Not as if we didn't already know, but after reading that it's pretty much a given that John Wall ends up at memphis.

5/7/2008 11:41:38 AM

wonder how tyreke evans anouncement will affect that.


a lot of people say he could take over for Rose.

5/7/2008 8:39:38 PM

but he'll be gone in a year so that wouldn't matter to Wall

5/7/2008 9:06:26 PM

Quote :

""I've told people that Memphis was the leader, but I really have everyone in the mix," Wall said. "People do compare me to Derrick Rose, so I put them at the top. However, NC State and all the others are still in the mix.""

Quote :

""NC State has done basically everything they could," Wall said. "I can go to any game I want to, practices and get to talk to the coaches. They have told me what I can do if I can come there. It's just a point of me choosing them as my school if I want to go there. It's going to be a hard decision.""

Sounds like we are still in it and have recruited him very hard. We've probably done everything we can legally do. I hope he listens to mom and chooses NC State.

5/7/2008 9:48:00 PM

that second quote doesn't sound promising at all

5/7/2008 9:49:18 PM

As some of you know we are in the mix for 5* center DaShonte Riley. Scout has the 6-10 220 pounder as their #5 center nationally. Riley attends Detroit Country Day High in Birmingham, Michigan. Clayton Beard also went there. Riley recently revealed a top 5 of Georgetown, Michigan State, Ohio State, Kansas, and what do ya know NC State at the Boo Williams Invitational.

Quote :

""Clayton talks to me a lot about how they want me to come there," Riley said. "I talked to Sidney Lowe...they really want me bad there and want me to visit. I didn't know that Sidney Lowe was an assistant coach for the Detroit Pistons. He has a good personality and coaching style. I just want to get to know him as a person and coach.""

5/7/2008 9:57:11 PM

Yeah we'll probably lose Wall to Memphis and a bag full of money.

5/7/2008 9:57:41 PM

We're like the girl who gives you a key to her apartment and lets you come over whenever you want. You end up eating all her food and getting laid a lot, but you sure as hell don't respect her.

Memphis seems like the dream girl, and NC State just something to screw

[Edited on May 7, 2008 at 10:04 PM. Reason : ]

5/7/2008 10:02:04 PM

Quote :

""NC State is starting to recruit me," Painter said. "I met their assistant coach [Pete Strickland]. he came to my practice. I want to see what their style is and how they play. I want to see how the school is and their environment. I don't have a top tier of schools right now, but I like NC State.""

DeShawn Painter has offers from Ohio State, Louisville, Florida, Virginia Tech, Clemson, and Virginia. Last season he averaged 15 points, 10 rebs, and three blocks per game.

[Edited on May 7, 2008 at 10:12 PM. Reason : ]

5/7/2008 10:11:18 PM

Quote :

"I want to see what their style is and how they play"

please don't let him see this

5/7/2008 10:14:45 PM

Pete Strickland and Sidney Lowe visited with Tristan Spurlock. Here's what Spurlock has to say about State:

Quote :

""NC State has shown a lot of interest," Spurlock said. "I'm a big ACC fan, so I've always known about NC State. I remember back in the day when they had Julius Hodge. They want me on the wing. They can see me being a face-up player because I am so versatile.""

We haven't offered Spurlock yet. He currently holds offers from Georgetown, Virginia, Maryland, Florida State, USC, and Wake Forest. Other schools that are interested are Maryland, UNC, Syracuse, Texas, UConn, and Florida.

[Edited on May 7, 2008 at 10:19 PM. Reason : ]

5/7/2008 10:18:00 PM

if we were to get Wall, it'd only be because of an egregious recruiting violation

[Edited on May 7, 2008 at 10:52 PM. Reason : .]

5/7/2008 10:52:32 PM

Recruiting analysts on Scott Wood after seeing him at the Boo Williams Invitational:

Quote :

"The 6-6 wing can square up with the best of them and let it fly," Rivals.com's Justin Young said. "He'll give the Wolfpack a smart player that will certainly be a threat on the wing for four years.""

Quote :

""This future NC State baller simply might have been the best shooter we saw this weekend," Clint Jackson, also of Rivals.com, wrote. "He's slender and he's not a great rebounder, but he's very effective as a scorer...shooting the ball from long range, really long range, and off the screens from a pull-up standpoint. He creates space really well against man-to-man defense and is a zone buster. He really lit up the scoreboards when we watched him this weekend, and if NC State can get a quick, penetrating type of point guard like John Wall, I think this would make Wood a real weapon for the next level.""

