With the men’s basketball season winding down and the chances of the Wolfpack finishing last in the ACC looking more and more likely every day, Pack fans are turning their attention to talented recruits.
Even though the season has been a disappointment for many fans, the upcoming additions of guards Harrow and Lorenzo Brown are giving some fans optimistic outlooks on the future of Wolfpack basketball. During coach Sidney Lowe’s short tenure, he’s been able to bring in talented recruits like J.J. Hickson and Tracy Smith, and Lowe has already successfully recruited even more talent for next season.
Assistant coach Larry Harris, who has held his position at N.C. State for the past 14 years, said he believes that what State looks for in its recruits is what is making the difference.
“It kind of entails a lot of things: obviously our needs each and every year,” Harris said. “And my thing is to try and get the type of players that coach Lowe wants at the positions we need.”
Harris, who played in the NBA for the then San Diego Clippers, knows the game of recruiting has changed since he first began back when he joined Duquesne University 25 years ago. He said players are very much aware of each team’s current situation, which could be a plus or minus for those teams recruiting the top prep players in the nation.
“I think guys are a lot more aware of recruiting now than they were 25 years ago,” Harris said. “Guys are much more aware of people’s rosters, where they fit and how they fit and those kinds of things.
“I think in recruiting, as a recruiter, you got to make sure you’re going after the guys you need, not just grabbing guys to grab guys.”
When recruiting season is at its peak, coaches are gone for days at a time and spend many summer nights in hotel rooms.
“Now [during the season] the recruiting is more on the telephone and you get out as much as you can to see guys play,” Harris said. “But during the season, with three games a week, it’s hard to do that. In July, you’re gone for 10 days straight. You come in for four days then you’re gone 10 days straight again.”
But it used to be much more grueling on the coaches. Harris said he would be gone for weeks at a time during his early coaching days.
“When I first started doing this, it was 30 days. You went out July 1 and saw your family August 1,” Harris said.
With guards Harrow and Brown and potentially forward Luke Cothron ready to join Tracy Smith and Javi Gonzalez, many Wolfpack fans are expecting something special, and the coaches also feel that way.
“I think it’s the direction that we’re moving in; that class, when Cothron signs, we’ll be a top 10 class,” Harris said. “It was ranked as high as fifth until Luke verbally committed as opposed to signing. And once that’s done, I think it’ll be a top 10 class in the country.”
State’s class of 2010 ranking could move into the top five if once-committed forward C.J. Leslie recommits. Harris said the staff is “extremely interested in him,” but could not comment any further on the matter.
All in all, Harris said recruiting is a unique process that will be slightly different with each new recruit. He said he thinks the most interesting thing that most people don’t realize is the nature of the decisions that he gets to see so many young people make.
“It’s an interesting thing when you are having a 17- or 18-year-old making a decision that’s going to affect the rest of his life, “Harris said. “That’s what we’re dealing with.”
