Lorenzo Brown – Another One Bites the Dust

09-10 Basketball Basketball Recruiting159

I apologize for not being more timely – I’ve been on vacation and out of the loop. But yes, what you may have heard is indeed true – Lorenzo Brown is headed to prep school and will not suit up for the 2009-10 Wolfpack squad. No matter how down the ACC may be, this is almost certainly a fatal blow for NC State’s already remote chance to contend for first division status.

Long-time readers will note that SFN commenter Noah has been hinting about possible issues with Brown ever since he committed to the Pack. Although we (and you) may fervently hope Noah is wrong, perhaps it’s time to stop expecting him to be so.

The obvious question now is “what happens next?” We can break that down into two parts – what should happen, and what to expect from the Lowe camp and his enablers.

On the should side of the ledger, nothing changes in the bar set, just the math regarding the likelihood of clearing it. Again, the fundamental key is distinguishing between fault and responsibility. While it is not Lowe’s fault that Lorenzo Brown’s grades fell short of what Georgia requires, in Season #4 the state of the program is Lowe’s absolute and unequivocal responsibility. The product on the floor must be something that NC State can be proud of. No excuses. Giving Lowe “credit” for recruiting rankings while giving him a pass when said recruits fail to qualify is the height of idiocy. But if you focus on bottom-line responsibility, it doesn’t matter. You can produce by bringing in great talent (ala Guy Lewis), or you can overachieve with lesser talent (ala Seth Greenberg). Either way, you have to produce. Lowe is not likely to produce with the current roster, but that’s on him. He is the coach and the general manager.

So, back to prong two. What should you expect? Well, for Team Lowe and its dwindling band of true believers, this is actually perfect. It gives you the perfect opportunity to intensify the pre-emptive excuse making. WTNY!!!!! Since almost every pundit will now expect State to finish 11th or 12th, they can (and will) shift the focus to beat “expectations” – despite the fact that expectations are so low because of the personnel Lowe has brought in and Lowe’s demonstrated coaching “acumen.” A career-best 9th place finish after four years gets you a pink slip from 95% of major D-1 programs, but the dead-enders would demand a contract extension instead. And since it isn’t possible to perform below expectations (i.e., you can’t fall off the floor), they will deem anyone not satisfied with 2009-10 results as delusional. Expect Fowler (if he’s still here) to break out the “lunatic fringe” term again.

More importantly, the status quo folks get to double down on blackmail. Lorenzo Brown and Ryan Harrow are both from the same recruiting pipeline, and will thus have access to the same set of talking points (that Harrow has already been testing out over the summer). Expect this to get a lot less subtle, and a lot more public – certainly no later than January 2010 (fun idea – run a pool for the date of the next public article with a qualifying Brown or Harrow quote). With Lowe’s tacit or explicit approval, these young men will declare that they are committed to Sidney Lowe, not NC State. This is certainly true of a certain individual deeply intertwined with their recruitment. And since recruits have not taken the court in a college game (and thus only have untapped potential for greatness, and no weaknesses in the eyes of many), some people will take this as a legitimate consideration. This is true despite what happened the last time NC State faced such a situation, which led to five years of basketball limbo – and that was with the best player in school history since the legendary David Thompson, not two Top 50 kids.

Feel free to shoot the messenger in the comments – but that’s simply how I see things shaking out. Things are ugly in West Raleigh, and about to get much, much uglier. Brace yourselves for the coming storm.

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) DeShawn Painter (PF/C)
(10) Richard Howell (PF)
(11) Josh Davis (WF)
(12) Jordan Vandenberg (C)

2010 Commits
(13) Lorenzo Brown (PG/SG)
(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

About BJD95

1995 NC State graduate, sufferer of Les and MOC during my entire student tenure. An equal-opportunity objective critic and analyst of Wolfpack sports.

09-10 Basketball Basketball Recruiting

159 Responses to Lorenzo Brown – Another One Bites the Dust

  1. Noah 07/14/2009 at 9:44 AM #

    It would take a lot to top the year we had a player shoot himself in his dorm room during a game.

    Yeah, if it’s possible to have a worse season than 1992-93, I’d just as soon gouge my eyes out right now rather than witness it. We went 2-14 in the ACC, 8-19 overall. UNC went 34-4 and won the NCAA title.

    We lost to UNCW and barely beat UNCA. We beat Oregon State (who won maybe three games all year) after Curtis Marshall threw in a prayer three-pointer at the buzzer. Our two ACC wins were over Clemson and Georgia Tech.

    Tony Robinson killed himself, Bryant Feggins (coming off knee surgery) got shot in the shoulder, Kevin Thompson ripped up his knee at the end of the year, Donnie Seale got thrown off the team for grades, Chuck Kornegay flunked out, Migjen Bakali quit midway through the year and Mark Lewis was one of our most dependable scorers.

