Cothron Decommits

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It is being reported on other sites that Cothron has decided not to attend NCSU. It is doubtful he would have been a starter ahead of Smith and Howell but he could have provided some depth.

Jerry Meyer of Yahoo Sports reported on Cothron’s decision Monday night.

Four-star prospect Luke Cothron has been considered a soft commitment to North Carolina State, but now the 6-foot-8, 210-pound power forward is officially decommitted.

Cothron, an Alabama native who is now at Red Springs (N.C,) Flora Macdonald Academy, has opened up his recruitment and is likely headed elsewhere that NC State.

Cothron’s statement on his decision to decommit

“I want to come in and play as a freshman,” said Cothron. “I also want a good relationship with the head coach, and I want to be surrounded by a great team.”

About Rick

1992 and 2002 graduate from NCSU. Born and raised an NCSU fan. I remember the good ol' days and they weren't in the last 20 years.

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90 Responses to Cothron Decommits

  1. bradleyb123 03/16/2010 at 3:11 PM #

    From what I’m seeing, it sounds like Luke only de-committed because he wants to play 35 minutes a game as a freshman, and with the emergence of Richard Howell, and the fact that Tracy Smith is returning for another year, it would make sense that Luke is none to happy about riding the pine behind those two.

    That would also explain why he de-committed so late in the game. Howell is coming on pretty strong late in the year, and Tracy just recently announced he was returning for another year. Those two developments were probably pretty big nails in Cothron’s coffin.

  2. bradleyb123 03/16/2010 at 3:15 PM #

    And is it possible that our coaches have told Luke he wouldn’t get much playing time? I hear he’s been described as lazy on defense. Could it be we TOLD him to de-commit? Do things work that way? I mean, would we let a player appear to be the one making the decision, when we actually WANT him to make that decision? Just wondering if we’re trying to clear the way for one or more OTHER recruits. I don’t really know that much about the recruiting game.

    His de-commitment makes us look bad, unless we come up with CJ Leslie and/or another great recruit pretty quickly. But maybe it would make us look worse if WE told him to take a hike, after extending him the offer.

    Which looks worse? Him leaving us, or us leaving him? I’m thinking it looks worse if we kicked HIM to the curb.

  3. ShootingGuard 03/16/2010 at 3:51 PM #

    “Shootinguard^ i notice you didnt mention Brown as one of the helpers for Harrow? you hearing he wont qualify?”

    Nah, I was just in a hurry.

    Harrow just has that personality, although I think Rick said it might be “the other way around” with regard to Harrow helping Brown rather than Brown helping Harrow—which he could very well be right. Brown is more of a lead by example guy, but what he says will be important if he is putting up the example with his usual gaudy stat line.

    Backcourts are the most important thing in college ball, but CJL would give State a big splash. And, as much as some of these kids lolly gag in high school and AAU ball, there is nothing like a friend at point guard to call you out—and a bad azz shooting guard to back it up…

  4. rtpack24 03/16/2010 at 3:56 PM #

    It all comes down to who is enrolled in school next year and is ready to play. Until that day gets here everything else is speculation.

  5. RealAsCanB 03/16/2010 at 5:08 PM #

    First of all, i do not understand why you guys are bashing Luke when he has EVERY right to make his own decisions. Just because he DECOMMITED to your school should not give you a reason to talk bad about him or give him a bad name. Although, these are only your opinions, they are very narcissistic and low-minded. Many of you have never met luke nor have had the opputunity to see him play. I am aware of the comments some of you have made regarding CJ LESLIE. I know Cj and first and foremost, he doesnt have the best attitude. He is a great player, yes..i agree but he also needs room for improvement!!! FINNALLY CJ HAS NOT RECOMMITED HIMSELF BACK TO NC STATE EITHER, so lets dont put the cart before the horse!!

  6. whope90 03/16/2010 at 5:42 PM #

    It is hard to say whether a four star recruit de-commiting is a good thing or not? Personally, regardless of the kid’s attitude, it looks bad for state. CJ Leslie did the same thing and http://www.packpride.com states he has a high interest in us?? And L Brown cannot qualify and we do not know if Ryan Harrow has???? So all this talk about a great recruiting class on the eve of our NIT game is just what it is:bad.

    Yet a positive note:

    But I like the young guns we have now: Josh Davis, Richard Howell, D Painter, Tracy Smith(not really young but his first full season as a main guy)Scott Wood and Vberg and throw in CJ Williams and our front court and depth are pretty good.

    Josh Davis: He plays with a lot of heart and determination and is a coache’s dream.
    Richard Howell: Is very strong and smart on the basketball court and can shoot a good mid-ranger jumper,and will be a starter next year.
    D Painter: He really is a banger but needs to step up and prove what all the hype was about.
    Tracy Smith: 1st all-acc team next year and perhaps maybe all-american?
    Vberg: great at rebounding and defense but needs to develop his offensive game.
    Scot Wood: not really a front court guy but is tall and can shoot,plus with horner leaving, it is a plus for him for more shots and a great fundamental guy. Needs to bulk up more, ain strength,but will become a great player.
    Cj Williams, a big guard whom can play the small forward position.

    What this team needs is guards, and Harrow will be that and more and if L brown qualifies then that adds more to the mix,but Javi g will play bu t Mayes may sit.

