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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

January 10, 2011

Sidney Lowe

THE MODERATOR: We have with us now NC State coach Sidney Lowe. If you could, a few comments about your team and we'll open it for questions.
COACH LOWE: We are coming off of a good win against Wake Forest. We are striving to improve and get better.

Q. Was wondering if I could get you to talk about the prevalence of quality big guys in this league. The reputation is that by the time a big guy gets any good, he leaves for the NBA these days. But the league has got Jordan Williams, Tyler Zeller, Reggie Johnson; it seems like a lot of teams are getting it done with big guys. Can you address that?
COACH LOWE: Yeah, I mean, it's a very important part of your team when you have the ability to establish something inside with a big man. Not only will you get scoring, but you feel like you get your rebounding, you get fouls, which puts pressure on the defense, and you know, it's a huge asset to have a big man, and we do.
We have a couple. We have some in this league that are very talented players, and you have to worry about every night, but it's definitely an asset to have a guy that you can go to.

Q. A couple of weeks ago after a game, I think it was the Arizona game, you were talking about how the backboards, they have to take it; somebody has to take responsibility at point guard. Seems like you have had a lot more consistency since then. Can you just talk about the last few weeks, the back and forth, correspondence you've had with your point guards and do you feel like they are starting to turn the corner?
COACH LOWE: Yes, I think they both are getting better. I think they both are doing well. I'm not going to say settling into their positions or their roles, but they are. I think that where we are, especially there's a lot of talk about Ryan Harrow and starting, but he never talks about it, at least not to me. He plays his role right now and he comes in, he does what he has to do to help this team win, and Javier is getting better. We talked about getting off to a good start and he's done that the last couple of ball games in helping out and pushed the ball a little better.
I'm very pleased with our point guard play right now. And it's going to take both of those guys to play well for us. It's going to take both of those guys to be ready to go and to provide some direction out there and keep a push going. But I'm very pleased with both of them right now.

Q. Obviously the schedule gets much more difficult this week with a couple of road games. Just talk about the upcoming schedule and the difficulty you face, the challenge ahead.
COACH LOWE: It's very tough. We know that, playing on the road and being in the ACC, playing on the road is very tough. You know, hopefully we get a taste of it being at Wisconsin, being at Syracuse and being at a neutral site against Georgetown.
Hopefully we'll be able to handle that and really be able to concentrate on our jobs and what we are trying to do. But it's always new when you go into a new build, especially with freshmen who have not seen it yet; it's an adjustment.
It's a difficult thing. Hopefully we can go up to Boston College and play well and stay within our game and do what we are supposed to do and try to carry out our game plan. Hopefully we can come out of there with a win.

Q. With Ryan, you talked about how absolutely tiny he was when you first saw him and started recruiting him. What allowed you to get past that when you were watching him?
COACH LOWE: I think it was his ability, his confidence. He has great confidence in himself and in his game, and then just watching him do some of the things that he was doing, there are not a lot of guys that could do it. There are not a lot of guys that can handle the ball the way he can and do the things that he can do. I just thought he would be a special player for us some day.
And I feel the size was an issue with some people, but I just didn't let that bother me from what he can do. I think so many times, we look at players and we look at the negative side of them and what they can't do and what might be a problem, but we fail to look at the positive things they bring to the table. I try to look at the positive things, as opposed to looking at his lack of size being a problem.

Q. I know you've talked about the immediate bond that you guys struck when you first started talking and getting to know each other. Can you sort of describe the connection that you felt with him early, and how it is now?
COACH LOWE: Yeah, it was -- I don't want to say it was strange, but it was something that happened right away. His smile when we saw -- when he smiled, he had this big smile. You know, that right there attracted me because it just looked like a good kid. I watched him play and how he played the game. And we just became close.
You know, once we started recruiting him, we talked all the time, or we contacted each other when we could. It was just always good. Just always good, whenever he would call me, and that was one thing that was good about it was when I couldn't call him, he might call me.
And so we got to talk, and we just clicked right away. I know when he said, when we offered him that early, and no one else did and people talked about his size being a concern, he felt some loyalty there, because we believed in him before he became the Ryan Harrow that people saw his junior, senior year. So we had a bond there.

Q. You know we don't handle weather well down here. Any plans to leave early, or when is your schedule to leave for Boston?
COACH LOWE: Yes, we are going to leave a little early. We were scheduled to leave today at 3:00, but we are actually heading to the airport right now. We are going to try to get up there to hopefully beat the weather.

Q. And what Boston College team do you expect to see? They have some curious Ivy League bosses and also some wins on their schedule.
COACH LOWE: Yeah, those loss, you watch the tape, and it was a little earlier. Right now, they are playing well. Right now, I think they are getting to know each other a little better within the system, obviously, because some of the players have been together for a while. But they are learning where they get their shots and how they have to play.
I think they are a very good team. I think they are a very good team. I think they have great experience. Jackson, Trapani, those guys have been around. They have been in the war. They are playing with great confidence, and Jackson is playing obviously as well as anyone in the conference right now. So we are expecting to come out and play hard, which they always do. So we have to be ready to play.

Q. You guys have a big anniversary reunion coming up in a couple of weeks with all sorts of basketball players coming back. Is there anyone you particularly look forward to seeing, and what does this event mean to you?
COACH LOWE: I look forward to seeing all those guys, I really do. It means a great deal to me because it, again, brings back the history of the past of the program and family, and guys feel welcome. It's important to me; it's important that the players before feel welcomed to be back here and that we want them back here. It's going to be great to see some of my old teammates and guys that played before me and some that played after me. It's good. It's what I'm all about.
This NC State is a family and we have to make sure that we support each other and show the love and let those guys that have gone, gone all of their lives, that we love them here and they are welcome here and that's just the way it's supposed to be.

Q. What do you think it will mean to the players, or do you hope your current players will get something out of having all of these guys around? You will have guys from so many eras. You'll have 80-year-old guys there. Are you hoping your current players can really take in and learning something from their old stories?
COACH LOWE: I do. In fact, at some point given a chance, hopefully these guys will get a chance to talk to them and listen to them. I know Monty and myself, we will educate our kids on who some of these guys are, because they have no idea. But it's important that they know. It's important that they know the guys that came before them and to see these guys coming back; that will tell them what kind of family this is and how we have to be. And I think that will show them, and then they can be proud. They can be proud of being an NC State basketball player and seeing these guys coming back.
THE MODERATOR: Coach, thank you for with being with us today.

End of FastScripts

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