TIM PEELER: Getting the Lowe-down on Wolfpack Basketball
7/19/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
July 19, 2006
BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH - Sidney Lowe's education didn't end when he received his diploma from St. Paul's University last month. In fact, every day that passes brings a little bit more knowledge about how things work in the world of college basketball.
"I am learning what to do and what not to do," Lowe said Wednesday afternoon after he gave the keynote address at the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitor Bureau's annual "Power of Teamwork" luncheon. "You have to learn that you can't be natural. If you and I would see someone on the street, you would say hello and maybe have a conversation with that person.
"But you can't do that with these kids and their parents, especially during the evaluation periods we are in right now. You can't talk to them, to their parents or to their coaches. Those are some of the adjustments that you have to make."
Lowe and his staff of Monte Towe, Larry Harris and Pete Strickland are making the rounds on the college basketball recruiting circuit: Nike Camp in Indianapolis, the Peach Jam in Augusta, Ga., and others from coast to coast.
Lowe is going to Las Vegas on Friday to watch another set of players showcase their abilities.
"This month, we will have about four or five days in Raleigh," Lowe said. "Other than that, we will be on the road recruiting." Lowe spoke to about 300 business leaders at the RBC Center, where the first edition of his Wolfpack team will take the floor this fall.
"I am looking forward to playing in this arena," said Lowe, who played his entire career (1979-83) at Reynolds Coliseum on NC State's campus. "I got a chance to see one game here before. This facility is second to none in college basketball. There are maybe seven NBA arenas that are better than this one.
"Maybe."
Lowe should know: he saw them all during his 23 years playing and coaching in the NBA, most recently with the Detroit Pistons. Lowe was twice a head coach in the NBA, with the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Vancouver/Memphis Grizzlies.
"This is one of the things where we have an advantage over other schools," Lowe said. "This is beautiful."
Another advantage the Wolfpack has, Lowe said, is its rich history of success, which began under Everett Case and continued under Press Maravich, Norm Sloan, Jim Valvano and Herb Sendek.
"We also had the greatest player to ever play college basketball, David Thompson, and there is something to be said for that," Lowe said.
Lowe said he is trying to impress that history on his players, who really aren't familiar with much of the school's history. (Redshirt freshman Brandon Costner and sophomore Courtney Fells said in a recent interview that they had never seen the 1983 championship game until Lowe was named the head coach in early May.)
"I think it is something that has been pushed under the rug," Lowe said. "I don't think it has been intentional, we just haven't sat down and thought about it. There are not a lot of teams that have won two national championships, which we have done.
"You don't want to live off the past, but when you are looking at recruits, you have to tell that story."
And that's the message Lowe is taking on the road with him as he continues his coast-to-coast recruiting.
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.