Expect youth to be served in Raleigh this season. N.C. State head coach Sidney Lowe looks to parlay the nation’s fifth-ranked recruiting class into success in a weakened ACC. As a result, the media projects the Wolfpack to finish fourth in the conference behind Duke, North Carolina and Virginia Tech.
Lowe’s three new freshmen will likely join returning second-team All-ACC power forward Tracy Smith in the starting lineup.
The vaunted recruiting class is led by athletic forward C.J. Leslie, a former teammate of John Wall who is ranked No. 11 overall in his class by ESPN. Leslie committed very early to the Wolfpack and re-opened his recruitment at one point before re-committing to Lowe. Point guard Ryan Harrow ranks 39th in ESPN’s rankings, and he too will likely start immediately. Shooting guard Lorenzo Brown is also an impressive recruit who took a postgraduate year after high school when he did not meet NCAA academic qualifications.
“You hope for one a year. Two would be great. But we got three great players,” Lowe said. “This is the first time in a long time we’ve had a backcourt with this kind of talent.”
Lowe looks forward to using the new athleticism in his backcourt to run a much more up-tempo style of offense.
“I like to be able to get up and down the floor and let them make some decisions,” Lowe said. “When you look at the teams that usually win, it’s not the teams that play a lot of sets. It’s the team that has players who can create opportunities for themselves and their teammates.”
Smith’s return to the lineup is critical for Lowe. He had a breakout junior year, including a punishing 23-point performance against Duke in the Wolfpack’s stunning 88-74 upset over the Blue Devils last year. That game prompted him to test the waters of the NBA Draft before deciding to return to school. Smith is as excited as anybody about the incoming crop of freshmen, as he will no longer have to shoulder so much of the offensive burden.
“With Ryan Harrow pushing the point and Lorenzo and C.J. on the wings, you might see anything,” Smith said. “Somebody might jump out of the gym.”
Key reserves for the Wolfpack will include last year’s starting point guard Javier Gonzalez—who will likely be pushed to the bench by the new freshmen—and sharpshooter Scott Wood, who set a record for starts by a Wolfpack freshman when he started every game last year.
N.C. State fans will hope that Wood’s record gets broken yet again, as three dynamic new freshmen seek to return the Wolfpack to the postseason.
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