The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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78 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BY JACEY ZEMBAL A dding a talented player for the up- coming season in August doesn't occur all that often in basketball recruiting, but NC State did just that when it landed four-star wing Maver- ick Rowan Aug. 2. In an ideal world, head coach Mark Gottfried would have added another recruit during the summer — but class of 2015 center Georgios Papagiannis elected to stay with his professional team in Greece. Regardless, the Wolfpack did well to earn the pledge it did. Rowan picked NC State over the likes of Louisville, St. John's, West Virginia, Wis- consin, UCLA and North Carolina. Rowan joined Whiteville (N.C.) High athletic small forward Shaun Kirk in NC State's class of 2015. "I think Maverick is a great pickup for NC State," said Russ Wood, who is a Florida-based recruiting expert from the Rivals.com network. "He has great size, whether he is used as a big shooting guard or a small forward. This is a guy that can score points in a hurry for you." Rowan's academic situation needed clarity before any school could sign him to scholarship papers. The 19-year-old started exploring the idea of moving from the class of 2016 to 2015 during the spring. He announced June 21 that he was in the process of making that move, and needed to take some summer school classes to pull it off. Some colleges wanted Rowan in either class, while others fell off. NC State sim- ply wanted Rowan, and he knew it. "They have been with me all year and supporting me throughout every decision I made, from reclassifying, and stuck with me the whole way," Rowan said. "I feel NC State is the best fit for me to come in and play right away." Rowan's life essentially did a 180-de- gree change for him to end up in Raleigh. A year ago, he was attending Midland (Pa.) Lincoln Park Charter, playing for the Ohio Basketball Club traveling team in the adidas league and verbally committed to Pittsburgh in the class of 2016. All of that slowly changed for the 6-7, 210-pounder. He moved to Fort Lauder- dale (Fla.) Cardinal Gibbons, and opened up his recruitment. He went on to win a state title, and then played the first evalua- tion period with Ohio Basketball Club be- fore switching to play with Each 1 Teach 1 in the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League. Rowan credited Gottfried and assistant coach Orlando Early for doing an impres- sive recruiting job on him. Early started the process with Rowan during the 2014 July evaluation period, and followed up by going to see him last fall. The recruiting relationship grew from there. "He is very supportive and has been a great friend to me this whole year," Rowan said. NC State has a gaping hole on the wing due to the premature departure of combo guard Trevor Lacey, who turned profes- sional and signed with a pro team in Italy. West Virginia transfer Terry Henderson, sophomores Caleb Martin and Cody Mar- tin, and freshman Kirk and Rowan will be the new core at the two wing spots, which are interchangeable on offense. Rowan averaged 28.5 points, 7.0 re- bounds and 4.0 assists per game last sea- son and earned first-team Class 5A all- state honors. Rivals.com recruiting analyst Eric Bossi, who rated Rowan as a four-star prospect and the No. 43 overall player in the class of 2016, claims NC State has added a confident offensive player. "He is one of those players that I clas- sify that he 'feels the leather' category. All he really needs to decide whether or not to shoot it is if the ball feels like leather is in his hands," Bossi said. "There is some- thing to be said about guys with that kind of confidence." Lacey averaged 15.7 points, 4.6 re- bounds and 3.5 assists per game last year, while shooting 39.2 percent from three- point land. Rowan might not duplicate those numbers a freshman, but the Wolf- pack will collectively try to fill that void. "You have Trevor Lacey going pro early and Ralston Turner graduated, so there aren't a lot of shooters on the roster," Bossi said. "To bring in a guy who can stretch the defense, who has already proven him- self on the high school level against high- end competition, that's a huge bonus for NC State." Rowan has also proven to be a winner. He poured in 26 points to lead Cardinal Gibbons (32-1) to a 74-58 win over Tal- lahassee (Fla.) Rickards in the 5A state title game March 28. Rowan averaged 31.6 points per game in the state tournament. Rowan also led his previous high school, Lincoln Park Charter, to the Pennsylvania Class A state title his sophomore year with 37 points in the championship game. He was named first-team Class A all-state af- ter averaging 24.3 points per game. Rowan amassed 2,382 career points in three years of high school basketball. Wood was in attendance for the state Late Summer Boost Four-Star Prospect Maverick Rowan Is Expected To Provide Added Scoring Punch Rowan, a 6-7, 210-pound wing, was rated as the No. 43 overall prospect in the class of 2016 by Rivals.com prior to reclassifying to the class of 2015 this summer. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM