Lowe and Yow to meet at noon today

Sidney Lowe and Debbie Yow are scheduled to meet at noon today to discuss Lowe's future as N.C. State's basketball coach.

Lowe, 86-78 in five seasons, has two seasons remaining on his contract but Yow, the first-year athletic director, has not made any public comments about his status.

Lowe, a popular former N.C. State player, has upgraded the talent in the program but hasn't been able to move the Wolfpack, 15-16 this season, out of the bottom third of the ACC or into the NCAA tournament.

After N.C. State's season-ending loss to Maryland in the first round of the ACC tournament last Thursday, Lowe, 51, spoke passionately about the program and his desire to return for a sixth season.

"This is my school, I love this school," Lowe said Thursday night in Greensboro. "It was my hope and dream to come back here and do something special again."

Under the terms of Lowe's contract, a buyout would cost $900,000, including a $300,000 penalty which was negotiated when Lowe was hired in May 2006 for terminating the deal before the sixth season.

Picked to finish fourth in the ACC in the preseason, N.C. State posted a disappointing 15-16 overall record and finished 10th in the ACC (5-11).

Lowe's first team went 5-11, and finished 10th, same as his fifth Wolfpack team. None of the three teams in between won more than six games in a single ACC season. The Wolfpack has failed to make the NCAA tournament during Lowe's tenure as coach.