ’83 National Championship team had 3 McDonald’s AAs on it, including himself.

  14. ryebread 04/30/2009 at 9:48 PM #

    Grey: While I agree with what you’re saying, finished tied for 3rd in an 8 team league is like finishing tied for 5th in a 12 team league — not tied for 6th.

    I think this year is make or break for Lowe, particularly if Fowler is gone. I’m pulling for Lowe, but I’m crossing my fingers on Fowler.

  15. Wulfpack 05/01/2009 at 5:38 AM #

    Lowe is a good coach

    Could you please provide some concrete evidence to support this claim? I’m not saying Lowe won’t grow into a “good coach”, but as it stands right now, Lowe is a bad coach if you use the win/loss record as an objective measure. In fact, I don’t know that I could put him ahead of any coach in the ACC.

    BJD has said it best. It’s put up or shut up time for Lowe. You want to stay around? Prove that you can make it happen. It’s year 4. Any “good” coach should be able to produce some sort of tangible positive results by his 4th year. This isn’t Prairie View A&M, this is N.C. State with a rich tradition and substantial resources. Time to get to work or get the hell out.

  16. BJD95 05/01/2009 at 6:31 AM #

    Amen, Wulfpack. Four years is actually very generous in the modern era, where college basketball is a big business.

    Opportunity abounds in 2009-10. If there is cream, it should rise to the top (or at least the upper middle).

    The bottom line is that Lowe has shown me next to nothing during his tenure here (other than the first year ACCT run). He has used “connections” in the Atlanta area to land a number of good recruits, but has not been able to translate that into a springboard elsewhere. He brought in a complete thug into our basketball program as a university employee, and had to be forced to let him go. He has shown little ability to structure an offseason program, or motivate his players during the season. And last, but not least – he hasn’t won nearly enough games.

    So yeah, there’s no grace period left. He has to show something tangible and convincing THIS YEAR. And I understand that the powers-that-be (other than “Coach” Fowler, who will defend him to the death because to do otherwise would admit that he made a mistake in hiring Lowe) agree with my position.

    And there’s your bottom line. Fowler is essentially Lowe’s last friend in the world, in terms of keeping his job. Which is yet another reason why it’s so important for Fowler’s ouster to be finalized no later than this summer.

  17. Sw0rdf1sh 05/01/2009 at 6:45 AM #

    Sometimes I can’t believe how much some of you think we are “Teh Domed”!

    SFN is enjoyable to me because it is full of opinions, researched statistics, and we typically get the opportunity to re-hash old articles in the future. I really hope that this is going to be one of those where a couple of you will get to come back and see where your foot was planted firmly in your mouth.

    I like our Coach, and how anyone says he cannot coach is beyond me. His constant play calling is indication that he knows what he wants the players to do, and I’m sure the man is waiting for the day when he can reduce his whistles because he has a floor general and team that is working cohesively on the floor. He and his staff have proven to be pretty good recruiters as well, our top 20 class is proof….and we still have the opportunity to possibly land more quality players (like Wall and Painter). If we could get either one of those our class is immediately upgraded even further up the ladder. I’m sure Wood and Howell would be pretty offended that someones opinion is we should just not play this season if Brown doesn’t qualify….he is our top talent, but those players are bringing their own aresenal to the RBC.

    My opinion on Davis is that he has talent, can jump out the building and loves the Wolfpack. His display at the Dunk Challenge this week show just how eager he is to play for HIS team. And THAT to me, is worth it’s weight in gold. To have players who want to play for this program and defeat the evil empires down the road is important.

    As I mentioned on PP, the Josh Davis appearance this week was very similar to me of Mike Glennon throwing up the Wolfpack sign after kicking arse at the UnderArmour Challenge (where I was jumping around like a kid at Christmas). That eagerness and desire is something you CAN’T coach.

  18. Wolfpack_1995 05/01/2009 at 7:10 AM #

    Signing Painter is more key than Wall IMO.

  19. BJD95 05/01/2009 at 7:32 AM #

    Being able to diagram and call plays doesn’t mean you can coach. What you are able to successfully instruct your players to do is all that counts.

