Advertisement
basketball Edit

The Wolfpacker's No. 4 story of the decade: Rise and fall of Mark Gottfried

The Wolfpacker has been enumerating its choices for the top 10 stories of the past decade that was in NC State athletics.

Related links:

No. 10 - The hiring of Kevin Keatts

No. 9 - Winning the rivalry in football

No. 8 - The renovation of Reynolds

No. 7 – The rise of women’s hoops

No. 6 – The 2014 class leads football

No. 5 – The rise of the non-revenues

The countdown continues with No. 4:

Don't miss out on any of our exclusive football, basketball and recruiting coverage. Click here to get your 30-day free trial!

No. 5 Rise And Fall Of Mark Gottfried

Advertisement
Gottfried had a 123-86 record in six seasons at NC State.
Gottfried had a 123-86 record in six seasons at NC State. (Ken Martin/TheWolfpacker.com)

There was not much uneventful about head coach Mark Gottfried’s six-year run at NC State, and it even started before Gottfried coached a game.

The coaching search to replace the fired Sidney Lowe ran longer and went crazier than most NC State fans were hoping. NCSU checked in on national-level candidates in Arizona’s Sean Miller and Texas’ Rick Barnes, but the realistic identified top candidate was Shaka Smart, then the head coach at VCU.

However, Smart would lead VCU to an improbable run to the Final Four, dragging out the courtship until the season was over. After seriously entertaining the offer, Smart decided to stay at VCU. NC State then turned to Wichita State’s Gregg Marshall and Cincinnati’s Mick Cronin, but both opted to not take the job.

Former director of athletics Debbie Yow tried to reassure a restless fan base with a letter to the fans after that fateful day when all three coaches announced they were staying put at their respective schools, and then shortly after Gottfried was hired. During that press conference, Yow famously accused former Maryland head coach Gary Williams of “sabotaging” the search, which made national headlines.

All of that was forgotten less than a year later. Gottfried got a talented squad to gel at the right time, and NC State at the end of the season was playing at a high level. It reached the Sweet 16 and played to the last minute before losing to eventual national finalist Kansas.

In Gottfried’s first four years, the Pack made the NCAA Tournament each time and reached the Sweet 16 twice. Then it fell off a cliff. Gottfried’s fifth season suffered a costly injury to Terry Henderson in the opener that cost him the season. After that year was over, the Martin twins Caleb and Cody (now with the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets) announced their transfer to Nevada.

That was not considered a big deal then however because NC State signed future NBA lottery pick Dennis Smith Jr., perceived future pro Omer Yurtseven and well-regarded forward Ted Kapita. They, along with the healthy return of Henderson and Torin Dorn being eligible following his transfer from Charlotte, were supposed to make that 2015-16 season a blip on the screen.

Instead the 2016 signing class proved to be the final nail in Gottfried’s coffin. A lack of defense led to several lopsided losses, including a 51-point embarrassment at UNC. Gottfried was fired during the season, and the ramifications continue to last.

Gottfried, and more specifically his former assistant Orlando Early, were accused by the NCAA of paying improper benefits to Smith to get him to come to NC State. That has landed the Wolfpack program in hot water with the NCAA in an issue that is still to be determined. Ironically, Gottfried’s firing may be part of the Pack’s saving grace if it were to escape major penalties.

——

• Talk about it inside The State of Basketball

Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes

• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolfpacker

• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolfpacker

• Like us on Facebook

Advertisement