    You have NO idea how depressing that season was unless you went through it. We weren’t as bad as the 80-81 Georgia Tech team….which will probably NEVER be matched in terms of pure horror…but we were in the ballpark.

  2. Thinkpack17 07/14/2009 at 10:14 AM #

    “…but we were in the ballpark.”

    Highly doubtful.

  3. CaptainCraptacular 07/14/2009 at 10:15 AM #

    ^ Didnt 80-81 GT at least have Yvon Joseph as a hope for the future? Or was that not till the next year?

  4. mafpack 07/14/2009 at 10:26 AM #

    Wow, while I didn’t expect joyous optimism, I at least thought after 5 pages of ripping on Brown and Lowe, that SOMEONE would comment on the fact that Brown may indeed get to play for us this year after all… harsh.

    /shrug – back to work

  5. Thinkpack17 07/14/2009 at 10:32 AM #

    ^It’s been said. A few people posted it here, and they talked about it on Wolfpackhoops. They are 100% positive outlook everyday, all the time, and even they said it is unlikely. It sucks man. It sucks.

  6. bradleyb123 07/14/2009 at 10:41 AM #

    ^ “Wow, while I didn’t expect joyous optimism, I at least thought after 5 pages of ripping on Brown and Lowe, that SOMEONE would comment on the fact that Brown may indeed get to play for us this year after all… harsh.”

    That is good news, mafpack. I’m really glad to hear it. It’s not often NC State catches a break! But I’m not holding my breath on this. This is the only place I’ve heard about any appeal happening. Everyone is reporting it like it’s a done deal. I’m afraid to get my hopes up. But it is good to hear. As long as there’s hope, there’s hope.

  7. Noah 07/14/2009 at 6:41 PM #

    Didnt 80-81 GT at least have Yvon Joseph as a hope for the future? Or was that not till the next year?

    Nope.

    That team won a grand total of four games. The beat Flagler, University of the South (45-42 in what may be the least enjoyable basketball game ever played), Presbyterian (by three) and Newberry. The lost to Troy State, Baptist, and Wofford.

  8. Par Shooter 07/15/2009 at 9:29 AM #

    If the rumors for why Brown cannot enroll are true then I cannot imagine what we even have to appeal to the NCAA. Surely we aren’t dumb enough to petition the NCAA to allow a player who doesn’t have a HS diploma. That should take about 1 brain cell to decide…uhhh, no. And even if the NCAA said “sure, why not?” then would the UNC system and the NC State admissions office allow a student to enroll without a HS diploma? Of course not. If we have appealed then surely the problem being rumored (lack of a diploma) isn’t entirely accurate.

    Of course, there will be a large contingent of fans who will whine and complain about how the NCAA is screwing us (again) if they don’t allow a guy without a diploma to play this year.

  9. ryebread 07/15/2009 at 9:47 AM #

    I’m with Par Shooter on this one. If Brown didn’t graduate his high school and didn’t receive a degree, I’d actually be embarrassed to hear that we were petitioning the NCAA to accept him. Graduating high school has to be the minimal level of the student in the student/athlete.

    Brown may have gotten a raw deal in high school, but life isn’t fair. If he didn’t graduate, he didn’t graduate and should have to prep.

  10. choppack1 07/15/2009 at 10:26 AM #

    Here are 2 questions for everyone to ponder:
    1) Who was the last All-ACC player basketball player who failed to qualify out of high school?

    2) Who was the last person that State signed who was ineligible to play the next season in basketball? (I actually know the answer to this one.)

  11. BJD95 07/15/2009 at 11:05 AM #

    The “appeal” is likely part of a media relations strategy. It gives NC State a plausible reason not to comment until its less current (and thus less “newsworthy”).

    Note that Brown’s situation finally made the local paper today, in a tiny article on the back of the sports page.

  12. JeremyH 07/15/2009 at 11:37 AM #

    So what exactly was the problem here? did he fail a class? did he make straight Cs and that wasn’t enough to qualify for his state? how could this end up being a problem, guys high school isn’t that hard, and I doubt he was loaded up on AP classes either. He was supposed to be a major freshman stud for this program–so how could our staff AND his people let this occur?

  13. choppack1 07/15/2009 at 1:00 PM #

    I hope that question is rhetorical.

    For yet another rhetorical question, I suggest you look @ my last post before this one…

  14. rtpack24 07/15/2009 at 1:41 PM #

    Without Brown do we have a legit 2 guard on the roster?

  15. Par Shooter 07/15/2009 at 1:46 PM #

    I would contend that we have 1 legit ACC player on the roster and he will be playing out of position all year (T. Smith).

