Deshawn Painter: Florida’s loss becomes NC State’s gain

Basketball Recruiting174

8pm Update: BREAKING NEWS! – The Wolfpacker beat Pack Pride by about 15 minutes on this one with their report that Deshawn Painter has chosen to play basketball at NC State. SFN heard last week that NC State was ‘expecting’ to land Painter, but you never count your chickens before they hatch. We felt pretty good about State’s odds after Painter got out of his visit in College Park this past weekend without falling in love and committing in person to Gary Williams. So, we got ready to run this story this evening so that we would be prepared. Good timing/ CONGRATULATIONS, Coach Lowe and the Wolfpack!!

The recruitment of the one of the top remaining post prospects in country ended on Wednesday when Deshawn Painter chose NC State over Maryland after eliminating Virginia Tech from consideration earlier in the week.

Painter, of Chatham (Va.) Hargrave Military Academy, is a very athletic, ‘lengthy’ 6’9 power forward who has a well rounded game that includes the ability to rebound and block shots. After originally committing to Billy Donovan at the University of Florida, DeShawn ultimately changed his mind and re-opened his recruitment.

He is ranked as one of the Top 75 high school players in the country; Scout has given him four stars and Rivals has given him three stars. ESPNU ranks Painter #19 on their list of top power forwards in the country, achieving “score” of 92 as NC State’s other post commit – Richard Howell. Howell is ranked #20 on ESPNU’s list.

  • Wolfpack Hoops’ biography/profile of Painter can be seen by clicking here.

Make no mistake about Painter’s potential impact on NC State’s 2009-2010 team and on the program into the future. In this thorough entry on March 23rd we stated the following:

Much is made about State’s struggles and needs at the point guard position…and, Ryan Harrow may be scheduled to arrive in Raleigh one year too late for Coach Lowe. But, I see an even more glaring deficiency on the Wolfpack’s roster after the departure of Brandon Costner – NC State desperately needs some size, heft and toughness in the post. Despite the addition of Richard Howell in the 2009 recruiting class, an ‘ideal’ candidate for one of the Wolfpack’s remaining scholarships would be a junior college big man – preferably a true center of close to 7 feet – who can defend, block shots and rebound. Additionally, this would be ideal for current and future scholarship spacing needs.

Although Painter may not represent the ‘ideal’ situation that we projected with a hypothetical junior college prospect, he’s damn close and would obviously contribute to the program for more than just two seasons. Having versatile and skilled bookends in the post like Richard Howell and DeShawn Painter (as freshmen) behind Tracy Smith and Dennis Horner would create an awful lot of depth for the Wolfpack next year, and beyond) while helping to blunt the blow of (potentially) losing CJ Leslie from next year’s class.

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) DeShawn Painter (PF/C)

2010 Commits
(1) Departure of Dennis Horner – Ryan Harrow (PG)
(2) Departure of Farnold Degand – Previously CJ Leslie (PF/C)

2011 Commits
(3) Departure of Javi Gonzalez
(4) Departure of Tracy Smith

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Basketball Recruiting

174 Responses to Deshawn Painter: Florida’s loss becomes NC State’s gain

  1. cooldrip 05/14/2009 at 11:34 AM #

    BJD makes a good point when he mentions probation and bad programs. For those who want to mention TOB and his first two years at BC, look at the state of that program when he came in. Everyone remembers Flutie, but wasn’t there a gambling/pointshaving scandal previous to TOB taking over? In that case, a bowl in year 3 was a MASSIVE accomplishment.

  2. Alpha Wolf 05/14/2009 at 11:38 AM #

    we are 20 miles from two of the biggest collegiate basketball powerhouses in the history of the game.

    So the extra 80-odd miles between WFU and the Two Blues is enough of a margin for them to be able to assemble a top 5 class and have a strong year, but we are too close?

    Really now, all four schools recruit on a national basis, so geography doesn’t really make all that much difference. This is a creation of the press that the public has bought into and IMO they are mistaking the need to in-state recruiting for football with basketball recruiting.

