In a span of four days two big men commit and all is right with the world. Probably.
The biggest fish left in the recruiting pond has been hooked by NC State. Turkish five-star center Omer Yurtseven announced today his intention to run with the Pack. The 7-foot, 240-pounder went out with a bang, scoring 91 points and grabbing 28 rebounds in his final game of the Turkish U18 championships.
NINETY ONE POINTS.
Yurtseven is widely considered to be a one-and-done, and, like point guard Dennis Smith who will join him on the floor for the Pack next year, could well be a lottery pick.
If both are indeed only on the floor for a season, Mark Gottfried will have a lot of work to do for 2017-18, but at least the immediate future that looked so bleak a few days ago is looking to have turned considerably. With the addition of Darius Hicks and Yurtseven, the Pack have the frontcourt depth to survive the possible departure of Malik Abu, who is testing the NBA waters and was rumored by Jeff Goodman to be also considering a transfer. Lennard Freeman, who played hobbled last year, would also now have the option of redshirting if he is not fully ready to go in 2016.
Now of course comes the trickiness of getting Yurtseven eligible. His club team in Turkey, likely to try to dissuade him from leaving, insists that he has been getting paid to play. Of course the NCAA can turn its back on a lot of things, but not that. The Yurtsevens contend that an account was set up for him but that he never took a dime. Hopefully there will be enough time between now and the season starting to sort out this mess, and hopefully it works out in the Pack's favor.
Cross your fingers and toes.
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