G'DAY MATE!: Pack Lands 7'0 Aussie, Jordan Vandenberg

Sidney Lowe got the commitment that he sorely wanted. Seven foot center, Jordan Vandenberg has decided to run with the Pack in a signing that sures up a depleted front line that lost two of its starters (and leading scorers) in Costner and McCauley. We were told three days ago that the 7 footer made the decision to run with the Pack but the news had to be kept quiet until Jordan could reach all of the other schools to inform them.

NC State has been all over Vandenberg in what turned out to be a complicated recruitment of the Australian center who played his high school ball at AIS (Australian Institution of Sports), the same school that produced Australian All-Stars Luc Longley, Andrew Bogut, and Luke Schenscher. Smaller school promised Jordan the chance to the be go-to guy while NC State could only offer him a role off the bench as a freshman. However a role off the bench in the ACC is nothing to scoff at and with an open scholarship and a desperate need for some front court depth, NC State and Vandenberg are the perfect match. Jordan fits the Sidney Lowe model of bringing in high character kids. Just listen to the way big V describes himself: “Attempting to become Elite in All Aspects of life not just basketball, to develop a strong understanding on the Ingredients of Success.” Now does that sound like someone who’s got some drive or what?

The 7footer is tall and long, and although a little thin at 230, Vandenberg supposedly possess the skills to get up and down the floor and is a good finisher with more athleticism than you’d expect from someone of his size. The fact is, if you can land a 7 foot player that has any kind of athleticism what-so-ever, you sign him up. With the state that our frontcourt is in (having no real depth), this is a quality pick-up by Lowe and company. We’ll stay on this situation to bring you any more information that may break, but for now we’d like to welcome Jordan to the Wolfpack family and we look forward to watching him in the red and white.


**Check out these excerpt about Australian players and the AIS..

"While the size of the ball and the height of the hoop doesn't vary, the attraction to Australian basketball players lies in their maturity, according to Bennett. Much of their growth, both physically and mentally, stems from the time many of them spend at the Australian Institute of Sport."

"It's no wonder that more coaches are beginning to recruit more heavily from the Aussie nation, as a majority of the recruiting process has already been performed when coaches arrive to scout players from the AIS. The AIS selects the 14 best players from various provincial teams around the entire country and provides scholarships for them to attend the institute. There, players will work out up to three times a day, play up to 70 games per year, and visit five or six countries to play different national teams before they even turn 19."

Here is the rest of the article. We'd like to thank Jose, one of our loyal readers, for finding this article.
April 26, 2009