  3. NCSUownzJoo 05/14/2009 at 11:44 AM #

    He didn’t inherit a down program?? What’re u insane? He had like 6 scholarship players that were even marginal ACC-caliber.

    Yes, Hickson was better than Hodge. If he had been here four years he would have beasted Hodge. Hickson was better than anybody Herb ever landed here. And Lowe did that after 20 years of piss-poor performance.

    How the hell would you have sat Fells, Mccauley or Costner? Who would you have put in? If he had sat them and their backups played like crap you would have been ripping Lowe for that too. So he kept his best players in the game. Like any sane individual would have done.

    There were reasons Mays was not playing in those games and it had nothing to do with practice or performance. It had to do with schoolwork and attitude. Don’t speak on something you know nothing about. It doesn’t make one look very smart when they do so. What the hell do you mean a failure to recognize what opponents were doing and adjust? Do you not listen to any radio broadcasts? On almost EVERY one when they talk to Lowe, he stated what the other team was doing against his team and he stated what they had to change in order to counter that. If the players don’t execute that’s not the fault of the coach. Are you just making stuff up or what? Of COURSE he called timeouts right before tv timeouts because he was trying to give his starters a longer break. Do you not know anything about collegiate sports?

    And you claim to have these HIGH anonymous sources in the program. But yet your OWN ADMISSION shows that you have no idea why Mays wasn’t playing. Either your source isn’t too high or he’s feeding you a load of crap.

  4. jaimico_elberg 05/14/2009 at 11:46 AM #

    Dear all,

    I write from far far far away, Chile, South America. So my opinions come from a point where I have about 1 % of the in depth knowledge you may have. However, since I look from the outside I might have a cooler more objective opinion.

    1. When triying to compare TOB with Sidney Lowe I see that people don´t take into account two very important thing closely related one to the other.
    a) NC State is a BB school, therefore the expectations are much higher. For me TOB has produced results that are quite close to what Herb produced, but the fan base is happy with one, we know what happen with the other. In other words, the expected minimum and maximun are much lower in Fotball than BB for NC State. In that sense it is easy to say that Sidney Lowe is a failure in comparison to TOB.

    b) The ACC is a BB conference, where success is much more difficult internally than in Football, specially with the DUKE UNC polarization in the last few years.
    In sum, I think is unfair to compare two persons whose goals amid the fanbase are quite different but they are treated the same.

    With this I am not saying that SL is the best coach around, just that is job is way more difficult than TOB’s and that should be taken into account.

    Also, I am in favor for accountability and but realistic speaking. What I see is that we have a decent team for next year, and if things are done the rigth way, a very very good for the year after. I hope that is keep in mind when evaluation time comes.
    We have sucked for 20 year, maybe with Sl we will suck 1 or 2 more and he should be fired, but on the other hand the only person I see capable of taking us to the real level we deserve is him, he can recruit, and I think with the right tools he can coach. As someone said here He will be great success or great failure.

    PS: Sorry for my english, I Am not a native speaker.

  5. NCSUownzJoo 05/14/2009 at 11:49 AM #

    I guess the farther away from here you are, the more intelligent of a basketball fan you become.

  6. tcthdi-tgsf-twhwtnc 05/14/2009 at 11:55 AM #

    “This is good news but the cynic inside fears this recruiting class is good enough to keep a horrible coach around longer than need be. Sighhhh….”

    I guess this is an appropriate thread to slam Lowe. Could you not find any other thread than this one to spew your bile?

  7. tvp1 05/14/2009 at 12:00 PM #

    BJD: I disagree about Javi being a very poor defender. He easily led our team in steal percentage the last two years, at numbers that put him around the top 10-15 in the ACC in that category. Our problem, of course, is that absolutely no one else on the roster did an even passable job of forcing turnovers. Javi probably will never be a plus defender overall but he at least tries and does some things well.

    Personally, I am not at “NCAA or bust” for my minimum standard. I am at “legit NCAA bubble team that plays better defense or bust.” We could very well go 8-8 next year and not make the NCAAs due to a down ACC and some of our big name OOC opponents having unusually bad years, thus depressing our SOS. That kind of progress plus a young roster and Harrow coming in will be enough for me to support giving Sid another year.

