The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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28 ■ THE WOLFPACKER What They're Saying "Moving on from Gottfried is the right move, and doing it now is not an atrocity. … Letting the public know that Gottfried was not going to be able to salvage his job with another March miracle run to bail out a bad season ends any uncertainty about what's to come next." ■ YAHOO SPORTS COLUMNIST PAT FORDE NC State head coach Mark Gottfried was informed Feb. 16 that NC State would fire him, the day after his team lost at home to North Carolina, 97-73, for the fifth ACC defeat of at least 24 points this season. Despite that, he asked athletics director Debbie Yow to coach the remainder of the season — a wish that she granted. "I don't want to quit on my players," he told The News & Observer of his request. A look back at the positives and nega- tives of the coach's tenure: THE MARK GOTTFRIED YEARS BY RYAN TICE " This season and last NC State is a combined [9]-25 in the ACC. Only Boston College is worse. And these strug- gles aren't in the beginning of Gottfried's tenure — they're in his fifth and sixth seasons. … Dennis Smith Jr., who really is probably the most talented player to come through NC State since David Thompson, could be a top-five pick in the NBA Draft. If that happens, no top-five pick in the history of the ACC will have come from a worse team. And the roster is likely to turn over again." — Andrew Carter of The News & Observer ■ First Four Vs. Last Two Category First Four Years Last Two Years* Overall record 92-52 (.639) 31-31 (.500) ACC record 39-31 (.557) 9-25 (.265) Home record 56-19 (.747) 22-13 (.629) PPG for/against in ACC games 68.69/67.35 74.35/81.68 Vs. Top 25 (average margin) 8-24 (-5.0) 4-12 (-10.3) Vs. UNC/Duke (average margin) 4-12 (-6.6) 1-6 (-15.7) Losses by 18 or more (by 24 or more) 5 (3) 8 (5) ACC Tournament Record 7-4 (.636) 1-1 (.500) NCAA Tournament Record 5-4 (.556) 0-0 * Includes the first 29 games of 2016-17 through Feb. 24 MEMORABLE MOMENTS UNDER GOTTFRIED IMMEDIATE TURNAROUND Even though there was talent on the roster, expectations weren't high when Gott- fried took the job. That changed quickly. In the 20 years preceding Gottfried's tenure, the Wolfpack had been to the NCAA Tournament five times with one Sweet 16 appearance and five total wins in the Big Dance. In the coach's first four years at the helm — the best opening stretch for an NC State coach since Jim Valvano from 1980-84 — the Pack reached the tourney each season, won five NCAA Tournament games and reached two Sweet 16s. There is no doubt that Gottfried elevated the program, which might have also led to his downfall — he accumulated enough talent and raised expectations to where two years with no postseason was unacceptable. ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BUBBLE Gottfried took Sidney Lowe's players and did something they were never able to do under the former NCSU point guard — reach the NCAA Tournament. Gottfried was seemingly able to make them buy in with new motivational tactics, including most notably calling enigmatic forward C.J. Leslie "Calvin" to signify a new start. There's an argument to be had whether it wore off as quickly as it started, but there was a stark difference between Lowe's last year and Gottfried's first. Not only was NCSU able to make the tournament, they made noise once there. A pair of Sweet 16 runs while not having higher than an eight seed is impressive. How- ever, how much progress was made between an 11 seed in year one and an eight seed three years later (the only win between was in a First Four game) is a fair question. And there's no debating it went downhill from there. DOWN GOES NO. 1 Gottfried's tenure started well enough that this can have two different meanings — NC State beat No. 1 Duke 84-76 at home on Jan. 12, 2013. It was just the sixth time that the Pack upset the top-ranked squad in the Associated Press poll. The team also knocked a No. 1 seed out of the NCAA Tournament, topping Villanova on March 21, 2015, in its latest appearance to reach its second Sweet 16 under the coach. As of Feb. 24, Gottfried boasted 12 wins against top-25 foes and four triumphs over top-10 competition. Both were the most since Herb Sendek, who piloted the program for 10 years and posted 28 ranked victories, including 14 over top-10 teams, but reached just one Sweet 16 in his five tournament appearances. BATTLING THE BLUE BLOODS For the fan base, this might be more important than any other metric. When Gott- fried beat both UNC and Duke in his second year at the helm, it was the first time that happened at NC State since 2007 (then Gottfried did it again in 2015). During his tenure, Gottfried went 5-18 against his down-the-street rivals, and he even won at Duke earlier this year, NC State's first victory there since 1995. One has to go back to the 2002-03 season for the Pack's last five wins against the blue bloods pre-Gottfried (they actually went 7-27 in those nine seasons, for a winning percentage of .206 compared to Gottfried's .217). In terms of Gottfried's predecessors compared to his mark versus the Tobacco Road rivals, Gottfried went 5-18, Lowe was 3-16 (.158) and Sendek 8-37 (.178). Gottfried's percentage against the two biggest rivals was the highest for an NCSU coach since Les Robinson went 8-18 (.308). RECRUITING RENAISSANCE The Rivals.com database dates back to 2002, and in the 10 recruiting cycles until 2011 NC State landed 11 four-star recruits or better, with a quartet of five-stars and seven four-stars. From the 2012 class that Gottfried shared with former head coach Sidney Lowe (because Lowe secured the commitment of four-star point guard Tyler Lewis, who signed under the new coach), Gottfried landed 14 four-stars or better, with a quartet of five-stars and 10 four-stars (plus he got former five-star Trevor Lacey to transfer in). Although from 2002-10 the Pack had a few high-level recruits turn pro early, only former five-star point guard Ryan Harrow transferred. In contrast, during Gottfried's five full cycles, five of the 14 stud prospects transferred.