We have confirmed that 2009 NC State commit and no. 28 ranked player in the class, Lorenzo Brown, did not qualify academically and will not be attending NC State University next season. He will instead enroll at Hargrave Military Academy, a prep school in Chatham, Virginia. Due to privacy concerns we have been asked to not get into further detail about his academic situation, however, we were assured that Lorenzo is still set on running with the Wolfpack. He will now be re-classified in the class of 2010, joining five star point guard, his god-brother, Ryan Harrow. So what does this mean? What it means is that the backcourt rotation just got a little thinner. Brown was not expected to start right off the bat for the Pack, but would have certainly played a big role off the bench. This turn of events has put more weight on the shoulders of sophomores CJ Williams and Julius Mays, who will both be looked upon to handle the ball more and score. CJ is off to a nice start this summer in the prestigious PRO-Am League, as he's dropped 24, 10, and 15 in his first three games. This will also cause Coach Lowe to get creative with his line-ups. Farnold Degand could very well see more time at the "2" behind CJ Williams. It will also, most likely, cause Williams to strictly play the "2 guard" position and not slide over to small forward as much, putting more pressure on Scott Wood and Johnny Thomas to produce out of that position.
While it will certainly hurt the Wolfpack in 2009, Brown will now have one more year of prep play under his belt, an extra year to improve and mature, and likely 4 years to team up with Harrow instead of 3.
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28 Responses to "Lorenzo Brown To Play at Hargrave in 2009"I was disappointed when I heard it but there are up sides. This may even be better in the long run, Harrow and Brown could be like Corch and Monroe. I also think Farnold is a forgotten man here and will be important. The year he was injured I saw him making 3's; if his lateral movement is better he could be a real spark on both ends of the court.
I do not know how basketball JC regulations work in regards to transfering...Can Lo Brown get things in order the first semester to be back at state for the second semester and play in the ACC season or is it a one year deal?
Not totally a bad thing. Competition is good, but we were def. looking at a log jam at several positions. This will give us a good look at Julius, Javi and CJ. IF they cannot get it done this year then Harrow and Brown should be a lock for our 1 and 2 for 2010. Sid is starting to recruit, now let us see if he can coach.
Lo-Lo, Lo-Lo, hmmmm...not so good, but on the bright side we should have a good idea of what Javi, Julius and CJ bring this season. If they cannot get it done, Sid must hand over the keys to a starting Harrow and Brown next season. Sid is proving he can recruit, but now he is going to have to coach.
"Brown was not expected to start"? Do what?
There's no upside to this. None. We're looking at a 4-12 type season next year, and the staff will be under SERIOUS pressure. I know this blog likes to keep it positive, and I'm all for that, but this is a devastating development.
^ Correct. If you read or listened to the Sidney Lowe summer press conference he basically said that CJ Williams would be the starting shooting guard. This does not mean Brown would not have moved into the starting role at some point, but he was not penciled in as the starting shooting guard.
You can see this as the end of the world, and you can see it as a devastating blow to our program or you could look at it for what it is, a bad break that will be overcome.
Lorenzo coming in a year later, means he'll be a year older. He'll also be coming in with Ryan Harrow, making it a pretty outstanding class as it is...and thats without whoever is added with that last 'ship.
We're not saying this is good news...but what we are saying is that this is not time to jump ship. Coach Lowe will be given a chance to succeed and we are behind him 100% here at WPH.
WPH: you said you would be releasing some pro-am film of CJ is that still going to happen?
As if this whole thing wasn't a cluster... from the very start? Just add the latest coulda, shoulda, woulda, personnel-wise, unto the lenghty and baffling list of personnel setbacks that have already occurred since Lowe's arrival. One more another heaping helping of adversity, and another a burden for this staff to overcome.
Zo may not have started at shotting guard. He MAY have started at point guard or small forward. This is a devastating loss no matter how you spin it. Sid cannot not afford another disaster season.
I have a lot of respect for Coach Lowe over this because if he had wanted to cut corners and win at all costs rather than build a quality program, he could have gotten Brown qualified, somewhere somehow. Then Brown would have struggled in college and the thing snowballed, plus it would be easier to cut corners next time. Lowe has consistently done the right thing when stuff like this comes up, when it would be easy to think short-term and find a magical solution out of thin air. Lowe is a high-character coach, whatever that's worth these days. I know there has to be a lot of pressure on him to do something good next season. You guys ought to try the boxer at the 2 spot, since he can hit threes and it would give you two ball handlers at the same time.
"I have a lot of respect for Coach Lowe over this because if he had wanted to cut corners and win at all costs rather than build a quality program, he could have gotten Brown qualified, somewhere somehow."
Not if Brown failed to graduate from high school, which is the rumor.
Having been on beach vacation for the last 2 weeks (and reading every article on my PDA) reading last nights rumors of ZO not qualifying is an incredibly sobering snap back to reality. Not going into specifics of how this happened I'm sure glad to see that he has found a route that will allow him to still attend NCSU w/o losing a years eligibility and still gaining valuable playing time. I'm sure he has talked to Painter about his time there and from every article Ive read about him, he seemed to really enjoy and grow during his time there.
No doubt Sid was counting on ZO to work into the rotation and really help eat up some mins at the 2/3. This in turn puts much more emphasis on the need for Scott Wood to really contribute this year. Although I'm sure everyone will agree this isnt a good thing, Zo can grow from this and hopefully understand that w/o work in the class room basketball cant happen. I doubt this bothered Harrow one bit considering I imagine he would love to have Zo enter at the same time.
The only positive side I can possibly see from this is the space in scholarships for 2010. This will help fill a large hole when the 09 class graduates. I truly believe Sid cares about his players and he saw this as an opportunity for him to grow as a man on and off the court.
