North Carolina State University Athletics
Degree in Hand, Lowe Settles In
6/15/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
June 15, 2006
Audio: Sidney Lowe Press Conference
By Tony Haynes
Raleigh, N.C. - With the passage of each day, Sidney Lowe is starting to feel more and more like NC State's new men's basketball coach. In fact, he will `officially' be on the payroll starting Monday, June 19th. Initially slated to begin his new job on July 1st, Lowe will be allowed to start earlier after earning his Business Administration Degree from St. Paul's College in Virginia. The actual diploma arrived courtesy of the U.S. Postal Service earlier this week. And now that Lowe has made his mom proud by becoming a college graduate, he can set his sights on actually putting together a basketball program at his alma mater.
"I have my diploma and everything, so that's one thing I don't have to worry about, Lowe said on Thursday. "It was a great feeling. I thought about a number of things I've been able to accomplish in my lifetime and where that ranks. Besides the birth of my kids, winning a national championship and making the NBA, this ranks right up there at the top."
Still on the agenda of obligations is the NCAA Certification Exam, which must be passed before Lowe can actually go on the road recruiting. With the hot and heavy recruiting month of July just around the corner, Lowe says he'll take the open book test in the near future.
Lowe was still an assistant coach with the NBA's Detroit Pistons when he was hired to succeed Herb Sendek back on May 6th. Since then, he's relied heavily on his staff, particularly returning assistant Larry Harris, to hold down the fort.
The learning curve has been steep for someone who has spent the last 15 years coaching in the NBA. In an effort to expedite the learning process, Lowe has talked frequently with a number of colleagues, even the one who runs the basketball empire at Duke just down the road.
"I'm going to be learning the entire time that I'm here," Lowe said. "I spoke with Coach K a couple of months ago. He talked about the learning and how he's still learning. It's because things are changing. Players are changing and styles are changing. It's an ongoing thing."
The main focus in the short-term will be identifying high school players that will be the focus of NC State's recruiting efforts over the next several months. Lowe has also been re-recruiting the high school seniors that Sendek signed before announcing that he would be leaving to take over at Arizona State back in April.
Two of the three recruits, guard Larry Davis and forward Dan Werner, re-opened their recruitment after Sendek's departure. Lowe met with the 6-8 Werner and his family over the weekend.
"We're going to talk some more," Lowe said. "He's actually going to the beach with his mom to relax and get away from it. We'll discuss it and talk and come up with an agreement that we're both comfortable with."
At the moment, the roster Lowe inherits will be short on numbers. The Wolfpack will be losing senior starters Tony Bethel, Cameron Bennerman and Ilian Evtimov, along with underclassman Cedric Simmons, who has opted to bypass the final two years of college eligibility in order to pursue a career in the NBA.
Simmons, a long-armed, athletic 6-9 frontcourt player, now appears to be justified in his decision.
"He really does like NC State, but he had to make a decision based on his situation," said Lowe. "Right now, he's doing pretty well. I've talked to a couple of people in the NBA, and he's actually moving up the ladder to where people are now talking about a possible lottery pick. He's doing well for himself."
With Simmons moving on, Andrew Brackman's status becomes even that much more important. A rising junior, Brackman would be the top candidate to become NC State's man in the middle next season assuming he gets himself healthy and stays committed to playing basketball.
Also a pitcher on the Wolfpack baseball team, Brackman had his baseball season cut short by a hip injury this spring. From all indications, he plans to play both sports again next season.
"I love his enthusiasm," Lowe said. "He's a little down because he wants to work now. Obviously, he can't do that. From all accounts, we're looking forward to him coming back and he's going to play basketball. That's what he said. He's eager to get started as soon as he can get healthy."
Lowe, who was the point guard on the Pack's 1983 national title team, did express concerns about the position he played so well. With Engin Atsur being the only returning player with significant experience as a primary ball-handler, Lowe might have to do some experimenting.
"I think we need some help in the backcourt, and point guard with Engin being the only real point guard," Lowe said. "Obviously, me being biased to point guards, I'd like to have a couple of good ones that we can count on. That's where the recruiting is going to come in. We need to get more depth, no question about it."
NC State will actually have two excellent point guards on the bench next season, but unfortunately, both will be wearing suits on game-nights. One of Lowe's assistant coaches is Monte Towe, who guided the Wolfpack to a national championship nine years before Lowe did.
Both dream of taking NC State to that college basketball stratosphere again.
"We were both able to experience some fun, exciting times," Lowe said. "We both want to get back there. Once you've tasted that, you're hungry for it."
