N.C. State promoted Bobby Lutz to associate head coach of the men’s basketball team on Friday.
The former head coach at UNC Charlotte, Lutz helped first-year Wolfpack coach Mark Gottfried win 24 games and reach the Midwest Regional semifinals of the NCAA tournament this past season.
ST. LOUIS — Bill Self has won an average of 29 games a year in eight seasons at Kansas with the 2008 national title and five Big 12 titles to his credit. Still, N.C. State assistant coach Bobby Lutz, who spent last season in the Big 12, considers this season to be Self's best work.
"When you consider what they lost and how they've progressed, I think it's his best coaching job ever," Lutz said.
The Jayhawks (29-6) had to replace three NBA draft picks from last season's team, which won 35 games before bowing out to Virginia Commonwealth in the Final Eight.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The last time Bobby Lutz coached in an NCAA tournament game, he was Charlotte's head coach, in 2005. The 49ers' opponent? N.C. State.
The Wolfpack beat Lutz and the Niners 75-63 in a first-round game in Worcester, Mass. in 2005. N.C. State star Julius Hodge helped the Wolfpack erase a 14-point first-half deficit with 19 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.
"We were up big," said Lutz, who was 2-5 in five NCAA tournament appearances with Charlotte. "Then Julius took over the game late."
1) Challenge accepted
C.J. Williams spent his first three seasons at N.C. State as a beacon of hard work and hustle on teams otherwise lacking in both categories. As a senior he has emerged as both a leader and reliable scorer, to complement his yeoman effort.
So if anyone was going to be receptive to being called out by the coach, it was Williams, who was challenged by Mark Gottfried to step up his defense after giving up big scoring efforts to Terrell Stoglin and Glen Rice in State's first two ACC games.
"Being a senior, you have to be able to take that," Williams said. "Coach is definitely on me a little more than everybody but I accept that challenge."
Note: New feature alert! I'll recap each game with "Three Points" on StateNow the day after each basketball and football game.
1. That was a crazy game to schedule
Mark Gottfried said he was "crazy" for scheduling the trip to St. Bonaventure earlier this month but he was certifiable for agreeing to face Campbell on Thursday night at Reynolds Coliseum.
A) Campbell has a good basketball team with three ACC-level players in guard Trey Freeman, guard Darren White and forward Eric Griffin.
It's not hyperbole to claim Campbell could finish ninth in the ACC this season.
New N.C. State coach Mark Gottfried is close to hiring former Charlotte 49ers head coach Bobby Lutz as an assistant.
Lutz's presence would put a decidedly 49ers stamp on the Wolfpacks staff. Former Lutz assistant Orlando Early was also hired by Gottfried earlier this week.
Lutz spent last season as an assistant at Iowa State after he was fired by Charlotte following the 2009-10 season. He is Charlotte's all-time winningest coach and had a 12-year record of 218-158.
— David Scott
