Q&A With Basketball Assistant Larry Harris

May 11, 2006

It's been a whirlwind six weeks for Wolfpack assistant coach Larry Harris, who spent 10 years as part of Herb Sendek's staff with the Wolfpack. He went with Sendek for three weeks to Arizona State, but was asked by new Wolfpack coach Sidney Lowe to return to Raleigh when Lowe was hired last week to be the 18th head coach in school history.

Harris' return to Raleigh wasn't without some difficulties. He just sold his house last week, and he had to scramble to find a new place to live. And he's doing the best he can to take care of the operational part of the program until Lowe officially arrives on July 1.

But he maintains constant contact with his new boss and is working with the other members of the staff, associate head coach Monte Towe and director of basketball operations Quentin Jackson, to keep things in order until Lowe arrives.

Harris talked with www.gopack.com's Tim Peeler about remaining at NC State, where he is one of the longest tenured assistant basketball coaches in the ACC.

QUESTION: What is the process right now? Are you in daily contact with Coach Lowe?

HARRIS Yes, we are. In fact, he has called me three times already today. You have to be in close contact when you are looking at doing something this important. You have to be tight.

QUESTION: What kind of contact do the players have with Coach Lowe?

HARRIS He is calling them and staying in touch with them. From our standpoint, it's a process that we have to go through. For Sid, Monte (Towe) and I, the bond we have is coaching. It doesn't change very much. The players and the names change all the time, the technique and methods stay the same. For these kids, it has been an interesting process. They have gone through a lot, but I do feel from that meeting that he had, things are coming back together and I think they will come back together quickly.

QUESTION: What kind of relationship did you have with Coach Towe before he got here?

HARRIS Other than some functions that we had here at NC State, I didn't really know him very well. We played New Orleans to open the season two years ago. I thought he was unbelievable with some of his comments about our team and our staff. Other than that, I haven't much of a relationship with him. Until Sidney takes care of business in Detroit, Monte and the rest of us will be right here recruiting and re-recruiting.

QUESTION: How much of a whirlwind has this been?

HARRIS When you have been in this business, as I have been for the last 21 years, I don't think you consider it a whirlwind. I think you consider college basketball, or football, or track. I think this business has really changed. Each year that goes by is a whirlwind. That is part of the business. Fortunately, I have ended up at a pretty doggone good school with the ability to stay around my family.

QUESTION This will be your 11th season at NC State. That has to make the transition easier for Coach Lowe, having someone on staff with your experience at this school.

HARRIS I hope it makes it a lot easier. I feel blessed. I think Sidney is going to do a really good job.

QUESTION: What was your relationship with him like before he became the head coach?

HARRIS He had worked for a friend of mine named Billy Knight, who was the general manager of the Vancouver Grizzlies and hired Sidney. He is now the GM of the Atlanta Hawks. I had met Sidney a couple of times by going to Chicago (for the NBA pre-draft camp) to see a couple of our players. We actually sat down and had dinner at ESPN Zone in Chicago. I got a chance to see that he is a quality guy. If Billy likes you, I know you are a quality guy.

QUESTION: How different will things be, in terms of style of play, will things be under Coach Lowe?

HARRIS: I don't think this thing is different throughout the country. It comes down to one thing: you have to get really good players and you have to get them to play really hard for you. They will have to play together. I sense all of those things in Coach Lowe. I don't see that changing at all.

QUESTION: What about a recruiting philosophy, in terms of the kinds of players you want to bring in?

HARRIS: We have to get good players. They have to be good kids. We don't want any knuckleheads here. We don't want to be chasing kids to class. We have to get good players, which is the same everywhere. We have to find kids who want to play the style he wants to play. We have talked about that some and he has a pretty good idea of what he wants to do. But the biggest key is to get good players.

QUESTION: What about the Xs and Os of coaching in college versus coaching in the NBA?

HARRIS Sidney Lowe has been in the NBA for 15 years. If you talk about Xs and Os, that's a whole different level of Xs and Os. I don't foresee any problems with that.

QUESTION: Dan Werner, who signed a letter of intent with NC State back in the fall, but has been given a conditional release from that. What is his situation and that of other recruits Larry Davis and Dennis Horner?

HARRIS We talked to everybody involved with that, the coach, the father and I can see where they are coming from. That's fair. Larry Davis is going to be in the same boat. I don't think he is going to be out shopping around like a crazy man, but he is going to take a look at one or two other schools. Dennis has not indicated that as of yet. Those two guys will get a conditional release, which means Sidney will get the opportunity to go in and talk to them again. If they go elsewhere, they would be required to sit out a year.

QUESTION: Does the timing of Coach Lowe's arrival and everything that has happened the last couple of months put you behind a little in recruiting and can you make up that lost time?

HARRIS Yes, we are a little behind, but I think we can make up that time. You have to be a little more focused on the guys that you can get. I don't think you can be out there trying to grab hold of everybody. I think I have a pretty good idea of guys who we were in on before I left.

QUESTION: This staff has four ACC championships and two national titles represented on it, between Coach Lowe, Coach Towe and Director of Basketball Operations Quentin Jackson. What do you think that means to potential recruits?

HARRIS It means a lot to me, I know that. We try to come up with those kinds of things in recruiting all the time so that we can possibly give the kids the feeling that this is a great place. That statement obviously sends that message.

You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.

North Carolina State University Athletics

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