  16. Thinkpack17 07/15/2009 at 3:06 PM #

    ^T. Smith is out of position at the 5? His skill set says “Center” more than any other position. He may be undersized, but he is not out of position.

    This year I’ll say all of our PG’s will be ACC Caliber. Caught some of the Pro AM and as much as I’ve been down on Farnold he looks good. I think some of his side to side quickness is gone for good, but he impressed me.

    “Without Brown do we have a legit 2 guard on the roster?”

    It depends on what you mean by “legit”. Short answer…No. Scott Wood and CJ will be the closest. Just don’t trust either of them getting to the cup with speed.

  17. Par Shooter 07/15/2009 at 3:14 PM #

    At roughly 6’7″ I think Tracy would benefit greatly from a taller guy in the lineup. Probably more on D than O but I think it’s a help on both ends. While he isn’t a floating forward (like Costner or Melvin) his low post game would still be enhanced if he didn’t have all of the attention from the other team’s center. For reference, TS pretty much played 4 last year even though McCauley was more of a high post player at the 5.

  18. nycfan 07/15/2009 at 3:36 PM #

    I think it would be an iffy proposition to try to bring in Brown after the first semester. It’s one thing to have a kid redshirt the first semester but still work out with the team (and very often that still doesn’t make for an easy transition), but coming from HS to college mid-way through the season seems more likely to disrupt the team than anything else and could be bad for Brown’s development.

    1) The team would be in a sort of limbo in the first semester, waiting for Godot, so to speak, which could affect the development of chemistry and undermine the results on the floor both immediately (during the first semester) and when/if Brown joins the team. That limbo would likely be fraught with rumor and innuendo about whether Brown could actually make it, too, making things worse (OTOH, that could be true anyway — no matter how many explicit statements are issued that Brown will stay at Hargrave the entire year, there will be people with sources to the contrary to keep it alive).

    2) Brown would be under enormous pressure in the academic arena, something it sounds like he doesn’t need. Give him a whole year to get his academic house in order.

    3) Brown would essentially have to be dropped into the line-up cold turkey, with limited practice as a freshman behind everyone else. He would have the pressure to be a savior of what I expect to be a weak team on top of it and typical freshman November struggles in ACC play in January could undermine his confidence — and confidence is a fragile commodity in college sports, once damaged it can be hard to resuscitate.

    I’m sure Brown is chomping at the bit to get to State, but I think the risk-reward analysis is not very encouraging. If State has an unexpectedly strong start, do you want to screw with the chemistry by dropping in a player with virtually no practice experience? If State is having a bad year, what is the point?

  19. Thinkpack17 07/15/2009 at 3:37 PM #

    ^Yeah…you’re agreeing with me sorta, but you are backwards. High post is more often than not played by the 4, low post is played by the 5. And even though McCauley is taller he played the 4 because his skill set was more equipped for the 4 (although his 5 skill set wasn’t bad). The 4 man operates in the high post, so he needs to be a disiplined passer, have a decent mid-range game and on occasion have go by ability. This is not Tracy’s game, Tracy belongs with his back to the basket with two feet in the paint. That’s center…he maybe shorter, but he is the Center. KG is taller than Perkins, but Perkins is the center, KG is the 4 man.

  20. BJD95 07/15/2009 at 3:42 PM #

    Without Brown, I don’t believe we have a starter-caliber guard on the roster. Javi, Mays, and CJ would all be decent backups at the 1, combo, and 2 guard, respectively.

    Farnold is a speed player who no longer has any lateral quickness. He would be very useful if there was a relay race portion of the game.

  21. Wulfpack 07/15/2009 at 3:49 PM #

    The biggest issue we have with T. Smith is foul trouble. He HAS to stay on the floor for us if we are going to contend for a tourney bid.

  22. Thinkpack17 07/15/2009 at 3:55 PM #

    “Farnold is a speed player who no longer has any lateral quickness.”

    I wouldn’t say ANY, his initial jump to cut off a defender is still very quick…it’s the second and third moves that he has trouble with. If we can teach Dennis to help defend without fouling we can just funnel guards toward the middle like Duke does with their slow guards.

    nycfan makes a very good point.

  23. BJD95 07/15/2009 at 4:01 PM #

    You’re not going to be able to teach Horner how to defend, especially against guards any quicker than Paulus (translation – all of them). Farnold went from a plus defender as a sophomore to a horrid one last year. I’m pretty sure he’s done.

    I cringe at the thought of playing even 5 minutes a game without Smith. If he gets in foul trouble, we could easily lose by 40.

  24. rtpack24 07/15/2009 at 4:08 PM #

    Did anyone else in the ACC recruit Lorenzo Brown besides NC State?

  25. BJD95 07/15/2009 at 4:12 PM #

    ^ I think GT did, but not sure.

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