Wood, who this past season was voted honorable mention all-state by the Associated Press, knows he needs to get into the weight room if he is to really succeed at the next level.

Quote :

""I've learned a lot, and I know that I have to get in the weight room and gain a little bit of weight," Wood said. "We didn't come to play in the last couple of games. I think some fatigue set in from the first games. I know I need to get some lower strength in my legs, so I don't get fatigued so early.""

5/7/2008 11:02:12 PM

man, this staff is going big.

i hope they can land some. i'd hate to set out such a large net and miss on everyone.

5/7/2008 11:46:14 PM

A guy posted this on the DePaul board when evaluating players at the GBOA Tournament.

Quote :

"Scott Wood (6'5'') - He's heading to NC State and he impressed me a ton. Against Team Detroit, Wood lit it up for 26 points, including 7-10 from three-point range. If you gave him an ounce of space, the 3 was pretty much automatic. Likes to run screens a lot to set up his shot. Doesn't seem to have the ability to create his own shot, hence the screens. Nevertheless, he's a solid get for NC State."

5/16/2008 10:26:29 PM

^IOW, a role player is going to be our best player once we whiff on all these top recruits.

5/16/2008 11:14:24 PM

spurlock, riley, and painter could also make up a pretty solid core group for us.

I would imagine though that spurlock would be a quick and out guy though like hickson ...

Not a bad thing to have, but a Think we will all be glad that we recruited tracy - 3 years from now.

5/17/2008 9:29:32 AM

John Wall is the #1 prospect in the nation according to rivals which is neat because he was completely unheard of this time last year.

Old news, I know, but I felt someone had to knock the thread off 666 posts.

[Edited on May 17, 2008 at 12:23 PM. Reason : .]

5/17/2008 12:22:39 PM

sweet Memphis gets another baller PG

5/17/2008 12:27:11 PM

5/17/2008 12:56:08 PM

Dashonte Riley committed to Georgetown and Deshawn Painter committed to Florida.

5/19/2008 4:36:11 PM

lol i guess it's favors or bust then for 2009 big men

5/19/2008 4:54:41 PM

lol i guess it's favors or bust then for 2009 big men

5/19/2008 7:40:08 PM

I'm glad we got Tracy Smith. He will be the man in the middle for us in a year or two.

5/19/2008 7:42:47 PM

^^that was pretty much my point

5/19/2008 7:45:59 PM

Good Article on recruiting/the building pressure on Sid:
http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=294453

5/20/2008 4:22:03 PM

i am guessing that this year is going to be another abysmal year for NCSU basketball with no hope in sight.

5/20/2008 4:25:06 PM

http://tinyurl.com/4artwz

This is a listing of the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions Friday Schedule. Lorenzo Brown plays for the World Wide Renegades in Reynolds Coliseum on Friday night at 9:30 pm. You may remember that he challenged us State fans to show up to his games. It would be awesome to have some State fans in attendance.

Quote :

""It would be pretty wild if NC State fans came to see my games [at Gibbons], and that would definitely impress me," Brown said. "Coach Lowe was telling me about Glaxo [on Wednesday], and how Word of God is the defending champs. That would be fun to play them.""

5/21/2008 7:31:42 PM

Reminder, if you are in the Raleigh area please go to the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions when Lorenzo Brown is playing. His team plays in Reynolds Coliseum tonight at 9:30 pm. If you can hit up the games featuring John Wall, Derrick Favors, and C.J. Leslie as well, then please do so and make sure to wear a noticeable amount of NC State gear (hat, shirt, etc.).

http://www.charlotte.com/508/story/636716.html

Elite talent pool filling up again
Basketball prospects ending drought in N.C. recruiting

KEN TYSIAC
ktysiac@charlotteobserver.com

Dave Telep instructed the top players in the state to look around them as they gathered in March for the start of his Carolina Challenge camp at Cary Academy.

He told them that for several years, North Carolina's reputation for producing top high school basketball prospects had diminished. As they prepared to play at a camp that included most of the best 80 players in the state, Telep told them that was changing.

North Carolina hasn't had a McDonald's All-American since Chris Paul in 2003, but that drought almost certainly is ending because elite players are emerging at the state's high schools.

"I don't know how to explain it," said Christ School coach David Gaines, who helped Telep at the Carolina Challenge. "It's absolutely the truth. As a North Carolinian, we take pride in that."

