North Carolina State University Athletics
Q&A with Sidney Lowe
6/27/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
June 27, 2006
July promises to be a busy month for Sidney Lowe, who will spend much of the month on the recruiting trail. But before packing his bags, NC State's new men's basketball coach took time out to make a guest appearance on NC State's summer TV show, "Inside Wolfpack Sports with Lee Fowler," which airs Saturday's at 12 noon on WRAZ Fox 50. During his interview with Tony Haynes on last Saturday's program, coach Lowe touched on a variety of subjects. Here are excerpts from that interview.
Tony: Has it really sunk in that you're now the head basketball coach at NC State?
Coach Lowe: "Not quite. I think I still see myself as the guy on that 1983 championship team. It's not until people start congratulating me again on being the coach that I realize it. But I'm starting to get used to it."
Tony: During his search for a new coach, Lee Fowler said that you gave him a call, and as a Wolfpacker yourself, you wanted to find out where things were headed. It seems like you were more of a consultant at the beginning of the process. Then you became a candidate. How did that happen?
Coach Lowe: "It was an interesting situation because we were talking about coaches. I was more or less trying to give my input and what I knew about coaches as they were going through the process. It was frustrating to me as it was for Lee that these people (other candidates) couldn't make a commitment. I said to Lee one day that we need to get someone in here who understands what this is all about. Someone who understands the ACC, and what it takes to play down there in that circle with the rivals right down the road. Then we talked about other candidates that might be possible. It was kind of dead from there until we started talking about myself. It was kind of strange how it happened, but it was a good situation."
Tony: What went through your mind when he offered you the job?
Coach Lowe: "I had to take a second to let it digest and sink in terms of what was possible here. It had been 15 years coaching in the NBA and with a very good team in Detroit. But I always knew this was a job that I wanted. I thought I would do it a little later in my life down the road. Obviously, I had to say yes and it was something I wanted to do. It was sort of surprising to me that it was offered. No question about it, I knew I wanted to do it."
Tony: July is a big recruiting month for college basketball coaches and you're going out on the road for the first time. You were a recruited athlete. Thinking back to the guys who were recruiting Sidney Lowe the high school prospect, what makes a good recruiter?
Coach Lowe: "Number one, you have to have someone that you're comfortable with, someone that you trust. At times that's a little difficult to do because you're just meeting a coach and you're not going to spend a lot of time with him. But if he can have that impact on you to make you feel comfortable and make your family feel comfortable, then you'll look at it. I was someone who was sold. Several things attracted me to NC State. One was the plaid jacket that coach Sloan used to wear. Only he could wear it. It was just something about the way he wore that jacket and how he coached his teams. They were always on TV up there in D.C. because of the ACC and the University of Maryland, so I got a chance to watch them. We had guys from my school (DeMatha), Kenny Carr and Hawkeye Whitney to come here and go to school, so I just started to follow them. It was the right situation for me and I knew I wanted to come here."
Tony: How disappointed were you when coach Sloan, Monty Towe and the rest of that staff decided to leave for Florida?
Coach Lowe: "I was very disappointed. He had gained my trust. I wasn't mad at him for leaving; I just wanted to go with him. He had as much to do with my being here as anyone else. Coach Sloan told me he didn't recruit me to be with him, he recruited me to go to NC State and that it was a great university and this was the school for me. That's how I ended up staying here. He had as much to do with that championship as anyone else."
Tony: What was your first impression of Jim Valvano?
Coach Lowe: "I wasn't sure what to think (laughter). He was different, obviously, than coach Sloan, but he was honest. We felt that right away. You could see the excitement in him, and some of his dreams and goals and things he wanted to accomplish. I just felt like he's our coach and I'm a basketball player so I'm going to do whatever he says anyway. Then we started to hear a little more and listen to what he had to say and started to understand him. More importantly, he started to understand us as people and players. It wasn't long before we started to click and get on the same page."
Tony: Here we are in 2006. Are you still amazed by how many people still bring up the 1983 championship game?
Coach Lowe: "I really am. Fifteen years of coaching in the NBA and six years playing, people would see me and come up and talk about the 83 game. That's what is so great about the situation now. It's something that people take with them for the rest of their lives. More impressively, people can remember exactly where they were at that particular time. It was a historical event in their lives that they remember exactly where they were when Lorenzo [Charles] put that ball in."
Tony: Let's talk about your basketball team. I know you've been evaluating your personnel. One of your concerns going into the season will be the point guard position. Engin Atsur is the only guy who has legitimate experience as a primary ball-handler. Are you going to have to do some experimenting at that position?
Coach Lowe: "We'll have to move some guys around. Maybe we'll have to put in some sets where if [Engin] isn't in the game we'll have to take some pressure off some guys at that position. I think we have some guys that can handle the ball, but being a point guard is a lot different. We'll have to put some sets in where we have a two guard front and they don't have to come up and call too many sets. It's more movement, passing and reads and things of that nature. It's certainly a concern, but I think we have some guys who are willing to take on that challenge."
Tony: You talked the other day about how the game has changed both in the pros and college with players who in the old days would have been referred to as power forwards now taking their games away from the basket. It's something NC State has already been doing the last few years with guys like Marcus Melvin and Ilian Evtimov. Do you have some guys coming back that can do that type of damage by creating match-up problems with their ability to go away from the basket?
Coach Lowe: "I think so. I think Brandon Costner is going to be a major factor. He comes in as a `three,' but putting him at that `four' position, a guy like a Dirk [Nowitzki] or a Rasheed [Wallace], will give us a chance to get him involved in some other situations which I won't talk about. He's that type of player that you can run certain sets with."
