Great job citing a poll of 104 State fans as representative of the fan base. I remember reading message boards years ago about N.C. State’s cellar dweller performance, and how there would be nowhere to go but up. Using Bzdelik as a gauge of what could happen when you bring in a new coach is asinine, much like using Wake’s football team from this past year as an indicator of how good Jim Grobe is. That Wake Forest team is plagued by a lack of talent and injuries to key players. Looking at Bzdelik’s resume at Colorado, I’d propose Wake Forest’s athletic director just hired a good friend to be head coach. If a similar hire were made at N.C. State, we’d be known as the Cardiac Pack for different reasons. Saying that at least you’re better than Wake isn’t saying much at all.

Let’s list out some achievements during Lowe’s tenure: A comparable ACC record to Les Robinson, being the first ACC team to ever lose to East Carolina University in basketball, the JJ Hickson fiasco, and boasting one of the worst momentum killing substitution patterns in the league.

Recruiting can mean nothing when you aren’t succeeding with those players. It seems we just don’t have the horses to compete with talent-laden University of Virginia or Boston College, and that every night out seems to turn into a career game for an opposing player. You aren’t matching up against Ralph Sampson, Len Bias, or other ACC greats on the court, and to be honest, this is a pretty lackluster ACC to be playing against. Herb Sendek had pretty good recruiting classes, comparable first 5-year results, and ended up being a consistent “winner” when he wasn’t blowing leads like a gale force wind. But watching him squeak his way into the tournament each year, for less time than the Technician spends proofreading, was just as bad as not going at all.

Sidney Lowe is a great guy. His contributions to State as a player put him in a league of his own, and I wish that he would have found success as our coach, but to blindly accept the “wait til next year” mentality I’ve spent the last 20 years listening to, is burying your head in the sand. I cannot count the number of times I’ve heard the phrase, “We just need to play smarter,” in post game pressers this year.

Wanting to return to the glory days, and actually being able to get there, are two different things. “Like a high schooler adjusting to the college game…” was a great analogy to use, by year six he’d be gone.

Chris Lyerly

Junior, Biological Sciences