Another top-100 recruit for N.C. State

N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe tapped familiar territory for his second commitment from a top-100 basketball recruit in two days.

Richard Howell, a 6-foot-8, 215-pound rising senior forward at Wheeler High in Marietta, Ga., committed to the Wolfpack on Monday. J.J. Hickson, who was N.C. State’s leading scorer and rebounder as a freshman last season before leaving for the NBA, also played at Wheeler.

“It didn’t hurt that J.J. went there (to N.C. State) and had a very successful season,” Wheeler coach Doug Lipscomb said.

Howell is rated the No. 74 player in the Class of 2009 by scout.com and has been an AAU teammate of guard Lorenzo Brown of Centennial High in Roswell, Ga., on the Worldwide Renegades. Brown, ranked 29th by scout.com, committed to N.C. State on Sunday morning.

Lipscomb said Howell is versatile enough to play small forward and power forward at N.C. State.
Ken Tysiac: ktysiac@charlotteobserver.com