Gottfried makes big splash; Torian Graham chooses the Pack

How fitting is it that our Monday morning topic for discussion was this entry on basketball recruiting?

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“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.

11-12 Basketball Basketball Recruiting Mark Gottfried

49 Responses to Gottfried makes big splash; Torian Graham chooses the Pack

  1. blpack 05/16/2011 at 7:02 PM #

    Hitting the ground running.

  2. mak4dpak 05/16/2011 at 7:06 PM #

    Wow, can’t remember the last time I was so excited about the upcoming basketball season. Look forward to returning to the RBC. But of course I will enjoy my football first, or at least I hope so.

  3. packalum44 05/16/2011 at 7:15 PM #

    Per ESPN:

    “New Wolfpack head coach Mark Gottfried made a splash with his first commitment, ESPN’s Dave Telep is reporting.

    Class of 2012 Super 60 shooting guard Torian Graham pledged to N.C. State on Monday, choosing Gottfried and his staff over Kentucky and Georgetown along with ACC heavyweights Duke and North Carolina.

    Graham joins point guard Tyler Lewis, who committed to the prior staff under Sidney Lowe, in N.C. State’s 2012 class.”

    NC State 2-1 versus Kentucky in recruiting. Let’s go get Purvis and a center now!

    Go Pack!!!

  4. Tampa-Pack 05/16/2011 at 7:19 PM #

    But, but how can little old NC State compete with the blues from the ACC?? I’ve been told by the experts it just isn’t possible….

  5. mafpack 05/16/2011 at 7:22 PM #

    Oh hell yeah! Nice job Coach G, keep on rock’n!

  6. packalum44 05/16/2011 at 7:23 PM #

    We have 3 more spots. Dream scenario is Purvis and who else? A versatile forward, Graham’s WOG teammate TJ Warren perhaps, and a big???

  7. mafpack 05/16/2011 at 7:41 PM #

    C/Pf – Tony Parker

  8. wufpup76 05/16/2011 at 8:09 PM #

    Wow … great job.

  9. Lunatic Fringe 05/16/2011 at 8:23 PM #

    I really like Grant (youngest son of Harvey) is interesting prospect. They are all notoriously good defenders and rebounders.

  10. Wolfy__79 05/16/2011 at 8:41 PM #

    how about a shot across coach k’s bow to start off your career at NC STATE ๐Ÿ˜‰ way to be coach!

    i like the attention he’s giving the 2012 class right NOW. of course, in a perfect world i’d like to see him land a big 2011 guard but i guess we’re past that point already!?!

  11. JEOH2 05/16/2011 at 9:01 PM #

    You can see why Gottfried wasn’t itching to get another guard for 2011…he must have had a good idea as to what 2012 was going to look like…

  12. packalum44 05/16/2011 at 9:03 PM #

    Graham said he felt comfortable right away with Gottfried.

    “He’s like a brother and a coach,” Graham said. “We were on the same page.”

    Read more: http://blogs.newsobserver.com/accnow/gottfried-lands-top-recruit-for-pack#ixzz1MZILKiPY

    Recruiting comes easy for him. In a word: charisma.

    Gottfried: 1
    Turdgeon: 0

  13. StateFans 05/16/2011 at 9:12 PM #

    You could probably give Turgeon a -3 or something for all of the kids he lost.

  14. runwiththepack 05/16/2011 at 9:16 PM #

    I can just see it:
    “Uchebo recommits!”

  15. mafpack 05/16/2011 at 9:19 PM #

    I do have to wonder if this does anything for Graham’s Word of God teammate, Joseph Uchebo who decommitted from us right after MG came on board.

    Anyone think he reconsiders?

  16. mafpack 05/16/2011 at 9:21 PM #

    Well I’d love to edit that post ^^ but IE and Firefox won’t let me… anyway…

    runwiththepack – I like the way you think (obviously) ๐Ÿ™‚

  17. Howler 05/16/2011 at 9:30 PM #

    Wow, for the first time in a long time I am not only excited about Wolfpack basketball, but I also have a real reason to be excited. A little early to be awarding grades, but right now Coach Gott deserves a solid “A”.

  18. wolfonthehill 05/16/2011 at 9:33 PM #

    1 – This is big-time for Gottfried. He’s gonna be a rock star around here if he can keep this up.
    2 – How the hell does he know – on day one – who to call as his top priority? Has he been keeping up, despite being out of the coaching ranks? Or did he get some info from the outbound staff on where to focus?

  19. choppack1 05/16/2011 at 9:57 PM #

    This is great news…Of course, I want my excitement in basketball to take place during the season. Hopefully, it starts now.

  20. Lunatic Fringe 05/16/2011 at 10:34 PM #

    We have had a roller coaster of a Spring, but the momentum has really been picking up since CJ Leslie made his decision. You have to feel good about Purvis now and TJ Warren is now on twitter showing pictures of his pops in action in his NC State uniform. ๐Ÿ˜‰

    It is almost Fab Five-ish the way the kids have started recruiting for themselves. It really only takes a couple to get the ball rolling and Lewis in the ear of some these guys really has helped get us started down the right path.

  21. MrPlywood 05/17/2011 at 2:09 AM #

    There certainly seems to be some momentum building. Get a few talented kids to buy in, and others will follow. UNX and Duke have used that formula for years. Don’t rebuild รขโ‚ฌโ€œ reload.

  22. wolffpride 05/17/2011 at 2:49 AM #

    Well I guess I am guilty of star gazing b/c man am I excited about this class.

  23. wolfmanmat 05/17/2011 at 6:11 AM #

    Love the recruiting, but need a big man soon or we’ll be SOL.

  24. tobaccordshow 05/17/2011 at 6:30 AM #

    Can’t we just get a Plumlee? They apparently grow on trees.

  25. TLeo 05/17/2011 at 6:49 AM #

    I’m not going to let myself get overly excited but everything I see so far from Coach Gottfried and his staff has given every reason to be optimistic and this is another block in rebuilding the program. I think we will see some solid improvement this season and looks very promising for the next year.

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