NC State men’s basketball coach Sidney Lowe landed another big time recruit yesterday in DeShawn Painter.  Our good buddies (I have no clue if they even know we are alive) over at Wolfpack Hoops have the details.  This does not come as a surprise to me, and haters be damned because Sid is doing a terrific job bringing in recruits.  This coming season is looking better and better each day to me.

Yesterday, Brandon Costner announced that he will enter the NBA draft pool.  Also leaving the team will be Trevor Ferguson, a redshirt junior, who is hanging up his sneakers for good.

The Ferguson move does free up a scholly, but most of the good post players are already committed.  Of course, John Wall is still out there, but who is he going to feed the ball to if he plays in Raleigh?  Other than Tracy Smith, the post is completely void.

Well that did not take long.  Mere days after trimming his list to four schools, DeMarcus Cousins, regarded by some as the #1 recruit in the 2009 class, has committed to play for Memphis.  That crashing sound you hear is the hopes of Wolfpack Nation at being relevant in 2010.

Hat Tip to Wolfpack Hoops, a blog I was previously unaware of, for tipping us off about DeMarcus Cousins leaving NC State on his short list.  While a lot of Wolfpack Nation has been pining for John Wall, Cousins is a much more important piece than Wall.  While both are likely one and done guys, Cousins would fill the void at center, and could push the Pack’s recruiting class to top five territory.  Fingers.  Crossed.

Here are some quick hitters for today:

The AJC’s Terence Moore sits down with John Smoltz and tries to figure out what is wrong with the Braves.  Funny, he mentions the failed attempts to add Peavy, Burnett and Furcal, but does not mention Griffey.  He even mentions Andruw Jones like the Braves failed to bring him back, when in fact he refused a minor league deal because the Braves would not guarantee him playing time in the Majors.  The true gems are from Smoltz though.  Someone is pretty bitter about the breakup.  I just can not figure out why he only mentioned Griffey once in this article without stating any details at all though.

Steven at Section Six breaks down NC State’s win over UVA on Saturday.

Tar Heel Fan tries to figure out what is wrong with Carolina (we can call them Carolina because we are talking about basketball) after the loss at Maryland.

The guys over at TalkingChop discuss the Braves’ addition of Garret Anderson.

The Good Phight takes a look at the roster that could have been, but I’m guessing they are okay with the one that actually is.

So, anyone heard anything about former NC State basketball star Julius Hodge?  Word out of Australia is that he walked out on his team over a cash flow issue.  More after the jump. Continue reading ‘Jules Da Quitter?’

We already know that John Wall and Derick Favors both visited NC State on the same weekend, and were both in attendance at the “Open Practice” at Reynolds Coliseum.  If a lot has happened since then, I do not know about it.  Bob Gibbons seems to have a feeling about Wall, though, and if he is correct Wolfpack Nation will be happy campers when the 6′4″ point guard announces where he will spend his college career.  Hat tip to Alpha Wolf on this one.

Some things just can not be made up.  Hat tip to friend of the Idiot Alpha Wolf for bringing this to light.  Find out what I’m talking about after the jump. Continue reading ‘And We Wonder Why NC State Fans See Black Helicopters – Updated’

Thanks to our good friend Perry for sending us this. It looks like Julius Hodge is giving the NBA another run. Due to Julius taking too long to make a decision, the 36ers of Adelaide have rescinded their offer to Hodge. Why is he taking so long? He’s trying to make the New Jersey Nets.

While we try to stay optimistic for Jules, if he hasn’t made it by now, it’s not looking good. Best of luck, especially since I can drive over and watch the Nets with Perry.