    All in all, this team is young and will only get better with age and conditioning and i can’t believe i am saying this, but Lowe did a good job of recruiting these guys and i hope he doesn’t mess it up next year.

    So we really do not miss Like M, i mean i think regardless of the attitude, he would added something and i cannot think CJ Leslie will commit back to us after he reneged on us? I don’t think i have ever seen
    a player do that before.

    Regardless of the game’s outcome tonight, being 19-15 and 5-11 this year was disappointing and a lot more wins would have come if some basic coaching strategy was in place, but 2010-2011 looks like our year.
    If Lowe does not mess it up!!!

  7. bradleyb123 03/16/2010 at 6:22 PM #

    First of all, i do not understand why you guys are bashing Luke when he has EVERY right to make his own decisions.

    That’s the thing. He DID make his own decision. He committed to the Wolfpack. If he was not ready to commit, he should have said State was “in the lead”. When he committed, he should have thought it through first.

    This possibly hurt our recruiting. Can we just dole out offers to kids when we already have commitments that would prevent us from honoring our other offers? And even if we could, what would a prospective recruit think? “They just made me an offer, but they have no openings for me???”

    Recruiting is ugly. But when both sides commit to something, that should be the end of it, barring some kind of unforseeable change, like a coaching change.

    It would seem he committed, while keeping his options open and continuing to shop around. That’s not a commitment. But Luke made it one.

  8. MA Wolfpack 03/16/2010 at 8:03 PM #

    Wish we could have kept Cothron, but the guards are the key to this recruiting class. If we do not get CJL or Cothron, then we will need a big guy or 2 big guys in 2011. We’ll need one of them to be a really, really talented player.

  9. transylvania 03/16/2010 at 8:15 PM #

    during my time at State, I seem to remember another young phenom — Sean Green, perhaps? — who wanted to be “the man” his freshman year. seems like he transferred after one season? i’d rather cothron be upfront about what he wants now than commit to us and pull a sean green.

  10. Wolfy__79 03/16/2010 at 10:50 PM #

    MA hit the nail on the head. this class is all about guards, one in particular, HARROW. i don’t expect him to come in and be the savior but he’ll make a noticeable impact. i’d hate to see lorenzo not qualify, is there any truth to him not being available? that would be a blow but we need a ball handler, not another premadonna forward. good guard play makes the rest of the team twice as good.

  11. Sweet jumper 03/17/2010 at 6:39 AM #

    Dan Wiederer has nice article about Cothron’s decommittment in this morning’s Fayetteville Observer. He says no loss there and that most experts were not sure where Cothron would be until signing day even after his verbal committment to the Pack. He also said back in December that Cothron’s attitude and laziness were not a good fit with State. Makes you wonder why we wasted time and energy on him. Now we need to focus on Brown qualifying and CJ Leslie committing. Go Pack–Beat UAB!!

  12. Prowling Woofie 03/17/2010 at 10:59 AM #

    ^ SJ, you can’t fault a coaching staff for recruiting a kid that’s projected as a 4- or 5-star athlete. Recruiting is a gamble, period. You HOPE that a kid is going to mature as he grows and improves. Depends alot on who he chooses to surround himself with and what kind of influence they have over him.

    I, for one, hope and believe that were I in the situation of being heavily recruited by a number of schools and had made a verbal commitment to one, I would sign the LOI and put the process to rest. However, the rules of the ‘game’ don’t mandate that, so it’s hard to fault Luke for taking his time and looking around.

    If he has now decided that he’s not going to be happy EARNING playing time against stiff competition on his own team, then he’s keeping our coaching staff and team from having to soothe his ego and handle a potentially poor attitude that could derail team chemistry.

    Did he prevent us from extending an offer to another recruit ? Possibly, and if so, that’s a shame. But the way the process is laid out, he hasn’t done anything ‘wrong’.

    I thank him for being honest in his evaluation, even at this late date. I’m sure he feels he’s making the best decision for himself, given the information he has at hand. Good luck to him, wherever he lands.

  13. MP 03/17/2010 at 11:39 AM #

    When I read his comments it made me think “Damien Wilkins”.

  14. gtspack 03/17/2010 at 7:27 PM #

    It’s so hard to recruit. You have to recognize their talent at about the time they are 14-15 years old and be the first of many schools to gain their interest. Then you have to just hope he has it between the ears, a personality, good attitude, work ethic, etc.

  15. Conrad 03/17/2010 at 8:48 PM #

    Guys, no sooner than Harrow & Brown hits the campus they will be the starting guards for Lowe next season. And you can take that to the bank. Harrow is the PG for sure that can score also too. While Brown is a SG that has the skills to play the PG if needed sometimes. The days of no floor general & leadership, turnovers, lack of executions is long gone with these 2 player. So minutes for both Gonzales & Mays is gonna be very low because neither of them has the skills to play the PG.

    Wood will be having some better shots opportunities because the guards can create shooting lanes for someone other than themselves. Plus CJ William will be getting all of his minutes at the SG & SF. I hope that he will continue to build off this season for next yr. Because he has the skill to be a really good SG or SF.

    T. Smith will be better off with these guards & possibly CJ Leslie or Howell his book ends. Howell is a player for sure. But all in all State will be in the top 4 in the ACC next yr with a bid to the NCAA.

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