North Carolina State University
Top power forward commits to N.C. State
By PackPride.com Oct 9, 2009
Red Springs Flora MacDonald Academy standout Luke Cothron has reached a decision. He'll be playing college ball for N.C. State.
"Yes sir, I've committed to N.C. State," Cothron confirmed Friday morning.
The 6-foot-8 power forward was headed to school and will provide additional information on his decision later Friday, but did confirm that he had given head coach Sidney Lowe a verbal commitment.
Cothron selected the Wolfpack over Tennessee, Alabama, and UConn among others. He is rated a four-star prospect and the No. 13 power forward in the country by Scout.com. Cothron is generally regarded as a top 60 prospect in the 2010 class.
His team will be participating in the GlaxoSmithKline Holiday Invitational this year.
He is N.C. State's third commitment in the 2010 class, joining guards Ryan Harrow and Lorenzo Brown in what could be a strong class for Lowe.
The 5-11 Harrow is a five-star recruit at point guard, according to Scout.com. Brown, who is 6-4, is a four-star recruit.
State has five freshmen on the team this season. Richard Howell, a 6-8 forward, and DeShawn Painter, a 6-9 forward, were both rated four-star recruits. Scott Wood, a 6-7 wing player, was a three-star recruit.
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Most Recent Comments
RE: Top power forward commits to N.C. State
Ahhh... How does Sidney do it? Every year the "really good players" hype gets louder and yet watching them play is pure agony. Sid is the "Butch Davis" of coaching. 4 and 5 star players don't mean a thing if you can't coach. Sidney is the worst coach I've ever seen. His all time record is horrendous and at State he just plain blows chunks. He should not be allowed to coach in the ACC. I can see him at an unfortunate high school or maybe a juco team, but in the ACC??? That being said... GO PACK!!!
- Posted by shakennotstirred
hey doofus, which 4 and 5* players has he had (besides Hickson who broke every freshman record @ NCSU)? I'm not drinking any koolaid but i'm also not ready to throw him under the bus when he's had no players that gave him the kind of effort they should have and sorry, but you can't make lemonade out of lemons in ACC basketball. You have to have top PG's, Shooters and Rebounders or you WILL LOSE most of your games. This year's class is a STEP in the right direction, the class coming in has some of those pieces.
Until now, Sidney pulled in a good player here and a good player there. But he hasn't been able to assemble his own team until now. Yes, he got a slow start recruiting. He had no ties or connections to high school coaches when he arrived. And he arrived late in the game anyway, thanks to Lee Fowlup's failure of a coaching search. Herb left with his incoming recruits, and Sid came from the NBA, so he couldn't exactly bring any recruits with him.
If we have a bad year this year, we have an excuse. We desperately need an ACC-caliber point guard. It's been like a football team trying to play without a quarterback. We have one for sure next year in Ryan Harrow. If only we could get him a year early!
RE: Top power forward commits to N.C. State
I just hope we survive the upcoming 2009-10 season. If we collapse and only win like 10 games or something, could that sway our 2010 recruits to go elsewhere? Just survive, and bring in more troops next year, and go from there, Pack!
- Posted by TruthBKnown Returns
TBK, lets pull for the football team right now. It is too early in the year to start trying to figure out why the hell we got Sidney Blows for a basketball coach...
True, I usually don't even THINK about basketball until early January, after the last college football game.
RE: Top power forward commits to N.C. State
Ahhh... How does Sidney do it? Every year the "really good players" hype gets louder and yet watching them play is pure agony. Sid is the "Butch Davis" of coaching. 4 and 5 star players don't mean a thing if you can't coach. Sidney is the worst coach I've ever seen. His all time record is horrendous and at State he just plain blows chunks. He should not be allowed to coach in the ACC. I can see him at an unfortunate high school or maybe a juco team, but in the ACC??? That being said... GO PACK!!!
- Posted by shakennotstirred
But how many great players has Sidney gotten before now? It's not like he's been pulling 5-star guys every year and they disappoint? (JJ Hickson didn't exactly disappoint...) It took three years, but he finally unloaded Herb's leftovers and replaced them all.
People need to realize it takes time to right a ship that was so off course as ours. I don't care if we had some decent players last year (Costner, Fells and Big Ben). They were Herb's leftovers and were not built for the uptempo system Sid wants to run. But they were the most experienced, and we kinda HAD to play them. They were our best and worst players at the same time. Some took the night off sometimes.
I really think we're going to see a different style of play this year. If we don't find a PG, we may have to wait until next year before expecting tangible results. But if the three 2010 commitments honor their commitments, and we get one more nice one, this team is going to be stocked next year. We'll have talent AND depth. Be patient, Pack fans! Our day is coming!
RE: Top power forward commits to N.C. State
This would be really good news IF it happens. However, I'm skeptical. We've been down this road before. Twice.
This is a verbal commitment which is better than no committment. But...we are talking about a high school kid who can change his mind at a drop of a dime. It's also good he's local.
It would also be encouraging to see an ounce of coaching this year. Preferably, Coach Low will not have to pull a card out of his jacket with some other coach's game plan on it describing when to change defenses. Hopefully with the past 4 years experience he might have a clue on the "flow" of the game or he'll trust his assistants to make the call.
I'm also not sold on his "recruiting skills". He's definitely the Obama of Basketball in Peace Prize form. I mean no accomplishments thus far, all talk. As a bonus for Coach Low, he does not appear to read a teleprompter.
Landing this fellow sounds like a coup. Hope it HAPPENS. Just think what another coach could do with this player.
- Posted by MarcoPolo
I hope to see better coaching this year, too. Actually, I'm hoping it's a case of "good players make good coaches". Sid had some strange substitutions going on last year. But none of us knows why he did what he did, or what was going on with the players at the time.
I'm willing to wipe the slate clean for Sid and give him a chance. I hope more State fans will.
RE: Top power forward commits to N.C. State
Congratulations to Sidney Lowe, now maybe the Bovines can beat AZ State's JV team....
- Posted by sportznut628
sportstesticle628, you're so full of wit, how do you continue to do it post after post after post.......
TBK.....hilarious!!
i was near crying laughing when i say it too!!!! LOL
Thanks, I have my moments I guess!
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