Merry Christmas, Wolfpackers.
Today, NC State secured a (re) commitment from 6-foot-4, 175-pound Torian Graham. Graham is generally considered at Top 50-75 national recruit who is ranked amongst the top 10 shooting guards in the country. You can click here to read our story from Graham’s original commitment in May where you will see that Graham was a Top 25 player and 5-star recruit when he first committed to the Wolfpack. ESPN currently ranks Graham the #38 overall player and #9 shooting guard in the class of 2012.
Scout.com’s Evan Daniels says:
Graham is an athletic wing prospect that shoots it. Range is deep. Key with TG is consistency when he has it working he’s tough to handle
One of SFN’s community members (logarithm) shared the following that is worth including here:
I think the kid has more upside than his “ranking†suggests. He was ranked higher, just barely below Purvis in the Spring. He committed to us, had to have a knee surgery that kept him out of summer play, then decommitted, took his decision on where to transfer for his senior year down to the wire, and then I’m pretty sure his mom passed away a couple months back. Not exactly an emotionally serene recruitment. And I guess the talk of academic issues must have either been unfounded rumors or he’s turned his studies around. I can’t imagine the coaches want an academic project in year two when they didn’t want one in Joseph Uchebo in year one.
Recruiting is a different world today. See the video below of Graham’s announcement:
Coach Gottfried has now secured commitments from players ranked 15th, 22nd, 51st, and 61st in the country based on Scout.com’s rankings. Interestingly, all of the players are from the great state of North Carolina.
Senior Class
(1) CJ Williams (Wing)
(13) Alex Johnson (PG)
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)
(10) Thomas de Thaey (PF)
2012 Commits
(11) Tyler Lewis (PG)
(12) Rodney Purvis (PG/SG)
(13) TJ Warren (SF)
(1) Torian Graham (SG)
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)
I don’t follow recruiting that closely, but I have seen a comment or two regarding Graham’s academics and that he may ultimately re-classify into 2013. Regardless of the truth of this speculation, a quick review of the previous ‘depth chart’ could convince you that a re-classification wouldn’t be the worst thing for the Wolfpack program over the long term. In addition to having at least four scholarships to five in the 2013 class, State is approaching a critical need to recruit some post players in the very near future.
With that said, it would not surprise me if Coach Gottfried could still find a scholarship in the 2012 class for a post player like Amile Jefferson and/or Ricardo Gathers. In fact, just today this article was posted to a college basketball recruiting blog titled, “N.C. State Aiming to Recruit Nationally Under Gottfried”.
The Wolfpack are involved with forwards Amile Jefferson and Ricardo Gathers and guard Torian Graham, a onetime N.C. State commit, all of whom will sign in the spring.
The 6-foot-7 Jefferson out of Philly Friends Central has a list of several suitors, but word on the street is that Kentucky currently has an edge — although it remains unclear by how much.
“Still looking at Ohio State, still looking at ‘Nova, N.C. State, UConn, Kentucky,” Jefferson told Five Star at this week’s City of Palms Classic in Fort Meyers, Fla.
Jefferson does speak highly of N.C. State, where he has already taken an official visit.
“I think they have a great program going there,” Jefferson said. “Coach Gottfried and his assistants are great. Then being able to get those players there and recruit … They definitely have a future. That’s a school on the rise and having those guys [the three recruits] really means something.”
Jefferson also likes how Gottfried employs forwards like C.J. Leslie and Richard Howell.
“Coach Gottfried runs that UCLA system, where they [bigs] do a lot of things,” Jefferson said.
He has a connection to the current recruiting crop, having teamed with Warren at the NBA Top 100 Camp.
“Bringing in those players like T.J. Warren, you know what you are going to get out of those guys, Rodney Purvis,” Jefferson said. “You already know you are going to be able to compete playing alongside those guys.”
He added: “To be honest, that’s what you need to win, you need talent. And with a good coach like that and [those] talents, it a good key to success.”
As for the 6-8 Gathers, a rugged power forward from Reserve (La.) Riverside nicknamed the “Bayou Bull,” Gottfried and the N.C. State staff got working on him late because they weren’t hired until April. He then committed to St. John’s over the summer before decommitting.
Still, Gathers currently lists N.C. State along with Duke, Florida, LSU, St. John’s, Cal, USC and Baylor.
“I want to reassure myself of where I want to be,†Gathers told Naples News at City of Palms. “I just want to make sure I look at all my options. I wanted to re-evaluate everything.â€
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