    I like to be solely objective on this stuff, and rely on the bottom-line record (which sucks). But if you want a subjective rationale, it would be that Lowe has trouble communicating with and motivating players at the college level, as opposed to approaches he used in the NBA.

    Also, as a moderator of this blog, I’m in position to hear lots of stuff from various groups of people. And that does help inform my opinions. Since we’ve been running this blog, we’ve really had four coaches to accumulate opinion about (Amato, Sendek, Lowe, O’Brien). What I heard about Amato was mixed at the very beginning, then uniformly negative (even before we started losing). With Sendek, it was always mixed, with most insider and outsider opinion towards the middle of the spectrum. I have never heard anything negative about Tom O’Brien – absolutely everybody not associated with Boston College seems to think he’s fantastic.

    With Lowe, I heard some negative stuff even before the first season. That abated only during his first season, then turned very sharply negative as early as the first offseason. We hear from many different types of insiders and media types, and absolutely none of them have had anything positive – or even mixed – since that ACCT run.

    And it’s not a case of hearing what I want to hear, either. I wanted more negative feedback on Sendek than I received. The negatives on Amato and Lowe started well before my own opinions turned sour – and I tried to explain away what I was hearing for a significant amount of time.

    Take that for whatever it’s worth, but I just wanted to give everyone a better understanding of where I’m coming from.

    I hope to be proven wrong, too. I had the same hope wrt Amato (I was one of the very first to publicly sour on him), but was ultimately proven right.

  20. Alpha Wolf 05/01/2009 at 8:10 AM #

    Thing is, this is a call-it-like-we-see-it site, and this is not a blow-sunshine-up-your-arse site.

    If you like the latter, go to gopack.com.

    If you like honest opinions that reflect what the writer sees in front their eyes, stay here.

    Me, I try to stay balanced and pragmatic, and my only allegiance is to the Wolfpack. I don’t buy cult of personalities, such as the one that existed around Amato for some time, nor do I accept endless excuses as is the case with Lee Fowler. I thought and still think of Sendek as a good coach who could go further if he were less rigid and had the ability to adapt as circumstances warrant. I think of Lowe as an excellent fit for NC State from a PR standpoint but one who has not proven to be an effective program manager. I think as an offensive coach he is solid. Other aspects of the game, I think he needs to improve and fast.

    I believe in the bottom of my heart that there is no reason for NC State to not succeed wildly in any endeavor it chooses to succeed in. Problem is, I think, NC State is its own worst enemy. It is a textbook example of the Peter Principle in its operational managers and it is a textbook example of an organization who is paralyzed into the status quo by its bureaucracy.

    Like many of you, I recently got a letter from Oblinger asking for money to tide over the school during its budgetary shortfall. When I got it, I thought, hmm, this is the same school that treats undergrads like dirt, that works diligently to destroy their student experience, that treats its alumni as though they were children when it comes to tailgating — which in effect are 6-8 reunions every year, one that will try to publicly humiliate those who offer any criticism no matter how constructive. None of that included athletics. But when I did think about athletics — and how the university is without doubt defying the wishes of its students, alumni and boosters to have well managed and competitive programs (which as the largest university in the state should be a given) that was icing on the cake. File 86 for the letter and consider the answer no.

    Funny how when they need money they can play all nice and talk about family. Not so funny is how when you try to give them a well thought out opinion that is well presented their attitude is the one they would give the black sheep of the family or the red-headed step-child that everyone wishes would go away.

    That is the nature of NC State’s leaders. They just want your money. That keeps them in their Ivory Tower, and that’s no place where your opinion is welcome.

    It may hurt to not give to the school, but it will most certainly destabilize the status quo over there if they do not meet their fundraising objectives. If that’s what it takes, so be it. It’s time for change.

  21. smithdl4 05/01/2009 at 8:19 AM #

    Here’s something interesting I spotted over on PP. They are running photos of the Dunk contest. First photo shows Garrius Adams, Earnst Ross and Josh Davis together approximately the same distance from the camera. From the photo its appears that Davis is 3 to 4 inches taller than either of the other two. If Rivals and Scout are anywhere near accurate in their height measurement for Adams and Ross at 6’5″ then Davis is already at least 6’8″.
    Its either that or the other two are significantly shorter than the information posted on the two recruiting sites. Unfortunately I’m not adept enough to link in the picture but its worth a look.

