North Carolina State University Athletics
TIM PEELER: Q&A with Monte Towe
5/26/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
May 26, 2006
Interview with Quentin Jackson
BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH - Monte Towe arrived from New Orleans Thursday at 9 p.m. after a 13-hour ride drive. He brought with him his wife, P.D., his two dogs, the family cat and all their possessions.
He's closing on a new house on June 9, which, by his count, will be the fifth place place he has lived since Aug. 29, when Hurricane Katrina was bearing down on the Gulf Coast.
Towe, newly hired to be a member of Sidney Lowe's coaching staff at NC State, gave up his position as the head basketball coach at the University of New Orleans after one of the most difficult years he's ever had as a basketball coach. That portion of his 28-year coaching career ended when he and the Louisiana State University system agreed on a buy-out of his contract, which included a cash payment and a contract for the Wolfpack to play three games against New Orleans, two in Raleigh and one in the Big Easy.
Towe was in Florida when Katrina hit last summer, then moved with his team to Tyler, Texas, for the fall semester. They moved back to New Orleans in January, where he lived in a hotel near campus until his home was livable.
Fortunately, when he made the decision to return to NC State, where he was a player for the Wolfpack's 1974 NCAA Championship team, his house sold quickly. "I think you could say that it is a seller's market in New Orleans right now if you have a house that can be lived in," Towe said.
Both Towe and new assistant coach Pete Strickland sat down for a question-and-answer session Friday afternoon with gopack.com's Tim Peeler and several other members of the media. Strickland's interview will be available Monday.
GOPACK: So what has the last month been like for you, since Coach Lowe offered you the chance to return to NC State.
TOWE: We sold our house in New Orleans. They approved the buy-out of the contract on Tuesday night. I have been ready to be here for a couple of weeks, but haven't been able to get it done until now. We found a buyer pretty quickly. It's been a tough time for my wife and for us. When we were driving here Thursday night, she got her calendar out. She went back to Aug. 29 and by the time she got done reading every where we had been, I was tired. It's been an incredible, incredible year. We have moved three or four times. We had finally just gotten settled back into the house when Sidney called and asked me about coming here. We have an offer on a house here and it should go through on June 9.
GOPACK: What happened with the buy-out?
TOWE: I will have to give them some money and Sidney has agreed to play three games with them. When all this started, I didn't think it would be that big of an issue. I thought I would be able to get here quicker.
GOPACK: What is your first priority now?
TOWE: I just sat down to talk with Gavin Grant and I am just now getting to know everybody. Obviously, I hope Sidney [who is still with the NBA's Detroit Pistons] keeps winning. I am just getting to know the rest of the people on the staff, Larry Harris and Pete Strickland. We are still trying to salvage the recruiting that went on this year [by the previous staff]. If they come, we are one team. If they don't come, we are somewhat of a different team. All I really know about it right now is that we are really working to get every one of them here right now. Cedric Simmons' situation is also something we will be looking at. We are getting ready for summer camp and we have kids in summer school. This is getting to be a real busy time for us right now.
GOPACK: After all that you have been through, you are now back in Raleigh and back at NC State. What are your feelings about that?
TOWE: Everything is meant to be sometimes. I was here the weekend after the storm, trying to raise money for the Norm and Joan Sloan Scholarship Endowment. We struggled through this year at New Orleans, moving to Texas and playing there and not having our home court in New Orleans. Then, when Herb Sendek decided to leave, the longer the [search] process went on here, I was going to be involved some how. When Sidney called me and asked me I was interested in being involved in this thing, I didn't hesitate. It was something that just seemed to make sense, because of him. It seems like that storm was sent to New Orleans to get me out of there.
GOPACK: Was it difficult leaving New Orleans behind?
TOWE: Coming here was a no-brainer. I have known Sidney a long time. I was part of the staff here that recruited him. Leaving New Orleans, however, was extremely hard. I had a good team returning next year. The adversity that our team went through last year is probably unparalleled in college sports history. But I wasn't looking to leave there. I had a nice contract. I had a good team returning. I loved the city, but when this came up, it was something I had to take a serious look at. This seemed like the best thing to do, particularly since this was NC State and Sidney.
GOPACK: Why did you have a feeling that you might be involved in the search process?
TOWE: I am a coach. I am an alum here. Lee did the right thing, he went after the coaches that were at the top of their profession. I felt like things as drifted along, that Lee might want to talk to me. I have known Lee since he has been here. We had dinner with him and lot of people from NC State when the Final Four was held in New Orleans four years ago. It was a nice evening to have dinner with a lot of NC State people. When this situation was going on, I felt that sooner or later I was going to be talked to by Lee or Sidney or others who were involved in the job.
GOPACK: Did people wonder why you would want to come back here as an assistant after being a head coach?
