North Carolina State University Athletics
TIM PEELER: Fowler Assesses State of Wolfpack Athletics
4/13/2008 12:00:00 AM | Pack Athletics
BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH, N.C. After returning from the Final Four last weekend and hosting his charity golf tournament on Monday, NC State Athletics Director Lee Fowler assessed where his department stands coming out of the winter and heading into the heart of spring sports.
Judging by this year, things might not appear to be that promising, with no NCAA Tournament bids for the men’s or women’s basketball programs and no post-season bowl game for football. But looking deeper into the department particularly as those three sports come out of significant transition seasons Fowler sees plenty of reason to be optimistic about the future of Wolfpack athletics.
“We have not done as well, particularly in the big three, as any of our coaches, fans, or I wanted,” Fowler said. “But I also know that we have the right people in place and the facilities in place to be very successful. It can take a little time when you have transitions in programs. Anytime you have a year like this, you can expect the players to work especially hard in off-season, because it also embarrassed them. The staffs and the players will rededicate themselves. They are already doing that.
“Regarding basketball, when I was an assistant coach at the
Fowler reflected on what’s happening in his program with GoPack.com.
GoPack.com: You mentioned that basketball did not do as well as either you or head coach Sidney Lowe would have liked. Where do you think the program goes from here?
Fowler: I was very disappointed with the way the season ended. We were sitting at 15-7 overall, 4-4 in the ACC, No. 42 in RPI, with an excellent chance of going to the NCAA Tournament. Then we just collapsed. We fought hard at times, as we did against Duke at the
GoPack.com: What kind of changes do you expect within the program?
Fowler: In this off-season, there will be some changes made within the basketball office. Sidney is going back to square one, looking at what each member of the staff does to make certain it is the most efficient and effective way of getting things done. He is reviewing all facets of the basketball operation. He was at the Final Four, and, as all coaches do, he talked to people he knew in the business. The good thing about
GoPack.com: With Gavin Grant, the team’s only senior, finishing his career and freshman J.J. Hickson declaring himself for the NBA Draft, how difficult will it be for next year’s team to be successful?
Fowler: Sidney and I talk frequently and, whether J.J. stays or goes next year, everybody has to be on the same page. Giving maximum effort and playing hard every minute you are on the court are going to be the themes for next season. It’s going to be, as much as anything else, getting everyone to play with emotion, total focus and a positive attitude. He expects his players to work hard now so when they start the preseason, it will be about playing aggressively and playing with a lot of heart.
GoPack.com: What things can be done to help the team buy into those themes?
Fowler: We are looking at an international trip to play before the season, around Labor Day. That will give us 10 practice days before the season plus some games to prepare this team for next season, as Duke and
GoPack.com: Women’s basketball had kind of the opposite season as the men’s they started out slowly and finished strongly. How important was that for a team that only had two upperclassmen?
Fowler: Coach [Kay] Yow had probably the youngest team she has ever had. She only had one senior and one junior on her team. The rest were freshmen and sophomores, most of which had never played before. She lost a lot of players from last year to graduation. With her team, it was a growing season. She doesn’t go to the WNIT very often this was only her second time there but it was very important for this team to make the field and do well there, if only for next year. Their future is bright, even though replacing a player like Khadijah Whittington will be tough, but I saw a lot of improvement during the WNIT, especially with some of the younger frontcourt players. Getting stronger and more experienced will be just what they need.
GoPack.com: Given what happened last year, with her leave-of-absence due to her recurrence of cancer, her health is always going to be a concern. Do you anticipate that she will return next year?
Fowler: It was a blessing she was able to be with this young team for the entire season. As she has always said, she will have cancer the rest of her life. It’s just a matter of being able to manage it. She and her doctors were able to do that exceptionally well this year, a testament to her strength. She feels good, expects to coach next year, and is excited about the team for the upcoming season.
GoPack.com: Spring football is underway. Have you had a chance to spend any time watching Coach Tom O’Brien and his team?
Fowler: The improvement from last spring to this spring is tremendous. The players know his system and understand the expectations for their individual position. Coach O’Brien feels good about the progress they have made this year. His organization is phenomenal. No question he has accomplished many goals in his first year on the job: getting everybody to buy-in to the program and moving forward. In Football, you have to have two or three years to get your system in place so players are doing exactly as you would have them do. We certainly are looking forward to great things with our football program.
GoPack.com: Do you believe the transition is now complete?
Fowler: Finally, the last two coaches now have houses here and are moved in. They are part of the NC State community. Coach O’Brien was able to do that pretty quickly, but there were still some of his other coaches that took nearly a year to move their families and get everyone settled here. That just happened here the last couple of weeks. Those things are important, to get their minds here with their spouses and their kids, instead of having them somewhere else. The other part to that is that he was able to keep all of his coaches here. That wasn’t because people didn’t come after them. We dealt with some situations about keeping people. Other schools came after some coaches and the entire strength and conditioning staff. We did what it took to keep them, and he loves that because he likes having that continuity in his staff. That’s a positive going into the spring. We are looking forward to opening up the football season, playing the first televised game of the season against
GoPack.com: Baseball has played the toughest part of its conference schedule and is in the top third of the ACC. What do you think about the state of that program?
Fowler: I continue to hear from people about how great our stadium, Doak Field at
GoPack.com: How about on the field?
Fowler: Coach [Elliott] Avent has taken us to six straight NCAA Regionals and looks forward for the chance to go to another. We knew going into the season that we would have great pitching, but our hitting was suspect. Now, all of a sudden over the last four or five games, we have just been wearing it out. Now we just need to finish strong.
GoPack.com: How about some of the other sports?
Fowler: Our men’s and women’s tennis program continue to improve. The women won at
GoPack.com: What about your goals for the department as a whole?
Fowler: My goal has not changed. I’m committed to building a program that reflects our integrity as a university and as a member of the ACC; a program that recruits and supports successful student athletes on the field and in the classroom. Our focus has been to update our facilities and bring them into that Top 25 category. With the completion of the track complex and softball stadium this year, we feel we have accomplished that.
GoPack.com: You have ACC meetings coming up in April and in May. Are there any big changes on the horizon?
Fowler: There are a lot of things that we will talk about, like whether men’s basketball needs to play 18 conference games, like they do in the Big East, the Big Ten and the Pac-10. Those leagues are already trying to use that against us, saying you can’t compare their conference records to our conference records because we don’t play as many games. The women have already decided to go from 14 league games to 16. We’ll look at the number of conference football games. Now that we play 12 total games, do we need to play nine conference games? Everything will be on the table when we meet. We’ve been a newly expanded league for about three years now, and you always have to look at what is successful and what isn’t. We are open to discussions on all those things.
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
