Upon first hearing the news that Lorenzo Brown, the headliner of Sidney Lowe’s best recruiting class to date, will not play in 2009, some fans rationalized this may not be all that much of a blow to Wolfpack basketball. After all, some said the team’s 2009 prospects were already less than optimistic, and the freshman combo guard would not likely have found a way to transform a squad that finished in 10th place in the ACC last season and lost three starters into a contender in what is arguably the premier basketball conference in the nation.
How successful this team will be while attempting to replace its top three scorers from a year ago without Brown, a player known most for his scoring ability, is anyone’s guess. One thing for certain is that the pressure for the Pack to be competitive in conference play is now greater than ever, as the team can ill afford another disappointing season, especially not with the fate of three top-notch recruits in the class of 2010 yet to be sealed.
If the other freshmen in this nationally-ranked recruiting class struggle and erratic play from the point guard position persists, the loss of Brown from the 2009 team may very well hurt the program in far more significant and long-term ways than even the most grounded of Wolfpack fans dare to fathom.
While some point out that Brown will now arrive at State at the same time as his high school teammate Ryan Harrow, a five-star point guard in the class of 2010, this may or may not be the case if State is once again an afterthought in the race for the conference title. This is due to the fact that, whether we like it or not, Brown’s enrollment at Hargrave for a year will no doubt reopen his recruitment in the minds of many college coaches. And call me cynical, but I for one cannot help but wonder if his devotion to N.C. State will prove strong enough to make him still want to play for a team whose last trip the NCAA tournament occurred during his freshman year in high school.
Considering the case of C.J. Leslie, a talented 2010 power forward prospect who committed to State as a freshman in high school but de-committed in March, one must consider the possibility that Brown’s future with the Pack may be only slightly more certain than Leslie’s. Leslie is reportedly still considering N.C. State. Once one comes to grip with the reality that Brown may reconsider his options, Harrow’s status is yet another cause for concern. It is widely believed that, based on the closeness of the bond between the two, one of the most appealing aspects of signing with the Pack will be the opportunity to share the backcourt with one of his best friends since elementary school.
The bottom line is that if the past three seasons had not put enough pressure on Sidney Lowe and his team already, the news of Brown’s ineligibility just made the 2009 season that much more important. Should the team utilize what is still a versatile and talented freshman class and receive solid point guard play from someone, we could potentially end next season looking ahead to a young but immensely promising 2010 basketball team. No one knows exactly what it will take to maintain State’s appeal to Leslie, Brown, and Harrow, but it is a safe bet that if the team’s play this season flounders badly enough to discourage more than one member of that trio from coming to Raleigh, year four might very well close the book on the Sidney Lowe era.
