The deadline for underclassmen to declare for the NBA draft is a week away, and N.C. State's C.J. Leslie is still weighing his options, his mother Lisa said Tuesday.

Lisa Leslie said C.J. requested a report from the NBA's draft advisory committee, a group of NBA executives who provide players considering turning pro with a non-binding assessment of their draft status. Those reports are due back to players on Friday, and the Leslies plan to sit down with N.C. State coach Mark Gottfried once that information is in hand.

"Once that's in, we will sit down with the coach," Lisa Leslie said. "We'll go over it and play things out, see what the best option is."

This was a good year for big men in the ACC, from North Carolina’s John Henson and Tyler Zeller to Virginia’s Mike Scott to Duke’s Mason Plumlee to Florida State’s Bernard James to N.C. State’s C.J. Leslie and Richard Howell to Miami's Reggie Johnson.

But Leslie had a hard time finding anyone to compare to Kansas’ Thomas Robinson, who along with Kentucky’s Anthony Davis is part of a two-man national-player-of-the-year conversation.

It gets a little overlooked in my front-page story today about N.C. State’s turnaround under Mark Gottfried, but the role of the classic UCLA high-post offense, handed down from John Wooden to Jim Harrick to Gottfried, should not be underestimated.

Wooden, who died in 2010, won 10 national championships in 12 years at UCLA running that offense (although not, as N.C. State fans would note, in 1974). Harrick, with Gottfried as an assistant, won another in 1995.

“The system we run is not the only way to play,” Harrick said. “It’s just the best. … It’s taken these kids this long to really learn it, but they’ve got confidence and see the reads now.”

C.J. Williams, who sprained his left ankle Friday night, walked in with the rest of his teammates Saturday, showing no ill effects and declaring, “It’s fine.”

N.C. State coach Mark Gottfried said Williams participated in the Wolfpack’s closed-doors shoot-around Saturday morning.

“He’s a little tender," Gottfried said. "I think he’ll play. And we’ll get him a lot more treatment today, a lot of ice tonight. So I expect him to play. I don’t know if he’ll be 100 percent, but he’ll be OK.”

COLUMBUS, Ohio — N.C. State coach Mark Gottfried has embraced all the extra attention that has come with the Wolfpack's first NCAA tournament appearance in six years.

Well, almost all of it. After President Barack Obama put the Wolfpack in the round of 16 in his bracket picks for ESPN, Gottfried sent a text to his former ESPN colleague, Andy Katz.

"The President's trying to win votes, I'm trying to get wins," Gottfried said he wrote in the text to Katz. "It's a little different."

With the suspense peaking, N.C. State was the last team announced for the NCAA tournament on Sunday evening.

The Wolfpack, a No. 11 seed, will face San Diego State (26-7) on Friday in Columbus, Ohio. Led by Mountain West Conference player of the year Jamaal Franklin, the Aztecs lost to New Mexico in the MWC championship.

After winning two games in the ACC tournament and falling short in the final seconds in the semifinals against North Carolina, N.C. State was on just about every prognosticator’s bubble heading into Sunday night.

As more and more teams were revealed, it looked like the Wolfpack may be on the outside looking in.

But after San Diego State was displayed, the N.C. State logo flashed on the screen, giving Mark Gottfried an NCAA tournament appearance in his first season as Wolfpack coach.

One of the big differences between pro sports and college sports is that, for the most part, the college kids are just that -- kids.

There’s the odd 18- or 19-year-old on a pro team, but for the most part they’ve been to college or fought their way up through the minors. College teams are loaded with 18-year-olds, of course, and there are times where boys become men before our eyes.

That’s happening right now with C.J. Leslie, who is growing up so fast on so many levels. The detached, sulking Leslie that stumbled through his freshman year at N.C. State is gone, replaced by a confident, driven young man who’s taking over games.

N.C. State compared to the nine other 9-7 ACC teams since expansion:

The last time N.C. State won nine ACC games and didn't make the NCAA tournament was 1966. Press Maravich's second, and final team, went 9-5 in conference play but lost in the ACC tournament final to Duke.

Updated 9:25 p.m.

BLACKSBURG, Va. — The last five times an N.C. State team finished with nine ACC wins, it made the NCAA tournament.

Wolfpack coach Mark Gottfried thinks it should be six in a row after his team beat Virginia Tech 70-58 on Sunday night to finish the regular season at 9-7 in conference play.

"I think there are six (ACC) teams, right now, that should be in the (NCAA) tournament," Gottfried said.

When Mark Gottfried worked in the SEC, he got to vote for all-conference honors. The coaches don't get in a vote in the ACC, but Gottfried knows one player who would be on his ballot. Gottfried made a case for Wolfpack forward C.J. Leslie on Friday.

"I think he has gotten better as the year has gone along," Gottfried said. "He has played his best basketball in the last month."