Recruits committed to NC State, Importance of managing the transition properly

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Embattled coach Sidney Lowe received a commitment over the weekend. The N&O has a brief story:

Statesboro (Ga.) High boys basketball coach Lee Hill said shooting guard Jaqawn Raymond is fully aware of the possibility of a coaching change at N.C. State, but is committed to the school.

“He loves the school,” Hill said Tuesday morning. “He really likes it there. This is a chance to play in the Atlantic Coast Conference, which I think has the best college basketball in the country.

“Raymond very much wants to play for Sidney Lowe. It is his program that recruited him. But Raymond is confident that N.C. State is always going to have a good program.“

Additionally, 2012 point guard Tyler Lewis seems committed to the school regardless of who is the NC State basketball coach next season. Packpride’s James Henderson reported this information on 2/25 on their message boards:

“In addition, we get bombarded by people asking what Tyler is going to do if NC State doesn’t retain Coach Lowe. If you will notice, Tyler has not wavered in his commitment to NC State. Let’s be honest, most high elite level players would have de-committed by now.

“In addition, Tyler had opportunities to play for CP3 this coming AAU season but chose to play for Team Loaded. Why? Because he is a very loyal kid! He doesn’t jump from one HS or AAU team to another. The same holds true for his loyalty and commitment to NC State. Whether or not, NC State chooses to make a change in their coaching staff, Tyler wants to attend NC State, providing if they still want him.”

The next few weeks will be very turbulent as Lowe’s departure is officially announced and the coaching search goes into full speed. Let’s not forget that this will be a difficult time for the young men currently on the team and those looking to join the program in the future. Managing this transition with the goal of positioning the next coach to win immediately is critical. The transition from Sendek to Lowe was managed horribly by Lee Fowler(as should have been expected by the people who decided to allow him to handle the process all by himself) and in the end Lowe was handed a total rebuild.

If you don’t remember, then:

-Lowe began his tenure with 6 scholarship players(Trevor Ferguson being one of those, so really 5.5)
-the program lost 4 starters and 5 of its top 7 players from the previous year
-Lowe had only 1 guard on the roster who could handle the ball(E. Atsur) that was graduating after Sid’s 1st year.
-In all, Sidney had 8 scholarships to fill immediately the day he took the job
-Before he could take the job, Sidney had to finish the NBA season and finish his college degree
-Once the announcement was finally made, it was in the midst of a recruiting dead period in the summer

Sidney was setup to fail before he ever took the job. Believe it or not, many universities change coaches and have immediate success. Clemson and Boston College this year are two good examples that illustrate that point.

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42 Responses to Recruits committed to NC State, Importance of managing the transition properly

  1. Pack05 03/08/2011 at 11:00 AM #

    Spot on!!! We lost almost the entire team last time because of the clusterfuk that ensued after Herb took the job in the desert. This time we need to handle this transition with dignity and GODSPEED.

  2. newt 03/08/2011 at 11:04 AM #

    I think even the idea that this coaching search will take a few weeks may be a misconception based on the previous Fowler experience. This time, we may have a new coach before we even get started talking about it.

  3. PackInsider 03/08/2011 at 11:13 AM #

    Correct me if I’m wrong, but Sidney couldn’t even talk to recruits until like a month after he was announced right?

  4. Daily Update 03/08/2011 at 11:15 AM #

    Packinsider: Right. He had to pass the recruiting test and then it was also a dead period. Basically, he didn’t start until June/July when most coaches start in April at their new school.

  5. Sw0rdf1sh 03/08/2011 at 11:30 AM #

    There is a sweet vid of Tyler that shows off some of his skills. Don’t know if you guys have seen it.

    http://www.blip.tv/file/4857951?utm_source=player_embedded

  6. sautz 03/08/2011 at 11:42 AM #

    I’m certain we’ll be able to hold on to most if not all of our recruits. The situation is much different this time:
    – We have a competent AD who will handle the search timely and professionally
    – We don’t have a coach who recruited for a system
    – We have nowhere to go but up from where we have been (unlike last time a coach left and we had a modest streak of success)
    – The next coach most likely will not be an out of left field wtf risky hire
    – Hopefully Lowe will tell the players to stay since he has an interest in this school succeeding whether he is here or not

  7. tann84 03/08/2011 at 11:45 AM #

    This is one of the reasons why I would like to keep Sidney on in a recruiting capacity. I think anyone can admit that the guy got a raw deal when he signed up to coach here. Only 6 scholarship players? Lets not even count the first two years. Reality is it takes time to replenish a roster like that. We expected more after 5 years but I honestly think this is the best we were going to get without hiring any one of the big time coaches that used us for a raise. Sidney still has some things to learn about coaching the college game and the ACC isn’t the place to get your feet wet. Just hope we can bring in a guy with some good upper level experience, keep lowe as an assistant. This team has to learn defense and consistency. They’ll be a real good team in two years if they can do that.

  8. VaWolf82 03/08/2011 at 11:48 AM #

    This is one of the reasons why I would like to keep Sidney on in a recruiting capacity.

    This is one horrible idea that can’t die quickly enough for me.

  9. newt 03/08/2011 at 11:50 AM #

    I think Debbie might actually talk to the players and recruits and their parents and reassure them.

  10. pantherpack98 03/08/2011 at 11:57 AM #

    This will be most unpopular but I hate the coaching carousel in sports and I wouldn’t care if Lowe was kept. With that said, I’ll take whatever Yow deems necessary as the next step. I’m not paid the big bucks to make those decisions. No matter what, I’m just a Pack fan through and through and sometimes change is necessary whether I like it or not.

