WRAL Sports Fan

North Carolina State University

Lowe looks to put his own stamp on State program

By Jason Jennings

Jun 18, 2009

Sidney Lowe is starting over. At least, that’s how the NC State basketball coach views his fourth season at NC State with his youngest Wolfpack team.

“Yeah, we're going to be young,” Lowe said. “It'll be mostly guys who obviously I recruited." State welcomes a six-man freshman class that has graded near the top ten in some national recruiting rankings. “Impact-wise, I don’t know [what to expect this season], but they’re going to play.”

The Pack loses their top three scorers from last season’s 16-14 squad. State now carries nine freshmen and sophomores. Dennis Horner is the lone player recruited by former coach Herb Sendek.

This offseason, coaches like Tom Izzo and Tubby Smith told Lowe this was his season to put his own stamp on the Pack program. “No question about it,” said Lowe, who has yet to make the NCAA tournament as a coach. “They said, ‘This is where you can make your mark and change things.’ One of them said ‘change the culture.’”

The prize of Lowe’s class is Parade All-America Lorenzo Brown, a 6-5 guard from Roswell, Ga. who can play both guard positions. Lowe described his game as “a little quiet, not vocally but certainly in his play. He might be a little hesitant coming in as a freshman.”

Even though Lowe’s freshman class has credentials, the story of the recruiting season was John Wall of Raleigh Word of God leaving the state to play for Kentucky. Lowe had recruited Wall early, but NC State fell down Wall’s college wish list as the attention on his recruitment grew. “My only thing is I just wanted the best for him,” Lowe said. “I think the media attention came quick, fast and a lot of it. I hate that he had to go through certain things, but I think he’s going to be fine. He’s a good young man.”

Also this offseason, NBA coaches called Lowe to gauge his interest in returning to the NBA as an assistant. “I guess they were just wondering, ‘Are you enjoying what you’re doing?’ But it wasn’t long conversations at all,” he said. Lowe turned them all down, including new Washington Wizards coach Flip Saunders whom Lowe had previously coached with on the Detroit Pistons staff. “I’ve got a few more years on my contract and I’m going to live that out.”

Notes

Farnold Degand’s injured left knee is still bothering him. He took time off from training this offseason. Lowe plans to use Degand some at the two-guard spot in small lineups with Javi Gonzalez or Julius Mays at the point. “Farnold’s knee is going to be crucial for us,” Lowe said….The coach confirms Courtney Fells has had multiple workouts with NBA teams including two with San Antonio. Brandon Costner recently worked out with the New York Knicks, and Ben McCauley will likely seek a professional basketball career overseas…When asked how rival UNC’s 2008-09 national title affects NC State, Lowe declined to comment. “I’m going to stay away from that question,” Lowe smiled. “We got another championship in the ACC. You’re going to try to get me in trouble in here.”