GREENSBORO - N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe has had time to think about the identity he wants this season's team and future teams to have.

His thoughts include a lot of running and rugged defense.

GREENSBORO — N.C. State freshman Richard Howell, who had surgery to repair the meniscus in his left knee earlier this month, probably won’t even return to practice “for a few weeks or so.”

“I watched him the other day …I wouldn’t feel comfortable putting him out there right now, for sure,” said Wolfpack coach Sidney Lowe, whose team opens the season Nov. 12. “And I just can’t see him being ready to do anything for the next couple of weeks. He’s also going to have to do some individual stuff, and pass that first.”

N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe and assistant Monte Towe lured Luke Cothron with their plan to restore Wolfpack basketball to prominence.

Cothron, a highly recruited senior forward from Red Springs (N.C.) Flora MacDonald Academy, liked what he heard and committed to N.C. State on Friday morning.

Cothron is a highly recruited, 6-foot-8 forward who averaged 27 points, 18 rebounds and four blocked shots per game last season.

After receiving negative feedback from fans, N.C. State has scrapped a new design for its men's basketball jerseys, athletics director Lee Fowler said Tuesday morning.

Last week, N.C. State displayed its new jersey design on its Twitter page. The jersey featured a small "NC" on the front and a much larger "STATE" underneath.

• Summer Hoops Preview: The Picks
• Part I: UNC, BC, FSU
• Part II: Duke, Georgia Tech, Clemson
• Part III: Wake Forest, Maryland, Virginia

N.C. STATE

2008-09 record: 16-14 overall, 6-10 ACC (10th)

Postseason: none

Projected starting lineup: G Julius Mays, G C.J. Williams, F Richard Howell, F Dennis Horner, F Tracy Smith

Sidney Lowe's fourth season at N.C. State will be the first with his players.

The Wolfpack basketball coach expects progress in 2009-10, not a fight for his job. Lowe's boss, State athletic director Lee Fowler, agrees.

"There's no ultimatum that he has to make the [NCAA] tournament to keep his job," Fowler said Thursday. "The main thing is to make progress."

Notes from Sidney Lowe's press conference on Thursday:

• The Wolfpack went 1-for-2 in the late recruiting period, landing forward DeShawn Painter but losing out on point guard John Wall.

Painter, a 6-9 power forward, orginally signed with Florida but was released from his LOI and chose the Wolfpack in May. Lowe called Painter's decision a "great break."

The events of the past three weeks demonstrate why N.C. State fans should be disappointed they didn’t get John Calipari as their coach.

They also demonstrate why fans should be glad Calipari didn’t come to N.C. State in 2006, when the school hired Sidney Lowe to replace Herb Sendek.

No, N.C. State didn’t get John Wall.

But on the final day of the spring signing period (Thursday), the Wolfpack’s basketball future looks brighter than it did at the end of the 2008-09 season.

Welcome to the ACC, Tony Bennett.

We’re not sure if the snail’s pace basketball you used to become one of the nation’s hottest coaches in 2007 and 2008 will work at Virginia. But you seemed like a decent guy when we met you in Charlotte last year for the NCAA Tournament regional, and after suffering through four seasons of Dave Leitao, Virginia needs a decent guy.