How fitting is it that our Monday morning topic for discussion was this entry on basketball recruiting?
“It’s close to home and there was just something about it,” Graham told Scout.com. “It’s local and my family will be around. I can be close to my mom. She’s sick and that’s important to me.”
Graham, a five-star prospect, said he received a call from the N.C. State staff the first day they were hired.
Graham is rated as a consensus Top 25 national player. So, the Wolfpack’s 2012 class now includes a pair of backcourt players both ranked in the Top 75 of the country – Tyler Lewis at point guard (click for more good news) and Torian Graham at shooting guard.
Despite commitments from two guards already, some people who follow recruiting in the area believe the Wolfpack still has a better than average shot at landing national Top 10 combo guard, Rodney Purvis who recently de-committed from Louisville.
Additionally, Coach Gottfriend offered TJ Warren a scholarship this week and we are discussing it here. Warren is one of the Top 10 small forwards in the country and is the son of former Wolfpack great, Tony Warren.
This is just a FANTASTIC START for Coach Gottfried and his new version of the NC State Basketball program!!
The following is a quick look at NC State’s current and projected roster for the coming years:
Senior Class
(1) CJ Williams (Wing)
Junior Class
(2) Scott Wood (Wing)
(3) Richard Howell (PF)
(4) Jordan Vandenberg (C)
(5) DeShawn Painter (PF/C)
Sophomore Class
(6) Lorenzo Brown (PG/SG)
(7) CJ Leslie (SF/PF)
Freshman Class
(8) Tyler Harris (F)
(9) Jaquan Raymond (G)
2012 Commits
(10) Tyler Lewis (PG)
(11) Torian Graham (SG)
(12) Open Scholarship
(13) Open Scholarship
(1) Departure of CJ Williams
2013 Commits
(2) Departure of Scott Wood (Wing)
(3) Departure of Richard Howell (PF)
(4) Departure of Jordan Vandenberg (C)
(5) Departure of DeShawn Painter (PF/C)
9:30pm Update: More from ACCNow (Link)
The first day new N.C. State basketball coach Mark Gottfried was allowed to talk to recruits, he called Torian Graham.
The timing of the call in early April made a big impression on Graham, one of the top recruits in the country who made a verbal commitment to the Wolfpack on Monday.
“He told me I was their top priority,” Graham said. “That meant a lot to me.”
Graham, a 6-4 shooting guard at Raleigh’s Word of God, is rated as the 25th-best player in the class of 2012 by Scout.com and 45th by ESPN’s Dave Telep. He averaged about 19 points per game as a junior.
Gottfried, who was hired on April 5 to replace Sidney Lowe, has four scholarships available for this season and one more will open up after the 2011-12 season.
The Wolfpack is also pursuing Graham’s prep teammate T.J. Warren, a forward, and Graham’s close friend, guard Rodney Purvis of Raleigh’s Upper Room Academy.
“I’m going to get [Purvis] and a couple of more,” Graham said. “I can recruit now.”
Graham exchanged Twitter posts with Purvis on Monday about teaming up for the Wolfpack for the 2012-13 season. Purvis, who is ranked as one of the top 10 players in the class of ’12, recently decommitted to Louisville and opened up his recruiting options.
Graham, who’s from Durham and played his first two high school seasons at Hillside, joins Tyler Lewis, a point guard from Lewisville, as commitments from the class of ’12.
[snip]
“Torian Graham has the DNA of a scorer,” said Telep, who’s ESPN’s top recruiting analyst. “The Pack is going to need a guy who can get a bucket and he’s certainly able to create scoring chances off the dribble or as a shooter.”
[snip]
Miami, Clemson, Virginia Tech, Georgetown and Rutgers were among the schools in pursuit of Graham.
