N.C. State gets trio of top freshmen recruits

A season ago, N.C. State found itself knocking on the cellar door of the ACC, finishing 11th in the conference and settling for a second-round exit in the National Invitational Tournament.

But as a promising recruiting class steps in to bolster the Wolfpack roster, the disappointment of last year has been replaced by an unmistakable buzz.

“This is the first time that we’ve been able to get this type of class, to get in with these type of players,” coach Sidney Lowe said at ACC Media Day. “You hope for one. Two in a year would be great, but we were fortunate and got three really good players.”

Guards Lorenzo Brown and Ryan Harrow and forward C.J. Leslie make up the freshman trifecta that has talent evaluators salivating. All three were Parade All-America selections and can be found scattered among a bevy of top prospect lists.

“I think we got a top-five recruiting class,” senior power forward Tracy Smith said. “C.J., Lorenzo and Ryan, I think those are the key pieces to the puzzle that we’ve been missing.”

Smith, an All-ACC second-team member last year, is arguably the team’s top player. The seasoned veteran led the ACC in field goal percentage and placed in the top 10 in rebounds and points per game last season — and he could improve on those numbers in his final collegiate season.

“I’ve been in the weight room working hard,” Smith said. “It’s been a very productive preseason for me.”

Other returning starters include senior point guard Javier Gonzalez, who led the team with 129 assists last season, and sophomore forward Scott Wood, who averaged 7.8 points per game.

Sophomores DeShawn Painter and the towering 7-foot-1 Jordan Vandenberg are expected to battle for the starting center role — a position that Smith was forced to occupy at times last year.

The power forward also carried much of the offensive burden, scoring nearly a quarter of the points on a team that averaged the second-fewest points per game in the conference.

Lowe will need his newcomers to make an instant impact, as he is widely considered to be on the hot seat. In ACC play, he’s gone 20-44 and the team hasn’t finished higher than tenth in the conference in the four seasons that he has coached.

But for those fresh faces, he knows that there will inevitably be an adjustment period.

“They’re freshmen, and they are going to take their lumps,” Lowe said. “They’re going to win some and they’re going to lose some.

“The good thing about this group now, is the three freshmen are getting a lot of the recognition, and these guys are pulling them in and saying, ‘Hey this is how we do it. This is how we’re going to do it.’”