  22. Tampa-Pack 05/01/2009 at 8:47 AM #

    I’m sure the admins of this site know it goes without saying and they don’t need another “pat on the back”, but there are many times more fans of this site than the vocal few who continue to trash the site. If you feel this site is being overly negative, than you are not coming to the site objectively. They are the first to share the good, the neutral, and the bad. If you are objective you will see this, and if you come expecting an agenda, I’m sure you can convince yourself of that as well.

    Many of us only comment when there is something new or informative to add to the comments, and enjoy the stories and facts as they are presented on this blog. They consistently provide an accurate recap of the status of the athletics program, and have an excellent history of being correct to back it up. Especially for those of us outside of the Raleigh-Durham area – and Tampa is pretty far – this is a lifeline back to the university that we love and care so deeply about. Keep up the good work.

  23. Gene 05/01/2009 at 9:06 AM #

    As a senior in high school, Michael Jordan broke the McDonald’s All American game scoring record, which stood for 18 years. He was not the under-the-radar sleeper that folks make him out to be. Nowadays, he would have likely gone straight to the NBA.

    As a senior Jordan got tons of attention, but whenever it is coaches latch onto budding talent – their sophomore or junior years of highschool – Jordan wasn’t making a big splash and pretty much only Carolina was recruiting him that early.

    N.C. State with a rich tradition

    Anything that’s not within the living memory or lifetime of students / alumni doesn’t represent a “rich tradition”, in my opinion. The older stuff usually represents some sort of folklore for students to get indocrinated into, but a school with a truly “rich tradition” has been winning in the here and now.

    Thing is, this is a call-it-like-we-see-it site, and this is not a blow-sunshine-up-your-arse site.

    Blogs / forums are opinion based, which drives debate. They aren’t just trying to report the news or represent information without any bias. SFN is no different in this regard.

    For example people keep wondering why we recruited Julius Mays so early on, when seems like nothing but a role player. From everything I read about him in highschool, he was an “under the radar” guard, who was getting ready to “blow up” later on in his high school career, like Ryan Harrow seems to be doing.

    As a senior Mays was a finalist for Mr. Basketball in the state of Indiana and was one of the top 5 prospects in Indiana. He was the leader of one of the top teams in the state. There’s every reason to think he would’ve moved up the ranking charts like Harrow is doing now, when we offered him so early on.

    Yet no one seems to mention his outstanding high school career, when discussing his recruitment, but rather focus on his ranking by recruting sites and using this as fuel for further criticism of the coaching staff’s talent evaluation and scholarship allocations.

  24. Sw0rdf1sh 05/01/2009 at 9:17 AM #

    Just to clarify, I was NOT bashing SFN or the group here. I do believe the contributors to this site do call it like they see it and that is why I’ve been coming here for a few years and will continue to do so. It is absolutely one of the first sites that I click on just about every day.

    My comments are mainly regarding how so many blogs (yes they are out there!) have commentors who do nothing but preach doom and gloom and seem to see no good in anything.

    My honest opinion was only stated as well and I can continue to soak up those that I may not necessarily agree with and possibly find truth to it in the future after reflection. Then again, there are some that I just can’t agree with.

    In the meantime, I agree….Painter would be a huge addition to this class.

  25. Rufftown Wolf 05/01/2009 at 2:17 PM #

    Let’s talk about facts, and not overall record. I will review, Lowe has lost his starting point guard to injury every year he has coached. 1st. Astur, 2nd Degand, 3rd Gonzales plus Fells & Fergie.

    Here are Lowes numbers against Top Ten and Top 25 teams.
    Top 10 Top 25
    06/07 1-3 5-7
    07/08 0-4 2-7
    08/09 1-3 1-6

    So if Lowe can get talented players to run the style of play he wants to run and they can stay injury free, (b/c I won’t say the players he had were untalented they were recruited to play in another system which is no ones fault) he has a good chance to turn some losses into wins and get back to the tourney. There will be an improvement next year b/c he has gotten talented players coming in.

    There is no reason to complain about last years recruits b/c he only had two spots to give out. Both Mays and Williams will be productive players in the long run. I also saw leadership qualities in Mays play.

    Go Pack!

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