  11. Par Shooter 03/08/2011 at 11:59 AM #

    I’m not trying to bash the new recruit at all; however, I seriously question the decision to let the current staff dole out a scholarship at this point of the game, especially to such an unheralded player. I would much rather let the new coach have this scholarship available for him to use as he pleases – maybe it would be Raymond or maybe somebody else in this year’s class or next year’s class. Honestly, giving these late scholarships to “sleepers” usually ends up being a total waste of time anyway since they typically transfer out after a year or 2 (yes, I’m looking at you Rouldra, Mejia, O’Donnell, Davis, et al). Honestly the only late “sleeper” that I can recall working out well in the last 15 years is Evtimov. You could possibly make a case for Javi but it’s questionable.

    What will be really funny is if this guy suddenly decides to reopen his recruitment once Sid is removed.

  12. newt 03/08/2011 at 12:01 PM #

    I wouldn’t think there could ever be 100% agreement about anything.

  13. Pack Leader 03/08/2011 at 12:13 PM #

    It may be as important, if not more important, to retain the players already in school to keep some type of talent in the program until the new coach can start hitting recruiting trails. Yes it is important to have some future recruits still on board, but if we loose Brown/Harrow/Wood we will win 5 games next year… (notice I didnt include Leslie). DY will really have to do some convincing to keep these guys together…

  14. Thinkpack17 03/08/2011 at 12:15 PM #

    Par Shooter,

    Ryan Harrow was largely unheralded when he accepted our offer. I think Scott Wood can fit into that category too.

    I wouldn’t mind moving Sid down the line to a talent scout/eval guy. Doubt it will happen though.

  15. Sweet jumper 03/08/2011 at 12:18 PM #

    Lowe wanted to leave with Sloan for FL after his freshman year, but Sloan told him to stay. Corch wanted to transfer when V was canned, but V told him to stay. Hopefully Lowe and the new coach can keep Brown, Harrow and Wood here. My gut tells me CJL is going pro no matter what anybody says to him.

  16. Par Shooter 03/08/2011 at 1:08 PM #

    Thinkpack,
    Those guys were relatively unheralded as high school soph’s or jr’s. This staff and our last one have show some ability to get on guys like this early. That is an entirely different scenario from a guy who is totally unheralded after his sr year of high school.

    My main point was that I would not allow any staff to occupy a scholarship on their way out the door (as is the case here). If the guy were a top 50 recruit with a great offer list then I might consider it but that is far from the case here. Heck, this guy would probably have been available to us a few weeks from now once we have a new head coach and he has done his own evaluation.

  17. Par Shooter 03/08/2011 at 1:11 PM #

    Also, I’d like to reiterate VaPack’s position regarding keeping Lowe around in any capacity. Of all the bad ideas that message board fans have ever hatched, this one ranks right up there. Just an absolutely abhorrent idea that needs to stop even being mentioned. It is never going to happen, nor should it.

  18. Wulfpack 03/08/2011 at 1:19 PM #

    My wish is that we hire a coach that doesn’t need any help in the coaching, or recruiting, areas. Believe it or not, there are guys that can actually do both AND win games. Imagine that.

  19. novawolf 03/08/2011 at 1:21 PM #

    When a coach is let go, he needs to go…immediately. No matter how well intentioned he is, he will always be a divisive force in the locker room and in the program. One can only imagine how uncomfortable it was having Les Robinson around in some capacity and then having him serve as the AD. That had to be brutal. Hopefully we learned.

    Regards the recruits, IMO there should only be those who have signed letters of intent, and those should be freed if they ask for a release after a new coach is on board. As I’m seeing guys commit, marginal guys, I’m wondering how we’re still recruiting more less accepting commitments. We should be in a holding pattern until we know who the coach will be next year.

  20. PoppaJohn 03/08/2011 at 1:23 PM #

    I don’t want to keep any of the current staff – absolutely not. However, I want Yow to treat Sid and Monte with the respect due two guys who love the school as much as any of us. Losing is hurting them as bad as it hurts us, no doubt about it. Maybe even more since they are part of the problem.
    They deserve our appreciation for their efforts, and a dignified departure. But they have to go.

  21. kyjelly 03/08/2011 at 1:35 PM #

    I think it is up to the new coach whether he wants these player’s or not. The player’s as well have to decide if they want to come here with a new coach in place.

  22. steelcity36 03/08/2011 at 1:41 PM #

    Why would Sidney stay at State in a recruiting capacity at maybe $80,000 year? He will go to NBA as an assistant or player evaluater and make triple what we could offer him. Sounds to me like Larry Harris is the one recruiting these guys anyway. I really appreciate what Sidney did for us. He literally jumped on the live grenade that Fowler dropped after pulling the pin and saying “Hey yall watch this!” Lowe didn’t work out in the long run, but no ill feelings toward a guy that stepped up to the plate when nobody else would just to protect an institution he holds high. If he didn’t take the job then we would have been just as good or worse under the other option Monte Towe.

  23. newt 03/08/2011 at 2:12 PM #

    I’m ready to say bye to Larry Harris, who has coached our big men for the past 15 years.

  24. triadwolf 03/08/2011 at 2:12 PM #

    “…But Raymond is confident that N.C. State is always going to have a good program.“

    I once thought that way a long, long time ago! Oh to be young and naive. I sincerely hope he is prophetic.

  25. tvp1 03/08/2011 at 3:08 PM #

    Wouldn’t shock me if Harris was kept on by the next guy.

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