I have taken plenty of shots at N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe since the Wolfpack are en route to a fourth consecutive season of watching the NCAA tournament as observers.

I don’t think it’s unjustified since former coach Herb Sendek had made it a near-certainty that the program would be in the tourney each and every year towards the end of his tenure.

However, if Lowe can get another season in Raleigh, don’t be surprised if N.C. State fans are finally dancing again.

Tracy Smith, who is a potential double-double every night, is expected to be back.

But it’s the incoming recruiting class that could wind up saving Lowe his job.

First there’s 6-foot-4 versatile guard Lorenzo Brown, who is spending the season at Hargrave Military Academy.

``He’s as good of a guard as I’ve ever coached,” said Hargrave’s Kevin Keatts, whose team is 20-0 this season. ``He’s the real deal.”

Brown and fellow signee and Georgia native Ryan Harrow could both start in the backcourt from the day they arrive in Raleigh.

Brown is averaging 23 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for Hargrave and was ranked by Scout.com as the 28^th player in the country in the Class of 2009 (he didn’t qualify out of high school last season).

Harrow is considered one of the elite point guards in the Class of 2010 and is ranked 24^th in the nation by Scout.com.

However, the jury is still out on whether Lowe will be around to coach Brown and Harrow.

The Wolfpack are 14-10 overall and are tied for the cellar in the ACC with Miami at 2-7.

Lowe’s ACC mark since he took over for Sendek is 17-40.

In Sendek’s last four years, his league record was 37-27. 

I forgot to mention that the second installment of the most accurate bracketologists in the country, Bracketology 101, over the past four years was posted yesterday.

Here’s the link:

msn.foxsports.com/cbk/story/NCAA-tournam...

The Big East, Big 12 and ACC each had seven teams in the field while the Big Ten, SEC and A-10 all had five.

The biggest surprise on my end was not only seeing Marquette in the field, but as a No. 10 seed.

My shock comes from the fact that Buzz Williams has the Golden Eagles in the mix for an NCAA tournament berth despite losing three big-time college guards from a year ago. Williams is deserving of Coach of the Year consideration for the job he's done with Lazar Hayward and a cast of newcomers. 

The final at-large teams were Illinois, Oklahoma State and Louisville.

AUSTIN – I’m stuck in Austin.

It’s not so bad, though. I can think of worse places to be stranded.

I was supposed to go to Detroit to catch tonight’s Purdue-Michigan State game, but the snow has changed my plans.

Now I’ll just get some work done and then head to Charlotte in the morning, where I’ll drive to Chapel Hill for tomorrow night’s Duke-North Carolina game.

As for Texas, the most telling scene of the night came after the game when Longhorns senior Damion James was literally at a loss for words to explain what’s happened to his team over the last three weeks.

Here’s my take on a Texas team that yours truly picked to win it all prior to the start of the season:

msn.foxsports.com/cbk/story/goodman-on-t...

FOXSPORTS.COM STUD OF THE NIGHT: Villanova’s Scottie Reynolds led the Wildcats to a huge road win at West Virginia with 19 of his 21 points in the final 13 minutes of the game.

DUD: There’s no shame in Texas losing to top-ranked Kansas. However, the Longhorns were manhandled on their home floor and have now lost five of their last seven. Rick Barnes’ team committed 17 turnovers and was outrebounded, 45-34.

MID-MAJOR STUD: Rider’s Ryan Thompson had 31 points and seven boards in a win against Niagara. Thompson, the younger brother of NBA big man Jason Thompson, was 9-of-17 from the field, 4-of-7 from long distance and 9-of-11 from the line.

STAT OF THE NIGHT: New Mexico State’s newly reinstated big man Troy Gillenwater, playing in just his second game of the season, scored 19 points again. Gillenwater had 19 and 11 boards in his first game back and finished with 19 points and eight rebounds in a win against Louisiana Tech on Monday night.

ON TAP: I’m going to try and get to the Purdue-Michigan State game tomorrow if the snowstorm in Detroit isn’t bad enough to keep me stranded in Austin. The other big game of note is Tennessee at Vanderbilt.

SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. – The first time I saw Andre Drummond play was about 18 months ago at the New England Elite 75 – an event I previously helped organize in an effort to help under-exposed players from an area that was struggling at the time to send kids to the Division I level.

Drummond was a raw and gangly 6-foot-9 forward who had just turned 15 and was a virtual unknown beyond the state lines of Connecticut.

Now, Drummond has grown to 6-foot-11, has bulked up to 270 pounds and has been tabbed as the No. 1 sophomore in the entire nation in the Class of 2012.

He hardly needs the exposure these days.

But the soft-spoken big man doesn't act the part. At least not yet.

"I'm just taking it all in," Drummond said. "I feel like I haven't really done anything."

He's a terrific talent but still a work-in-progress on the court, refusing to go along with his coach at St. Thomas More, Jere Quinn's hope that he'll accept the fact of becoming a true center.

"He has to stop trying to be a three-man," said Quinn, who has coached hundreds of Division I players and is considered one of the elite prep school guys in the country.

"I have not," Drummond said when asked if he had accepted that he was a post player. "I refuse to have anyone tell me I'm a center. A real basketball player can do anything. I'll probably be a four or a three."

Not if Quinn, who is focusing on Drummond's post moves, has anything to say about it.

Drummond is multi-dimensional. He can handle the ball, shoot from the perimeter, he runs the court extremely well for someone his size, has terrific passing ability for a big man and is also capable of being a dominant defensive player with his length and shot-blocking ability.

He has some of the same skills that Orlando Magic star Dwight Howard possessed at the same age, but Howard quickly learned that his bread would be buttered in the paint and done fairly well for himself with that thought process.

"Andre has a Powerball ticket in his pocket," said Quinn, whose no-nonsense approach landed Devin Ebanks on the bench multiple times in his tenure at St. Thomas More. "Now, he needs to cash it in – and he cashes it in by working on his skills."

Drummond missed the entire preseason in his first of what is expected to be three seasons at St. Thomas More, which is located in tiny Oakdale, Conn., due to a stress fracture in his right ankle and says he is still getting back to what he was prior to the injury.

It's easy to forget that Drummond is only 16 when looking at him, but you speak to him and it's clear. Quinn says he loves to be in the gym, often practices with the JV team and even helps to coach one of the JV teams with his history teacher.

"He's a nice kid," Quinn said. "And he wants to work."

Virtually everywhere he goes, Drummond, who turns 17 on Aug. 10, is approached by those his age and much older to sign autographs and also plead their case.

Drummond said that not too long ago, one guy actually got on his knees and begged him to go to UConn.

He grew up in Middletown, Conn., as a huge UConn fan and most have him pegged to commit to the Huskies when he does ultimately make his college decision, but Drummond maintains he's still enjoying the recruiting process.

"There's really no pressure for me to go to UConn," said Drummond, who just missed out on the honor roll. "I'm looking at every school, but I've always loved the Huskies."

The feeling is mutual.

To check out Jeff Goodman's Twitter, click here.