    But we simply must play better D. We were the worst defensive team in the conference last year. Absolutely no excuse for not improving on that. And if we go 6-10 and miss the NIT again…how can we justify keeping Sid for another year?

    One final point: I also disagree with the general “Mays should have been playing!!1!!!” consensus I see spouted frequently. Mays is a SG in a PG’s body. Basically all he can do fairly well at this point is shoot jumpers. Gary Williams, being the coaching genius that he is, played a zone that deliberately allowed Mays to shoot jumpers in exchange for completely neutralizing our inside game. He bet, correctly, that our freshman backup PG wouldn’t be able to make enough shots to win the game single-handedly. That game doesn’t mean that Mays should have been playing tons of minutes all year.

  8. Alpha Wolf 05/14/2009 at 12:15 PM #

    Everyone, please be gently reminded that no personal attacks will be tolerated. Debate the subject and do not attack the poster. That does not mean you cannot disagree, even strongly. It does mean, however, that you are crossing the line when you start tossing out “it doesn’t make one look very smart” and other similar put-downs when directed at someone else.

  9. cooldrip 05/14/2009 at 12:16 PM #

    If you like it here, you can speak objectively and cease the personal attacks. We’ve seen where that gets you. As far as your arguments …

    Hickson was here for one year. He padded his stats against weaker OOC teams early in the year. Compare his overall stats with conference stats. He had trouble against double-teams and was not a great on-ball defender. You argue that he would have been better if he had stayed, but he didn’t. Hodge was an ACC POY and certainly one of the greatest players in our history. I would say Sid should have an easier time getting superstars than say Oklahoma or K-State.

    On the subject of effort, i would rather see guys like Simon Harris or Javi bust their tails even though not as talented, than watch guys like Costner and Fells loaf. I can be proud of heroic effort in the face of overwhelming odds. I can’t stand seeing talent squandered because of attitude or laziness. Look at the football team; how proud are you of guys like Meares Green or Robbie Leonard, guys who earned their playing time and made an impact on our team because nobody could out-work them, no matter how talented, and nobody played as smart, because they had to be smart just to play? I can take pride in a team that leaves it on the field nad doesn’t get results, I can’t bear watching a team that wastes it’s chances. Also, I have yet to see any leadership being developed. Atsur was the last team leader we had.

    If it’s true about the schoolwork issues with Mays, then he shouldn’t have been playing. Did these improve, and that’s why he was cleared to play? If not, then I think it’s hypocritical of Sid to allow him to play. I don’t mind drawing a “line in the sand” regarding academics, but you can’t waver from it, no matter the player or situation.

    Again, I can’t comment on my source, sorry.

  10. BJD95 05/14/2009 at 12:33 PM #

    If one likes to speak about logical consistency, consider how one can say that Lowe inherited no players, but at the same time, his first three years can’t be considered against him because he was hamstrung by “Herb’s guys.”

    Sure, NC State’s roster wasn’t NCAAT caliber when Lowe took over. But the PROGRAM ITSELF was not in bad shape. It was still a very good job, and a pretty good time to take over the reins. Four years is plenty of time for a good coach, period.

    Almost every ACC team will be reliant on new players (or players that haven’t played or shown much) next season. If the excuses are valid, Lowe will be the cream that rises to the middle (see, I’m not even requiring the top!).

  11. Thinkpack17 05/14/2009 at 12:35 PM #

    You asked if Sid had brought in a “Julius Hodge” and he did. Very early in his career he did it. Just because he didn’t stay to graduate doesn’t take away from that. If that’s your case you will have to wait for the end of this year…I think Jules won POY as a Jr. None of Sid’s kids are Jr.’s yet. Regarding the Mays situation you don’t know about it…so you can’t really comment about Sid’s tactics. Mays sat for like 2 or 3 weeks, plenty of time for a Professor to report a turn around in attitude.

