Even though all three recruits in North Carolina State’s 2012 recruiting class are from the Tar Heel State, the Wolfpack don’t intend on limiting themselves to their immediate area.

“We want to win a national championship,” N.C. State assistant Orlando Early told FiveStarBasketball.com in an exclusive interview. “We want to win what we think is the best conference in the country and we’re actively recruiting the best players in the country.”

So far, the Wolfpack’s three-man class of North Carolina-based guards Tyler Lewis and Rodney Purvis and swingman T.J. Warren is ranked No. 3 by ESPN.com.

Those players believe they are becoming part of a special, new era under first-year coach Mark Gottfried

Click here to read the full story at FiveStarBasketball.com.

**And don’t miss N.C. State’s Recruiting Big Board.

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T.J. Warren is staying home.

A Raleigh, N.C. native rated the No. 6 small forward in the Class of 2012, Warren announced Wednesday for N.C. State over Georgetown.

The 6-foot-7 Brewster (N.H.) Academy wing joins fellow Raleigh native Rodney Purvis and Tyler Lewis of Statesville in coach Mark Gottfried’s 2012 class.

“I’m going to N.C. State,” Warren told Scout.com. “I feel like they are on the come up.

“I just want to go in there and help bring the excitement back to Raleigh, N.C.”

(more…)

Torian Graham, the Rivals No. 5 shooting guard in the Class of 2012, has decommitted from N.C. State.

“I just feel like I made a decision too fast. I don’t feel like I gave everyone a chance to recruit me,” Graham told PackPride.com

“I’m still listing them. They are still at the top.”

Damon Handon, who coaches with DC Assault, said he had no new list for Graham but imagined Maryland and others would try to get involved. Handon pointed out that Maryland assistant Dalonte Hill, now a Maryland assistant, has a strong relationship with the 6-foot-4 Graham. (more…)

After last weekend’s unofficial visit to Missouri, Rodney Purvis is now listing just three schools.

Duke, N.C. State and Missouri.

“Those are my three now,” Purvis told Jody Demling of the Louisville-Courier Journal.

Purvis, who decommitted from Louisville, told Demling he “probably won’t” add any other schools and that Kentucky and Louisville are “no longer on my list.” (more…)

N.C. State transfer Ryan Harrow says he has yet to decide on his future destination, but his mother said he will announce “next week.”

“I haven’t made any decisions yet,” he said Thursday by text. “My mother and I have to talk and make the right decision.”

Harrow is considering Kentucky, Texas, Georgia, Louisville and St. John’s. He recently returned from a trip to four of the five schools, but missed out on St. John’s because his mother had to return home for a business engagement in Raleigh, N.C.

“UGA was the last visit,” Fern Matthews said by text. “We spoke to St. John’s coaches by telephone.” (more…)

Torian Graham, the No. 6 shooting guard in the Class of 2012 according to Rivals, has chosen N.C. State over Kentucky and Rutgers.

“For them to get a commitment from a Top 25 recruit, I think that’s huge to the program,” said DC Assault coach Damon Handon. “He’s a big-time athletic scorer. I think that his best basketball is ahead of him. I think Torian has a big upside.”

The 6-foot-4 guard out of Raleigh (N.C.) Word of God opted to stay close to home, in part because his mother is ill and he wanted to be near her. (more…)

New N.C. State coach Mark Gottfried spoke for the first time Wednesday night with N.C. State commit Tyler Harris and his father Torrel.

Tyler, a 6-foot-9, 200-pound forward from St. Benedict’s Prep, was busy with a workout and was unavailable for comment but Torrel said the conversation went well and Tyler remains committed to N.C. State.

“We picked them and I want to give them every opportunity to see how Tyler can fit in at N.C. State,” Torrel said. (more…)

Just landed at LaGuardia after five days in Houston. Don’t ever stay in the Crowne Plaza near Reliant Stadium, unless you like bugs and blood stains on the carpet.

To quote Bob Dylan, “I’m goin’ back to New York City. I do believe I’ve had enough.”

Here’s a few quick hits from the Coaching Carousel:

**After swinging and missing on seemingly every high-major coach from here to Texas, N.C. State finally got its man in former Alabama coach Mark Gottfried for five years at $6 million.

“Our search has proceeded in an orderly manner and with excellent results,” said N.C. State AD Deborah A. Yow. “We are blessed to have hired a proven winner and an outstanding coach who is well prepared by experience and total commitment to lead in the rebuilding of Wolfpack men’s basketball.” (more…)

HOUSTON -- The N.C. State job is Shaka Smart’s to turn down, according to a report by David Glenn of ACCSports.com.

“The Shaka Smart chapter of this search is going to come to a conclusion soon, probably today,” an agent who works with numerous college coaches told Glenn.

“Regardless of his response, the Wolfpack will have a new coach this week. That’s how most of these searches go nowadays. You talk with multiple candidates at the same time, usually on different timetables, and that’s what’s happened here. (more…)