Much of that talent will be on display this weekend at the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions, which will start tonight and continue through Sunday in Chapel Hill, Durham and Raleigh. Over the past several years, the top AAU teams in the nation competing in the tournament have invariably featured out-of-state players.

Greg Oden and Tyler Zeller from Indiana, and West Coast standouts Kevin Love and Brandon Jennings have led teams to 17-and-under championships in recent years.

Now in-state players are coming to the forefront in the tournament for the first time in years. Point guard John Wall of Raleigh, who plays for D-One Sports, is rated the top player in the Class of 2009 by rivals.com.

Mason Plumlee is from Indiana but plays for Gaines at Christ School in Arden, near Asheville, and is making a serious push for McDonald's All-American in 2009 as well.

A 6-foot-11 forward known for his perimeter skills, Plumlee was most valuable player of the Jam Fest in Pittsburgh after leading the Indiana Elite to the 17-and-under title.

Though North Carolina commitment Reggie Bullock of Kinston won't play in Gibbons' event because of tendinitis in his quadriceps, he recently led the CP3 All-Stars to the championship of the Southern Invitational in Charlottesville, Va. Telep, the national recruiting analyst for scout.com, rates Bullock as one of the two best shooting guards in the Class of 2010.

"The state as a whole is experiencing kind of a renaissance of prospects," Telep said.

North Carolina has a long history of producing top prospects even though it doesn't have a city approaching the population of basketball hotbeds such as New York and Baltimore-Washington.

David Thompson brought his legendary athletic ability and a 1974 NCAA title to N.C. State from Shelby. James Worthy of Gastonia and Michael Jordan of Wilmington helped North Carolina win the 1982 NCAA championship for Dean Smith.

Wake County alone had three McDonald's All-Americans in 2001-02 with Anthony Richardson, Shavlik Randolph and Eric Williams.

All-Star Sports recruiting guru Bob Gibbons, who runs the Tournament of Champions, can't come up with a reason for the state's slump, except for the cyclical nature of recruiting. But he said the slump is ending.

Standouts in the Class of 2010 include N.C. State commitment C.J. Leslie of Raleigh and Tashawn Mabry of Rocky Mount.(we've offered Mabry) The Charlotte area has some top Class of 2011 players in Bernard Sullivan of North Mecklenburg High and Vance's Marquis Rankin and Jacoby Davis.

"I think there are bright days ahead," Gibbons said.

The Tournament of Champions still will feature elite players from outside North Carolina. Derrick Favors of the Atlanta Celtics and Juice All-Stars standout Lance Stephenson of Brooklyn are among the top prospects in the Class of 2009.

This year, though, the home state standouts won't be overshadowed.

"As a state, we look really good, '09, 2010 and through 2011," Telep said. "It's going to help the ACC area, and there are enough good players to help the other conferences as well."

5/23/2008 3:26:37 PM

i was there. turnout was terrible. not very many pack fans at all. cj and lorenzo played pretty well. jj was in the crowd but he was watching the other game going on. cj told the few fans that were there thanks for coming after the game was over.

5/23/2008 11:56:50 PM

http://tinyurl.com/5s4hs6

Brown impresses, keeps Pack fans guessing

Lorenzo Brown isn't ready to commit to N.C. State. Yet.

It's easy to see that Brown, a 6-5 guard from Roswell, Ga., and one of the top-rated players in the class of 2009, likes N.C. State. He was beaming after playing Friday night in Reynolds Coliseum, helping the World Wide Renegades Black to a victory over the Illinois Wolves in the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions.

"It was fun. It was fun out here," Brown said after scoring 15 points. "I like it, a lot."

[More:]

While many Wolfpack fans are hoping for a commitment -- hopefully as soon as this weekend -- from a recruit rated the 19th-best player in the class of 2009 by scout.com, Brown isn't quite ready to make it official.

"I don't know. I don't know yet," he said, laughing. "It's kind of hard to decide but I like Raleigh a lot."

Brown plays with a certain ease, confident but not cocky. He handled the ball much of the time for the Renegades, always with an eye for 6-7 forward C.J. Leslie of Raleigh Word of God High, another NCSU recruiting target and a member of the class of 2010.

"I like playing with C.J.," Brown said. "He has a good eye on the court. He can see for a big man."

Another big man and former World Wide Renegades star, N.C. State center J.J. Hickson, was at Reynolds to take in the game. Hickson has entered the NBA draft but has not hired an agent.