I have no doubt this road bump will make Lorenzo truly appreciate the opportunities that are in front of him. You never really know what you had until it is almost taken away and luckily there is still him for him to reach is goals.
Lorenzo if you read this page know the Wolfpack nation is behind you 100% and will support you and wait patiently until your arrival on campus.
This sad development now gives Scott Wood every opportunity to step up and leave his mark, and will certainly test the leadership of Mays/CJ Williams. We will still have more depth than we've had in a while; the guards are still the X factor. If Wood is truly a deadly 3 point shooter, things should open up for the offense. I hope CJ is up for the 2 guard spot and our point guards can play consistent.
Sorry to hear this, but alas it's all part of the NCAA landscape. Talk to Rick Barnes and he will tell you the same right now.
The one thing I can take from the situation that's different now is that it puts a new emphasis on the importance of bringing Josh Davis aboard- a surprise signee by most folks.
He will need to get into the mix with an opportunity to split minutes with Thomas and Wood at the SF. This will hopefully allow CJ to stay at the 2 and Dennis the 4.
while its true this is going to put a lot more emphasis on Williams and Mays to be leaders my gut tells me that the real X factors are gonna be Javi and Thomas. If Javi can keep up what he was doing towards the end of last season then it'll be great. If he falters, that will put a lot of pressure on Mays. With Thomas, he will be our starting SF, we will need him to use his athleticism to spread the floor and get those tough rebounds. Also we will need Wood to step up and be able to hit some 3's so players dnt double Tracy. This hurts alot but its not impossible to still have a good season. Williams and Mays are gonna be improved players no doubt but watch for Javi in particular to really do well. It's his 3rd season, he knows the ACC, he's played the last 2 years, and now its his turn to be a leader (by his actions). With Thomas, it all comes down to his knee, if he can give a 100% every game then he will be the most athletic player on the team. And not to leave out Degand but he is also battling knee problems but if he can come play 100% and hit some 3's then that would be good. Don't really have much hope from him, he has a lot to prove to a lot of us..
You would think since he was getting recruited since middle school that he would try to get his grades up. This year will be interested with mays cj and scott would filling in the 1 2 and 3 spot. Gonzalez and degand fillin up the back up spot for the 1 and 2 spot i want call this season a lost season yet. 2010 ryan and lorenzo is already a top 10 class,ans pick up hopefully leslie top 5 recruitng class.
I don't want to be negative or anything but I am honestly curious. I'm pretty positive the few times I've posted. Anyways to get to my curiousness
What are the chances that Lo Brown will go to Hargrave and then not come to the Pack?? I mean is he still held to his letter of intent?? Does he have to be out of his LOI? I know he signed so...I'm just curious as to whether or not he still wants to be here, if he's still coming, if he still has a choice?? All of those questions. Sorry I know it's long, but anyone with any SERIOUS or REAL feedback would be helpful.
Whats Ryans Grades situation???? I dont want to have to get use to this!!
I'm pretty sure that any player has the right to choose what ever college they want after a year in prep school seeing as they how didn't qualify in the first place. You can't have it both ways. In this situation, after his one year at prep school, he would be fair game for any college coach that comes knocking. But don't head ache yourself with all of the potential ramifications of that; it's just not worth it at this point. I’m basing this on sheer logic as I don’t believe he technically signed anything if he wasn’t actually qualified.
Wow, this is not a good news item. I'm sure the rumor mill is going to work overtime on this. Why not just announce what happened rather than put the kid through the rumor mill?
Bottom line: next season is the coach's first where losing one guy won't be the difference between 10-6 and 6-10 like it has been for several years now. There are actually players to slide around from position to position, as every ACC team has to do.
We've been hearing about these "combo" guards who can play either backcourt position, so it's time to upsize the combo and score some points.
Meanwhile, a young man's future is on the line, so let's root for him to get back to where he needs to be academically, so he can be successful in college and life. He may look back at this as a turning point, you never know.
You're the only person in the world who thinks Brown would've come off the bench next year. Also, CJ did not score 24 points. Re-read that blog. It was PJ Tucker who scored the points and CJ who had the effort.
I know you won't post this b/c it's not all sunshine and roses and it's something you don't want to hear.
"What are the chances that Lo Brown will go to Hargrave and then not come to the Pack??"
50-50.. all bets are off now. If Lo was still thrilled about coming here surely WPH would've taken the time to say that.
"I mean is he still held to his letter of intent??"
Nope. Got to re-recruit him.
Is he still committed? No.
But this works 2 ways. We could use the scholly on another player, more options for 2010. Seeing as Sid has a list of talent he can make offers to that exceeds available schollies, its not all bad in the long run.
It certainly hurts in the short run, and that's one less player in 2010 with a year under their belt. At least we seem to have some stability with Javi and CJ.
From what we hear, Lorenzo is planning on sticking with his commitment to NC State.
i really, really, really hope so.
Just to clarify my previous post> Did not mean to suggest we'd be better off with another player. Just analyzing the situation. I sincerely hope we have LB on the court in 2010.
NC State is appealing the ruling of the NCAA Clearinghouse. Apparently, State feels Lo Brown should be declared eligible.
This appeal is the reason given for no official comment from NC State at this time.
forgive me for being behind your news curve, but I want to say something about Lorenzo. Altho I watched him play through four years of high school, I have no special insight, except that he has shown himself to be stable and reliable over those four years -- in addition to being one of the two or three best HS basketball players out of Atlanta last year. Very sad that he couldn't get it together academically. Probably not enough Sesame Street as a tot. I truly hope that Hargraves gets him straightened out because he will be a great contributor to the Wolfpack.
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