After months of watching and waiting and plenty of trash talk and rumors, State fans finally received a welcomed bit of news in the middle of Dead Week. Jon Ray, a sophomore in turfgrass science, was in class when his phone buzzed. “Pack is baaaacccckkk!” the text message read. “C.J. Leslie just committed.”
What they’re saying on Twitter:
@goREDandWHITE I am SO excited. This is the best recruiting class NCSU has had since Jim Valvano days!
@jajones124 Ryan & CJ are both great individual pickups for Lowe but having the duo TOGETHER in Raleigh is huge for our program!
@spencer_josh With the recommit of CJ Leslie, there certainly is no gray area anymore concerning what Lowe has to do with his team next year. WIN NOW.
@tyjohnson1 I could almost graduate in December, but Leslie has convinced me to stay at least until March.
@Thrill21 Biggest day for NCSU in a long time. Many fans were not being optimistic about him coming but now we can party before exams
@ncsusprtsguy828 I am thrilled CJ chose to stay in Raleigh! I can’t wait to cheer on CJ and the rest of the team!
“It took about every ounce of self control I had not to jump up and start running around the room screaming,” Ray said. “I immediately tuned out the teacher and started texting everyone in my phone book about it.”
The news spread quickly around campus and students made plans to meet up and celebrate this weekend, once classes finished for the semester.
“We’ll celebrate like we just won a championship,” Justin Stiller, a junior in sport management, said. “Since we don’t get many of those anymore.”
Pack fans have been here before. Leslie backed out of his first commitment to N.C. State after his freshman year so he could explore other options. Virginia Pace, a sophomore in business administration, said Leslie’s indecision made the outcome more welcome.
“The high will probably continue until the basketball season rolls around,” Pace said. “Everyone’s excitement is ten times more intense this time.”
Ray isn’t bitter about the extra time it took for his dream recruiting class to assemble. He said stepping back and reevaluating was the right choice for Leslie, and in his shoes, he would have done the same.
“I think it happened when he was young and way before he blew up on the national scene. We weren’t a very good basketball team, and there were a lot of rumors that Lowe wasn’t going to last very long,” Ray said. “State fans were really upset when he decommitted, but if I’m a five star recruit, I’m not going to go to a team that’s a mess. I’d want to explore my options, just like he did.”
Ray compared holding out until the last minute to a strategic marketing ploy, pointing to what John Wall, a rookie at the University of Kentucky and Leslie’s high school teammate at Word of God, did last year.
“If he wanted to get his name out there, that’s fine,” Ray said. “Maybe if Ryan Harrow had hung around a little longer, his rank would have been up there higher. Once you commit somewhere, people stop talking about you.”
The fate of a season – and possibly the job of a coach – is a lot to place on the shoulders of three freshmen, but Stiller said he can’t help but be hopeful.
“Coach Lowe won’t have any excuses after this year,” Stiller said. “I’m optimistic, though. The team is loaded with talent. With him coming and signing, it’s probably going to mark the beginning of the restoration of N.C. State basketball.”
