FanHouse kicks off its preview of the top 30 teams today with No. 30: N.C. State. Check back every day for new teams until we crown our preseason favorite Nov. 15.For a coach so firmly seated on the hotseat that the team bench may as well be made of charcoal briquettes, Sidney Lowe has developed an strange habit this preseason.
He's smiling.
A lot, according to his players.
"This year, he's changed," N.C. State power forward Tracy Smith said at last week's ACC Operation Basketball. He's letting us play. He's not whistling as much. ... I've seen a lot more smiles on his face."
If only he could convince Wolfpack fans to follow along.
Lowe is in his fifth year at N.C. State and has yet to appear in an NCAA tournament or finish higher than than ninth in the ACC. In fact, he may best be known nationally for his trademark red blazer, a loud number that looks like it was lifted from Santa Claus' realtor, as anything he's done on the court, at least since helping N.C. State to the 1983 national championship as a player.
Though he's proved better liked by his fans than predecessor Herb Sendek, the effective, but C-SPAN dull coach who preceded him, he's yet to reach the levels of success as Sendek's later years, which included five straight NCAA tournament appearances. At a school anxious to reclaim its spot as one of the ACC's Four Corners, rather than its donut-hole center, and with a new athletic director, there's no time like the present for Lowe.
Which leads us back to that peculiar smile.
"It's because we have a great team," Smith said, explaining his coach's new mannerism. "I'm back, [Javier] Gonzalez is back, the three freshmen are coming in. I think it will be hard to stop any of us."
For the first time in Lowe's tenure, the Wolfpack have enough talent to compete with upper echelon of the league. N.C. State was pegged to finish fourth by the league's media in the preseason, and the 'Pack brought in what will likely be the most impactful -- if not the most talented -- recruiting class in the ACC. Three five-star freshmen, point guard Ryan Harrow, shooting guard Lorenzo Brown and small forward C.J. Leslie, join a team that was, at least for one night, good enough to beat national champion Duke last season.
"I like where we are," Lowe said. "I like our team and the effort we have."
All that talent should mean the Wolfpack will get good in a hurry.
Literally.
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Source: http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2010/10/27/n-c-state-finds-new-lowe-with-pack-of-freshman-talent/
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