5/24/2008 10:10:43 AM

http://northcarolinastate.scout.com/a.z?s=178&p=8&c=1&nid=2896429

C.J. Leslie was bumped up from a 4* to a 5* prospect. He's now rated as the #4 PF in the 2010 class.

5/24/2008 11:57:06 AM

we need to get more people informed of events like this

5/24/2008 12:14:43 PM

Quote :

"John Wall plays at 6:30 at Reynolds...Let's have some support for the hometown kid. There were only like 15 people there to watch Lorenzo and CJ last night."

Hahaha. The internet always fails to organize a good turnout. Memphis will be sick again.

5/24/2008 12:16:00 PM

So when looking at a prospect besides actually watching them on film what do you look for? Measureables, stat line, offer list, star ranking, position ranking, etc.? I think an offer list is pretty telling, but isn't always the best indicator. Stat line is sometimes good, but you also have to consider the competition.

5/24/2008 12:39:20 PM

C.J. Leslie shows up as the #13 overall player in the 2010 class in Scouts rankings. A ton of the Top 15 are already committed. It's pretty amazing how much recruiting has changed in just a few years.

http://scouthoops.scout.com/a.z?s=75&p=9&c=4&cfg=bb&pid=88&yr=2010

5/24/2008 1:03:23 PM

^^All those metrics you just listed are features used in a statistical sampling technique. It's retarded to expect any statistical sampling technique to yield 100% success.

That's why the professionals who actually need to get this right watch the games. If the only way you can assess a recruit is by looking at sampled data, you have to accept that you will be wrong a percentage of the time.

With all that said, I like offer list because it's the consensus of stakeholder experts who have actually seen the guy play. Measurables and stat lines are too noisy, and ratings and rankings are made by non-stakeholders who are never held accountable if they get something wrong.

5/24/2008 3:29:14 PM

Yeah a lot of time I go by offer list b/c most college coaches are pretty good talent evaluators. The only thing is when you have a sleeper that just doesn't get a lot of pub like Chris Lofton or Stephen Curry.

I think Scott Wood will be a good one for us. Yeah he won't be the most athletic guy out there, but we aren't asking him to put out highlight reel dunks like Courtney Fells. We are just asking him to fill it up from long range and eventually be able to put the ball on the floor like Redick eventually did in his final 2 years. Despite what his Scout profile says, he did receive offers from Miami and Virginia Tech. Also I trust that Rick Majerus has a pretty good eye for talent and he offered him. He's really starting to impress a number of scouts and now is rated as one of the Top 150 players in the 2009 class by Rivals. I think if he can put on some muscle he can play the 3 for us. He had a number of decent schools recruiting him. Here's a list of the schools.

Pittsburgh
Purdue
Virginia Tech
Xavier
Butler
Southern Illinois
St. Louis
San Jose State
Western Michigan
Baylor
Dayton
Illinois
Miami

[Edited on May 24, 2008 at 7:17 PM. Reason : ]

5/24/2008 7:15:50 PM

You know what to do. Blow up the comments page with pro-State stuff and negative stuff about Memphis and Kentucky.

John Wall Highlight
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lN7JgF6C4OM

John Wall and Word of God vs. Tyreke Evans and American Christian
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ovPdvzcJWo

5/25/2008 5:05:27 PM

http://www.wral.com/sports/story/2937293/
Story on the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions with highlight vids.

5/26/2008 9:28:59 AM

Quote :

"Wall, who named Miami, Virginia, Duke, Florida State and his home city school of North Carolina State as the schools he's looking closely at, said he will spend the summer in Greensboro working with his AAU coach Dwon Clifton."

5/26/2008 1:05:35 PM

^well that kinda flies in the face of what EVERYONE is saying that kentucky and memphis are our biggest competition

5/26/2008 1:25:46 PM

there's a video of CJ Leslie on that page. based on that video and others i like what i've seen. the staff should get credit for identifying this kid's talent early on and getting a commitment.

5/26/2008 1:28:17 PM

^^maybe he's changed his preferences dramatically or maybe the reporter is just incompetent (I'm leaning towards the latter at the moment)

5/26/2008 1:48:40 PM

http://www.charlotte.com/sports/story/640661.html

Raleigh guard Wall keeps options open
Many area fans hope he will commit to N.C. State
KEN TYSIAC
ktysiac@charlotteobserver.com

CHAPEL HILL --
It should have been automatic.

John Wall knifed into the lane with the ball with his D-One Sports team trailing by two with 25 seconds left in a quarterfinal game of the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions AAU event Sunday.

