When Mark Gottfried first took the job of men’s basketball coach for the Wolfpack , a lot of questions were asked — by fans and players.
“Guys want to know how they are going to fit in and they want to believe that we can win,” Gottfried said. “That was our job with these guys. We’ll see how it works out.”
Gottfried took on a job that had a lot of good players, such as forward C.J . Leslie and guard Lorenzo Brown, but they were not able to put it together last season and finished with a disappointing losing record behind Sidney Lowe.
Even with all of the players on the roster having potential, the former Alabama coach believes that the team will still be looking up at teams like UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke this upcoming season.
“The way I get it, we were 5-11 in the ACC and 10th overall. Long way to go,” Gottfried said. “We’re at the bottom of the mountain looking up in my opinion. And that’s okay to be there. That’s where we are now. When I say it’s a long way to go and our guys have taken some positive steps, I’m not just talking about a guy’s ability to make a foul shot.
“I’m talking about a mindset that they begin to understand day in and day out what it takes to be successful.”
The first step many coaches take to change the perception of the University to outsiders is to recruit heavily and recruit players who fit into the system. Thus far, Gottfried has been able to do both since his hire.
With players like Ryan Harrow leaving the school, the Pack was left slim at the point guard position. Luckily, Gottfried was able to find a player who is able to distribute and averaged 13.3 points for Cal State Bakersfield.
Alex Johnson might not be the starter for the 2011-12 season, but having depth at the point guard position will be crucial for Gottfried and co. in the ACC.
“After Ryan [Harrow] left, we felt the need to get another ball handling guard,” Gottfried said. “We wanted to find a player that had graduated with the rules the way they are. He’s a great young guy, he’s a college graduate, he’s got maturity. He’s quick, he shoots it well and he’s got good leadership skills.”
Thomas de Thaey , a 6’8″ 235 lb. power forward will also be joining the Pack. The commit averaged 18.4 points and 6.8 rebounds per game this past season for the Belgium under-20 national team.
“Both guys, Thomas [De Thaey ] and Alex Johnson, both can contribute this year,” Gottfried said. “Thomas is a 20-year-old freshman. He’s a physical guy who can really shoot it. We’re excited about him. Thomas had a lot of options, we were excited to get him. He can be a contributor.”
While he does not believe the 2011-12 season will have any incoming freshman coming in that immediately jump off of the page with their stats or size, the future looks bright.
Two high profile recruits have already committed to the Pack in four-star point guard Tyler Lewis and five-star shooting guard Torian Graham. Lewis has decided to transfer to Oak Hill for his senior season to hone his skills at the point position and Graham will continue with Word of God Christian Academy.
Many coaches would be content with two standout players at the guard positions, but Gottfried knows that it will take a lot more high profile recruits to compete with the talent in the triangle.
“Obviously we’re not allowed to talk about those players that we are recruiting,” Gottfried said. “But it’s a high priority for us to recruit great players who are great people that fit into N.C . State.”
N.C . State Athletics held the press conference immediately following a long recruiting trip for the coach that will continue once again in the coming weeks.
Recruiting may be one of Gottfried’s focal points right now, but he also said that having talent at every position is not the only thing that a team needs to make it to the NCAA tournament. Scheduling the right opponents to earn a strong RPI is also a valuable component to a nationally ranked team.
“The end of the day the goal is to put yourself in position to be in the NCAA Tournament, every year,” Gottfried said. “You may not be good enough in certain years sometimes, but if your team can end up playing well and you get in a position what you don’t want to happen is that your schedule keep you out. We don’t want that to happen.”
While Gottfried clearly believes that the Pack has a long battle to get to the top of the ACC, he has the players to compete in the conference this year.
Players like Brown, Leslie and senior guard C.J . Williams continue to make progress in summer league basketball games and other players are transforming their games by changing the way they work out and eat.
Richard Howell, a junior forward, weighed in at 271 pounds when he first met Gottfried . The native of Marietta, Georgia has already cut down to 250 pounds and continues to impress his new coach.
“He looks different,” Gottfried said. “He has gained self-discipline.”
Gottfried knows that the future of the program lies in the recruits that he is able to bring in for upcoming seasons, but he said in order to answer all of the questions that fans have for him he will have to keep the players at the school and change their mindset to a winning personality.
“The players returning want to win, and they want somebody to help them get where they want to go, which is the NCAA Tournament,” Gottfried said. “What our staff has tried to do is make sure we spend a lot of time with our players and get to know them better. That was something we tried to as a staff.”