J.J. Hickson - The Saga Continues

On April 19, 2006 Scout.com had the following to say about JJ Hickson:

Ohio State is showing interest in this highly ranked prospect from Georgia. Considered the #20 prospect overall in the 2007 class. Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Florida State, Georgetown, Kentucky, Michigan State, Purdue, South Carolina, South Florida, Virginia Tech, Wake and New Mexico State have offered. He is also listing Arizona, Georgia Tech, Miami (FL), North Carolina, Syracuse and Virginia.

Notice anythings missing from that statement? That is right, NC State was not even on his long list. Fast forward to August 17th, and that very same profile listed the following:

Hickson has a final 7 of Florida, Tennessee, Georgetown, North Carolina State, Arizona, Kentucky and Illinois.

So in a matter of four months, NC State had gone from not even being in the same tournament as the big guy, to sitting at the final table for all the marbles. There is a lot of speculation on just how Hickson got hooked up with Sidney Lowe, and this is what I have read about it.

Now this is an unconfirmed rumor, and all of the details are not clear, but there appears to be the possibility that Shareef Abdur-Rahim had something to do with this recruitment. It's not uncommon for recruits to get calls from NBA players in hopes of swaying their college choice. It is rumored that Shareef did just that, or spoke with JJ in person about playing for Sidney Lowe. When Sidney Lowe was the head coach of the Vancouver Grizzlies, Shareef was one of his players. It just so happens that Shareef went to the same high school that JJ Hickson now attends. Whether or not there was an actual contact between the two, and as to who sparked the interest is unknown at this point. It could be that Hickson liked State but had not been recruited yet by the Pack, and Shareef found out about it and gave Sid a call. It could be the exact opposite. I really don't know, but it is still a fun story to wonder about. Could Sid's NBA experience already be paying off?

No matter what happened, one thing we know for sure is that on October 12th, JJ made his decision public, and he announced that he would be attending NC State University. The fact that a kid this high on all of the recruiting boards would pick State is simply unbelievable. I want to once again point out that he was offered scholarships to Georgetown (infamous for it's success with big men), Florida (the defending national champs), Arizona and Kentucky.

Here is some more insight into JJ Hickson:

Scout.com lists Hickson as the 3rd best center in the 2007 class. He is also listed as a 5 star recruit, and will likely be a McDonalds All American this year.

Rivals.com also has Hickson listed as the 3rd best player in his position, only this time it is at power forward.

JJ is rated as the number 1 player in Georgia. Last season he averaged 21 points, 12 boards and 6 blocks. It will be interesting to see the numbers he posts this year, as he has set his sights high and wants to be known as the best player in the country.

Needless to say, Wolfpack Nation is ecstatic about JJ Hickson putting his faith in Coach Lowe and the future of the program. He mentioned that the style of play that Sidney is selling to recruits was one of the major factors in his decision. When coupled with Ben McCauley and Brandon Costner next year, the Pack actually looks to be forming a presence in the post.

Chris Wright to Georgetown - The Saga Continues

One of the raps on Herb Sendek was that he could not recruit a top flight point guard to come play in his program. All of that chatter died down when he managed to get a verbal commitment from Chris Wright. Chris is ranked as the 6th best point guard in his class (2007) by Scout.com, and as the 18th best shooting guard by Rivals.com. Unfortunately for the Pack, Chris was not impressed with the departure of Herb Sendek, and the state of the program that he left. While I can't blame him for opening his recruitment back up, I was a little disappointed that he did so before even speaking with Sidney Lowe.

Living in Washington, DC, Chris obviously was generating a lot of attention from Georgetown, who he eventually committed to on October 10th. This decision was a little shocking to some of Wolfpack Nation, as on the 6th of October all signs were pointing towards Wright re-committing to NC State. What happened over the weekend to change his mind (if his mind did indeed change) we can only speculate on. One of the factors that it came down to, however, was style of play.

Apparently the thing that attracted him to State in the first place was the style of offense that Herb Sendek was running. My take on this is that if he is in fact a Princeton style point guard, then he isn't a good fit for the program to begin with. It's the very thing that led me to want a change in the coaching staff. Personally, I wish Chris nothing but success at Georgetown, as long as he isn't playing the Pack.

Johnny Thomas - The Saga Continues

On June 15th word got out that Johnny Thomas, a 6'5" 210 lb small forward out of Greensboro Day, had decided to play basketball for Coach Lowe and NC State. Thomas, who is in the midst of a position change from the 2 to the 3 is not ranked at either Rivals.com or Scout.com. He has been mentioned as the best player in his class (2007) for NC, but that is debatable as Tracy Smith has been called that as well.

Thomas is an athletic wing player who is not afraid, or incapable, of going down low and competeing for rebounds and post points. What kind of range he has remains to be seen, but he is known to go on hot streaks in which he drains threes consistently. As the least heralded member of the 2007 class, he has a lot of upside and will likely turn out to be a "Tim Wells" like player.

Unfortunately, there just does not seem to be a lot out there on Thomas to provide more information. I'll update as I come across things. That being said, I think he is a nice addition to the program, and at 6'5" he brings some size to the wing that is greatly needed. His potential to fill in at the 2 is a major positive, especially if he proves to be good defensively.

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...