Wall attempted a layup that could have sent the game against Duke commitment Mason Plumlee's Indiana Elite team to overtime. Wall was the best point guard in the tournament, and great point guards make shots like that.

But with Wall, nothing is as simple as it seems.

Many fans in Raleigh, where he plays for Word of God Christian Academy, want him to commit to N.C. State. He is rated the nation's No. 1 player in the Class of 2009 by rivals.com, and the Wolfpack desperately needs a point guard.

With Sidney Lowe coaching N.C. State and Monte Towe assisting, Wall would have two NCAA champion point guards to learn from. But Wall said he is wide open with his college choices.

"Even though I wouldn't mind being close to home, if there's a school out of state that fits better for me, then I'm going to go," he said.

Others say he could be the next Derrick Rose -- the freshman guard who led Memphis to the NCAA championship game -- but Wall said it's unfair to make that comparison because he and Rose have different personalities.

Those who believe he's leaning toward Kentucky? Wall said that's just because he visited there twice. He mentions Kansas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Virginia as other possibilities, but his list isn't limited to those schools.

He said Duke has shown "a little" interest as well.

So what do we know for sure about Wall? He has breathtaking skills. He accelerates like an elite sprinter and skillfully slithers into the lane to create easy shots.

He is the state's best prospect since Class of 2003 point guard Chris Paul of Lewisville, near Winston-Salem. Wall is more showmanlike than Paul, who recently led the New Orleans Hornets to the NBA Western Conference semifinals.

On Saturday, Wall whipped a 20-foot, no-look pass to Ryan Kelly for a dunk. As the crowd at Cameron Indoor Stadium buzzed, Wall playfully held his index finger to his lips.

"There's something that sets him apart," said scout.com recruiting analyst Dave Telep. "He has the innate ability to get to the basket, be a tremendous athlete and finish with a lot of strength and flair."

Telep said having the nation's best point guard in Raleigh is difficult for everybody. There is pressure on Lowe to land Wall.

Wall will be urged to stay in town, as Paul was when he chose Wake Forest. Though Wall might not stay home, too, he loves to watch Paul because he knows when and how to take over a game and lead his team to a win.

That's something Wall said he needs to learn. Against the Indiana Elite, his layup attempt never got to the rim.

"I saw a lane to get to the basket," Wall said. "And I had a layup, but we missed it, and we didn't get the call. I think I did (get fouled), but the ref didn't call it, so I've just got to keep playing."

Meanwhile, fans in Raleigh and elsewhere will keep wondering what's next for Wall. He is almost certain to be a McDonald's All-America selection, ending a six-year drought for players from North Carolina.

Beyond that, Wall's future is like one of his helter-skelter forays into the lane. There's no predicting how it will turn out.

"They (N.C. State fans) want me to come to their school," Wall said, "but I'm not feeling any pressure."

• Center Derrick Favors -- the top player in the Class of 2009, according to many analysts -- scored 20 points to lead the Atlanta Celtics to a 72-62 win against Team Breakdown of Florida in the tournament championship game. Guard Kenny Boynton, a Duke target, scored 29 for Team Breakdown.

5/26/2008 11:31:22 PM

I've really stopped reading most basketball articles because until something positive happens, it's too painful to watch. Wall's indifference toward our school basically means he's unless we send some benefits his way (memphis type benefits) he's probably not coming here. I wonder who our second and more likely third choice pick ups will be for this class.

5/27/2008 1:43:59 AM

The highs/lows of this '09 class could be amazing:

SUPER HIGH:

Wood/Wall/Brown/Favors

Really High:

Wood/Wall or Brown/Favors

High:

Wood/Wall or Brown or Favors + another

Medium:

Wood/other players that are decent players, but not Wall/Brown/Favors types

Low:

Wood/mid level recruits

5/27/2008 1:54:34 AM

For the top option to happen, all the planets would have to align and then beam down a rainbow filled with colors we've never seen before and possibly chocolate snow. I think for HIGH to happen Wall would have to come with Brown as a package deal, but even that seems like a stretch. The most likely scenario is Medium with a decent chance of low.

I think Wood will be a solid contributor, but if Lowe can't bring in good players and can't win with the players he does end up bringing in, his tenure maybe short.

5/27/2008 2:05:37 AM

We won't get any high player.

5/27/2008 2:08:27 AM

i dont see us missing on brown. i also don't really see us getting wall or favors, though we've been the only school to consistently be in wall's top 5 when he is asked.

5/27/2008 2:13:00 AM