We all wanted it. We all knew that it was necessary. We all wondered when it would happen. Well Wolfpack Nation, the time has finally come. Former North Carolina State University basketball player, Sidney Lowe, publicly announced the end of his reign as head coach of the men’s basketball team on Tuesday afternoon. NCSU Basketball was led by Lowe himself for five years as he proudly served his alma mater.
Throughout his time here at N.C. State, Lowe has attained an overall career record of 86-78, not strong enough to hold his status as head coach. Sure, we love Coach Lowe and his radiant red game-day suit, but we would love to hold a win over our rivals heads too.
Wolfpack fans everywhere heard about the news and had similar feelings about Lowe’s resignation. Robert Wheeler, a junior in business administration, feels sorry for Lowe but knows that his resignation is best for the program. Wheeler says he isn’t worried about the search for a new coach, “the ACC is a great conference and I am sure that we can recruit a qualified coach to breathe new life into N.C. State Basketball.”
Bobby O’Brien, an undeclared freshman, said that “…a lot of people are going to be happy because I don’t know a whole lot of people here at State that were big Sidney Lowe fans,” when asked what he first thought after hearing about Lowe’s Resignation. O’Brien is optimistic about Debbie Yow’s search for a new coach and our team’s improvement all depends on who we replace Lowe with; “we have a lot of young people on our team, hopefully they’ll step up.”
Another avid Wolfpack fan; Chris Touchberry, sophomore in technology, engineering and design education; is blatantly honest about his feelings regarding Sidney Lowe stepping down. “I am glad he is gone, but he has awesome passion and loyalty. I was sad to see him leave, but he needed to go.” Touchberry focuses his reasoning on this simple fact, “wins over losses rule the sports world.” He isn’t worried about the search either, claiming that “Yow said herself, she is currently looking at coaches in the NCAA tournament. We have talent. We just need a coach.”
With so many possibilities in front of us, Wolfpack Nation embarks on a search to find our knight-in-shining armor; that coach with the magic touch. Touchberry makes a good point about Lowe’s history with basketball at N.C. State, “some people are good players. Lowe is a player, not a coach.”
With that said, I can’t help but tip my hat at Lowe and thank him for his dedication to the Wolfpack. Despite the numbers, he put up a good fight with those men on the court. He deserves recognition for never failing to give us a run for our money. Lowe kept us coming to games, filling the seats, making bets with rival schools, and biting our nails until the end.
Maybe we won’t have to bite our nails anymore. Maybe we’ll be able to kick back and blow those argyle sweaters off UNC fans and put Duke on our own version of “The F*$% List.” No offense…just rivalry love. Meet us on the court, it’s going down.