  12. NCSUownzJoo 05/14/2009 at 12:39 PM #

    If Lowe did what you said he should do, we would have lost MORE games. And don’t give me that crap about I’d rather see effort than laziness. Even lazy, fells was better than the backup. Even lazy Costner is better than Horner. If backups had played and lost, everybody and their brother would have been screaming about how big of an idiot Lowe is for not having his best players in the game, not giving props to the backups for putting in effort. Please.

    And my apologies. I don’t mean to be insulting… well I suppose I was but, I just get so frustrated at people who bash Lowe. I see Lowe as a great recruiter, a good coach and given enough time, the perfect person to bring NCSU back to greatness. Even with all of the deficiencies in our program over the past 20 years, Lowe has us recruiting some of the top players in the nation and has us on their final lists. With a little success, his recruiting will be phenominal. I really don’t want people to run him out of town before he’s really been given a chance to prove himself. The LEAST he should get is the end of Harrows’ first season. I just don’t want NCSU to throw away the opportunity for greatness because some people are impatient.

  13. Thinkpack17 05/14/2009 at 12:41 PM #

    What was good about the “PROGRAM ITSELF”? I mean we (fans) were pissed, the roster was bare, two of our biggest guns were at each other’s throats and our last coach couldn’t get out of town fast enough. I am not attacking you…I just want to know the good intangibles we have besides our History and facilities.

  14. packplantpath 05/14/2009 at 12:47 PM #

    But we all know that only the facilities matter!!!!!!!

  15. cooldrip 05/14/2009 at 12:47 PM #

    I don’t know if Hickson would have become quite like Hodge. Outside of the stats, Hodge was a winner. He was the undisputed leader of our team, and everyone knew it. He demanded excellence from his teammates, and led by example. He single-handedly carried our team to a few victories, and his absence doomed our team in some games. If Hickson had developed into this kind of guy, then yes, I’ll agree. But we’ll just never know. It takes more than just talent; I personally can’t wait to see a player like Hodge wearing my beloved colors again.

  16. BJD95 05/14/2009 at 12:55 PM #

    Large public university, located in a city (not podunk town) with a nice climate. Strong fan/alumni base. First-class facilities. Elite conference affiliation. Multiple national championships, combined with multiple recent NCAAT appearances (wasn’t enough for me to want Sendek to stay longterm, but it is prefereable than having completely sucked for over a decade).

    All of the raw materials are there for the right coach to take the next step forward and make NC State an elite program.

  17. cooldrip 05/14/2009 at 12:56 PM #

    Fells is the tough question, because he was without a doubt our best athlete. Although, I still say a smart, well-coached player beats the athlete most of the time. We could have tried working CJ in, although some of the matchups would have been tough. Same with Mays and Thomas, although getting time for these guys pays off in the long run. I would have rather seen Tracy Smith getting the most minutes at the 4/5 spot for the same reason, long-term development. Smith it seems was also our most effective post player in terms of minute-based production. And the point about team defense is spot-on; how many winnable games have been lost over the previous two seasons because of horrific defense?

  18. Bubba 05/14/2009 at 12:59 PM #

    NCSUownzJoo wrote:
    “There were reasons Mays was not playing in those games and it had nothing to do with practice or performance.It had to do with schoolwork and attitude. Dont speak on something you know nothing about. It doesnt make one look very smart when they do so.”

    Pot meet kettle

    Julius Mays carried the highest gpa on the team both semesters and was voted best teammate by the players and coaches for his attitude,heart,desire etc.
    Perhaps you are thinking of Degand?

  19. Texpack 05/14/2009 at 1:00 PM #

    “If Lowe did what you said he should do, we would have lost MORE games. And don’t give me that crap about I’d rather see effort than laziness.”

