NC State Recruiting Saga - Preview

When I originally sat down to try to tackle the recruiting saga that has been the past month and a half, I was going to put together one large post on the issue. After compiling more and more information on what has transpired, I feel that it is better served if presented as a series. I am now planning on a three episode attack, but that could turn into a four or five entry set before this is finished. I want to once again stress that I am in no way a journalist, and I am merely putting out the facts and then giving my opinions on those facts. As always, please take my comments to be what they are, the ramblings of an out of place sports fan who is an admitted idiot (unlike the rest of you who simply can not seem to come to grips with it).

In order to be able to put this recruiting class into the proper perspective, it is necessary to reset the hiring of Sidney Lowe and the steps that have been taken to get to where we now sit. The official announcement that Sidney Lowe would be the next head coach of mens basketball at NC State took place at 5:30 in the afternoon, on May 6th. At the time, Sid was working as an assistant coach with the Detroit Pistons, who were the current favorites in the NBA Playoffs.

A July 1 start date was set for Sid to take over the reigns at State. This was because he was not only obligated to complete the post season with Detroit, but also because he had to finish the final steps of his college degree. It should be pointed out that Sid was already working on finishing his degree prior to Herb Sendek leaving for ASU, so it is not like he stutter stepped his way into it once the job was open. Before July 1 even hit, Sid got started working on the NCAA Compliance Exam, which he took and passed sometime in the middle of June. He obviously finished his degree beforehand as well, and the new era was off and running.

When Herb Sendek took the ASU job, he had commitments from three good recruits for the 2006-07 season. Two of those three asked to be released from their commitments and NC State didn't hesitate to allow them to do so. While there was some fishy business going on with at least one of the two (Larry Davis was reportedly being contacted by Seton Hall's assistant coaches while still being bound to his agreement with State. There were no actual infractions, allegedly, because said assistant coaches were not officially members of the Seton Hall team at that point.), to Sid's credit I never heard or read one negative thing about those players.

The new staff was able to keep one of the three recruits, Dennis Horner. Sid also landed Trevor Ferguson and Bartosz Lewandowski. This brought the incoming freshman class for 2006 to a close, and Sidney quickly turned his sights to 2007.

more to come...