Q&A: Fowler says Lowe has his support

In a story published Saturday in The News & Observer and The Charlotte Observer, N.C. State athletics director Lee Fowler indicated strong support of basketball coach Sidney Lowe, who is 46-40 in his third season. Here is more of what Fowler said last week:

Q: How do you think things are going with the basketball program?

A: We’ve had some ups and downs. We’ve had some injuries. Everybody goes through injuries, but we’ve had some very important injuries. It seems to have happened in football and basketball.

Sidney's working hard. Some of the games he's played, he's been in 35, 37 minutes. The thing I like about him, he’s a plugger. He keeps his head down and he said, 'I'll look up at the end of the season.' That's what you've got to do.

As we know, in our football program we were 2-6 and ended up 6-6, so you can't ever give up. You get on a little roll, and other teams turn around the other way. And this league, you'd better play well every night or you're going to be in trouble.

(Farnold) Degand's playing a lot better. That's a very important piece to this, because you've got to have somebody that can go out there and compete with the other point guards in the league and not turn it over. . . .You've got to have victories, and that's what we’re looking for.

And I think Sidney, the recruiting class he's got coming in, the future of the commitments are very good. I'm very excited about where the program's come.
We've seen a program like Wake Forest, you can turn it around pretty quickly nowadays if you get the right guys. Because unfortunately guys, some of them are staying one year or two, and then they’re gone.

I’m very encouraged about, one thing Sidney and I talked about in the offseason is getting out and playing hard. They're getting after it, and I think last year, there’s been a lot written about whether it was chemistry or whatever the issue was, they just didn't seem like they went out there and gave it their all. And they're doing that this year. I think he's demanded that from them. And I think that’s the first step.

Then you've got to turn it into some wins. Then you get some confidence, and there's no telling what they can do. So I think that's the biggest thing.

Q: So bottom line, he's got your full support right now?

A: It's a question that shouldn't even be asked. We've got a bright future with the class we've got coming in. When people start asking those questions, it leads people to believe he's not on solid (ground), and heck, he doesn't even have three years here, and it’s been well written by you guys that his first year, we basically let guys leave because if they didn't want to be here, Sidney didn't want them.

Sidney's an N.C. State guy. He wants guys that want to be here. He knows what it takes. I told somebody the other day, we've got two point guards (on the staff). They each won a national championship here. It's well documented. But they know what it takes to get to that level. They did it, and they've been a part of basketball their whole life.

So time is very important. And you've got to give him some time.

Q: Do you believe that a coach should be given at least four years in any program?

A: I'm old school. I believe that if you give him a five-year contract, it's a five-year commitment on both sides. Not just on one side. We made that commitment to Sidney, actually he got six years, and I think you've got to have that for recruits to know the guy's solid. I'm a big believer in that, because otherwise you can’t build a program.