TOWE: Everybody has asked that question. I have been an assistant coach a lot in my life, working for Coach [Norm] Sloan and Eddie Biedenbach and Flip Saunders. Just the ability to come back here and be on Sidney's staff was too good to pass up. The money was going to be the same. That was important to me. I had a good contract down there. I have got no problem in taking a back seat. I have enjoyed being a head coach. I wish we would have won more games, like every coach. I am going to enjoy working with Sidney, and Larry Harris and Pete Strickland. It was a great feeling to be a head coach, but it is a great feeling to be sitting here right now.
GOPACK: What is your role right now?
TOWE: I am just here to help Sidney and to help NC State. It's his gig. I am sure I am going to be involved in recruiting. I am sure I am going to be involved in practice every day and game preparation and individual skills and talking to them about getting an education. Working with Sidney really excites me. He is a wonderful person. I think he is taking a different step to come here, just like I am. I think I can help him a lot. I have been in coaching since 1978, most of it in college. I know he can help me. This should be a wonderful time here at NC State.
GOPACK: Have you talked to him a lot about style of play and the system he will want to run?
TOWE: That is something you will have to ask him. I know who he is and what his personality is. He likes to let the players go out and play. He played for a great coach in Morgan Wootten [at DeMatha High School] and a great coach in Norm Sloan and a great coach in Jim Valvano. I am sure his philosophies will reflect all those people, plus whatever he has picked up in the 15 years he's been in the NBA.
GOPACK: How do you guys go about minding the ship with Sidney being away?
TOWE: We use the telephone. I think there is a chance Sidney might be in here today. Larry talks to him a lot. Pete talks to him a lot. Those are experienced guys. You have to give them a lot of credit. We are all just trying to hold things together. I did talk to [Detroit Pistons head coach] Flip Saunders when Sidney got the job and he said, `He is going to be with us until we are done playing.' Sidney has a responsibility there and I think everybody understands that. In the meantime, it is our job to be here and make sure the program is in as good a shape as it can be until he get here.
GOPACK: Is that a liability in any way?
TOWE: We will make the best of it. I think `liability' is the wrong word. I think Sidney Lowe being here as the head coach is a real plus. Anything we have to do in the meantime to make sure this program is keeping itself healthy we will do. I can't think of anything about Sidney Lowe that would be a liability.
GOPACK: What do you remember about him from the recruiting process when you were an assistant coach here back then?
TOWE: He was a leader and a winner. He probably had the worst official visit in the history of college basketball. He and Dereck Whittenburg stayed the hotel room the entire time. Whoever their host was didn't take them outside the hotel at all. But we overcame that. They came here any way and the rest is history. He had a lot of excitement about playing basketball. When he was on the floor he seemed to be in control of the game, all the qualities you look for in a point guard. We were very happy to get him here. Thurl Bailey was in that recruiting class as well, and we almost had Dominique Wilkins and Quinton Dailey. They might have screwed the whole thing up if we had added those two guys here. I would have taken my chances.
GOPACK: What are some of the things you are doing leading up to July 1.
TOWE: We are still trying to make an effort to keep the young men we signed in the fall in the program. We are getting our recruiting organized for the summer. We have summer camp coming up. There are a lot of things keeping us busy. That's the way it is when you take a new job - from the time you take the job, you are behind. We are just trying to dig ourselves out. I think Larry is doing a good job in holding this thing together. Pete is very experienced. I am here now and hopefully, I can do my part.
GOPACK: How well do you know Larry and Pete?
TOWE: I know them better now than I did two weeks ago. I knew Larry a little bit from talking to him about scheduling. Pete, I knew who he was, but I hadn't met him until a couple of weeks ago. I think it has the makings of a really good staff.
GOPACK: What's it like being back on campus now, with everything that has changed since you were last here?
TOWE: It's really incredible. The practice facilities, the weight facilities, the RBC Center - it's just incredible what is here now. I still love Reynolds Coliseum, of course. In college basketball these days, you have the haves and the have-nots and I have been with the have-nots for a while in regards to facilities, academic support staff, everything. This has to be one of the best jobs in the country. That is why I am excited to be here. There is no reason here why we shouldn't be one of the top teams in the country.
GOPACK: How much do you think your experience here as a player is going to help you deal with the players here now?
TOWE: I hope it helps a lot. If I didn't tap into that, it would be stupid on my part. I think Sidney and I both can look at guys and say `Hey, we came here and we won a national championship.' I think it speaks volumes for this university and this athletics program that Sidney would come back here and take on this challenge. Same thing for me. I have a lot of love for this place. Dick Dickey brought me here. My dad used to watch Everett Case's teams play in Indiana. Norm Sloan was one of my favorite people of all times. There are a lot of years of sweat and emotion put into the program. I feel like that will be something that will turn out to be very positive.
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