Lowe lures highly recruited Cothron to N.C. State

N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe and assistant Monte Towe lured Luke Cothron with their plan to restore Wolfpack basketball to prominence.

Cothron, a highly recruited senior forward from Red Springs (N.C.) Flora MacDonald Academy, liked what he heard and committed to N.C. State on Friday morning.

He is 6-foot-8 and 215 pounds and also considered Alabama, Connecticut, Florida State and Tennessee.

"Those guys were all in there, but in the end, the common component they didn’t have was Coach Lowe,” Flora MacDonald coach Derrick Bond said. “Just his pitch, his history with North Carolina State, Coach Towe’s history and how they talked about the past and the Pack pride and the history and championships they were accustomed to, and just getting it back to that, they did a great job of selling Luke."

Cothron, who’s originally from Huntsville, Ala., averaged 27 points, 18 rebounds and four blocked shots per game as a junior. He is rated the 57th-best prospect overall in the Class of 2010 by scout.com.

He joins point guard Ryan Harrow of Marietta, Ga., and shooting guard Lorenzo Brown of Hargrave Military Academy in what’s considered a strong Class of 2010 haul for N.C. State.

Brown signed with N.C. State and was set to be a freshman this season but is spending a year at Hargrave to get his grades in order. All-Star Sports analyst Bob Gibbons said he has heard that Brown is playing extremely well this fall, and that Cothron adds to “a very nice class.”

"I think adding him to, I think Ryan Harrow gives them what they need first - a pass-first, true point guard to quarterback the team and run the offense,” Gibbons said. “Lorenzo Brown can play the point, but he’s better off the ball, setting up his scoring abilities, the moves from the mid-range. He is a very complete all-around player.”

Bond said Cothron is versatile enough to play with his back to the basket or facing the basket and is an outstanding rebounder. He said Lowe did a great job selling Cothron on how he would be embraced at N.C. State, and said Cothron enjoyed the atmosphere in Raleigh.

"Every time we went up there for a visit and watched a football game or a basketball game, the atmosphere was just amazing,” Bond said. “It just felt right for him."

Ken Tysiac