The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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44 ■ THE WOLFPACKER man, you got to come, NC State's the spot.'" After finishing his last semester of high school online in May, Dowuona is ready to get to work with the Wolfpack and currently passes the time by working out and playing video games before he's able to move to Raleigh once students are allowed back. "I think the ACC is the best conference in the country," he said. "I'm just looking for- ward to playing against the toughest teams in the country and also getting to learn from Coach Keatts." Hometown Product Farrar Brings Best Of Both Worlds Listed in his recruiting profile as the na- tion's No. 31 power forward and No. 149 overall recruit, the three-star Farrar won't be limited to a traditional, back-to-the-basket style of play. Not shy to physicality with his stocky 6-6, 230-pound frame, the Apex, N.C., na- tive has the agility and ball skills that make his on-court DNA equal parts guard and forward. "I don't think it matters where you put me, I'm going to be productive wherever," Farrar said. "Three, four, one or two posi- tion, I think I can shoot the ball well, I can handle the ball, and I can get inside and post up well." A growing trend among Keatts' recruits, Farrar's on-court versatility gives the fourth- year head coach another Swiss-army knife that is able to produce from the perimeter and in the post. The hometown prospect averaged 21.9 points and 7.8 rebounds per game his senior year at Apex Friendship High. He has developed confidence playing in informal pickup games against current ACC players with local ties such as Georgia Tech forward Moses Wright, a product of Enloe High; and NC State preferred walk-on guard Chase Graham, a former standout from Ath- ens Drive High in Raleigh. Farrar also noted he has already absorbed knowledge from older players such as Wolfpack forward D.J. Funderburk, a rising fifth-year senior who has developed a strong relationship with his future teammate. "D.J. loves the way I play and thinks I can shoot the rock," said Farrar, who shot 40 percent on three-point attempts in his senior season of high school. "He's been like a big brother the way he gives me advice when- ever we've played pickup. He's been there for a couple of years now, so he knows what it's like to compete in the ACC." Keeping company with college-level ath- letes that understand the rigors of competing in the ACC, Farrar has developed a mature outlook on his upcoming transition. "It's a different level going from high school to college," he said. "Everything's important now, like the way you study film. You have to pay attention to who you're playing each night now." Farrar's networking hasn't been limited to players his senior. He talks regularly with the other members of the 2020 class and has already crossed paths with most of them on the court. For him, it goes as far back as playing travel basketball for Team Carolina with Hayes in the third grade. "Cam and I have known each other since we were babies," he explained. "Shakeel and I met a year and a half ago. Our re- lationship has become great and we talk almost every day. We're both into fishing, so he'll tell me how many fish he caught and we'll make a competition out of it." Former Wake Signee Gibson Stays Close To Home Gibson, along with Farrar, is the second incoming local freshman in the 2020 class from Apex, N.C. The most recent of the group to sign with NC State, the nation's No. 43 power forward had originally inked with in-state ACC rival Wake Forest but requested a release after a coaching transition was made there in April. Power forward Nick Farrar is the third member of the class to hail from North Carolina and be ranked among Rivals' top 150 prospects in the land (No. 149), along with No. 73 Cam Hayes and No. 112 Shakeel Moore. PHOTO BY JACEY ZEMBAL NC State basketball head coach Kevin Keatts has filled out his coaching staff, after a few positions came open this offseason. Replacing Takayo Siddle at assistant coach will be Mike Summey from Bowling Green. Summey has been an assistant at Bowling Green for the past five seasons. Un- der head coach Michael Huger, Bowling Green has become one of the top teams in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) the last two years, finishing 12-6 in league ac- tion in each of those campaigns while making a MAC title game appearance in 2019. Summey is a 1997 NC State alum who worked as head manager and then a graduate manager for then-head coach Herb Sendek. Summey then went about working up the coaching ladder. He started as an assistant at St. Francis (Pa.) from 1999-2003 before moving to Queens University in Charlotte for a season and then The Citadel from 2004-06. Next came a stop as an assistant coach for North Florida for three years, before he took the head coaching job at Bethany College, a Division III institution in West Virginia, for the 2008-09 season. Despite losing four starters, the Bison went 17-12 overall and 9-3 in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference. Summey was then hired as the director of basketball operations at Miami from 2009-13 under the Hurricanes' current head coach, Jim Larranaga. That's the same position current Pack assistant James Johnson held from 2015-17. After his stint at Miami, Summey returned to St. Francis (Pa.) for two seasons before taking his current job at Bowling Green. Summey will take the spot va - cated by Siddle, when he became the head coach at UNC Wilmington. One of Siddle's hires at UNCW as an assistant was Travis Hackert, who was Keatts' director of operations at NC State. Replacing Hackert will be longtime coaching veteran and well-traveled Steve Snell. Like Keatts, Johnson and assistant coach Roy Roberson, Snell has deep ties to the state of Virginia. He is a native of Radford. Snell also served as an assistant coach under Greg White for five seasons at Marshall, the last three with Keatts also on the bench. Snell spent last year as an assistant coach at Ohio, and before that he worked at Denver, Santa Clara, Air Force, Louisiana-Monroe, East Tennessee State, UNC Greensboro, Wingate and Radford during his three decades in the profession. Snell's assistant director of operations will be Chris Zupko, who has been the co - ordinator of basketball operations at Drexel since 2016. Zupko was once an assis- tant coach for Keatts at Hargrave Military Academy, and he got his start in coach- ing at Roanoke College in Virginia, adding to the ties to the state on Keatts' staff. Between working for Keatts at Hargrave and joining Drexel, Zupko worked at the Hoop Group, a scouting service/camp based in New Jersey. — Matt Carter Kevin Keatts Fills Out His Staff With NCSU Alum As New Assistant