    I was at State when K did this very thing at Duke. He almost didn’t survive because of it, but it ultimately started the turnaround of the Duke program. The reason I prefer effort to laziness is that it establishes standards for your program. It puts it all out there in the open for all future recruits to see. If your effort sucks you no play. This is the reason you never saw a problem with effort on a Norman Sloan team. We didn’t have the talent last year to get to the NCAA’s unless every break went our way. I would have only played the effort guys. If Fells had ridden the bench for 2-3 straight games, his effort might have improved. If it didn’t he’s not the kind of kid you want on the team. I would absolutely have been ok with Fells and CJ Williams minutes being reversed or CJ getting Fells minutes and Johnny Thomas getting CJ’s minutes. When you have no track record to speak of as a college head coach, you have to put a stake in the ground at some point.

  20. twosocks 05/14/2009 at 1:05 PM #

    The 2009-10 team is gonna be so inconsistent because they’re so young, but on some nights they’re gonna be really good. In a way it’s good to have a bunch of kids with no memories. It’s easier for them to step up and win a couple big games. here’s hoping we can take down carolina in an upset in 2010. that would do wonders for the freshmen’s confidence going forward.

  21. BJD95 05/14/2009 at 1:07 PM #

    Agreed, Tex. You have to pick one route or another. Send a message, and take some short-term lumps for long-term gain. Or find a way to make it work out, so you win games and build momentum that way.

    If you roll the dice on not sending any messages (or worse, continuously send MIXED messages so that the players have no idea what to expect) and still suck…well, then you’re kind of screwed. You haven’t laid the foundation for long-term growth, and received no short-term benefit.

    Program stweardship has been and remains a major problem for Sidney Lowe.

    Tom O’Brien lost additional games (and we saw alot of really bad football) in 2007 when he didn’t burn Wilson’s redshirt. Same thing in 2008 wrt Glennon’s redshirt. None of us blamed him for it, since we understand taking the long view.

  22. JeremyH 05/14/2009 at 1:10 PM #

    even though we may not have a stud at point guard, we have enough experience at that position to be “not shitty” by committee.

  23. Thinkpack17 05/14/2009 at 1:14 PM #

    “Large public university, located in a city (not podunk town) with a nice climate. Strong fan/alumni base. First-class facilities. Elite conference affiliation. Multiple national championships, combined with multiple recent NCAAT appearances (wasn’t enough for me to want Sendek to stay longterm, but it is prefereable than having completely sucked for over a decade).”

    So basically history and facilities like I said. Because our Fan base could have scared off just as many candidates as it brought in. You said the program itself wasn’t in bad shape as if that could change…but things like climate, city population and school population aren’t really going to change barring a new ice-age.

  24. choppack1 05/14/2009 at 1:17 PM #

    Texpack – good point on demanding effort. I really don’t know any elite coach in football or basketball who tolerates inconsistent effort.

    I don’t know why this conversation had to devolve, but I guess it’s the point where we are at.

    One more thought – if you believe Sid’s a great coach, probably not a good move to try and compare him to TOB since his arrival.

    Regarding Lowe – he’s proven he has a good eye for talent. At this point, that’s all he’s really shown. He didn’t inherit alot – but he inherited enough so that in his 2nd year, he shouldn’t have gone 4-12, unless he was totally rebuilding – which he wasn’t.

    Like I’ve said before, having done research on ACC coaches, Lowe’s start doesn’t prove that he won’t be a successful coach in the ACC. However, this is year to prove that he’s learned enough to be an effective coach in this league.

    There are definitely some positives out there. The most positive note I would say is that if the ACC continues along this path almost everyone in the wolfpack nation will know whether or not Sidney is the right guy for the job.

  25. newt 05/14/2009 at 1:18 PM #

    I think the turnaround at Duke was the direct result of a slew of McDonald’s All Americans coming in.

    I’m a little more patient to see what Lowe can do because:

    1) He practically lost a year due to the timing of his hiring, worsened further by coming from the NBA so no pre-existing recruiting relationships like a Cal at UK. So we had a coach starting from scratch, late in the season.

    2) The transition to Lowe’s type of team takes a bit longer in this case, because our existing players were recruited for a very unique style with atypical skills (e.g. big man that can shoot jumpers but not rebound). Lowe is having to transform the makeup of the NC Basketball team from one look to another.

    So, I want to see progress towards successfully making that transition. This year’s recruiting class shows promise.

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