Inside 40 years of NC State basketball recruiting (part V)

The class of 2001 changed the trajectory of NC State basketball, and made the Wolfpack nationally relevant again. It arrived in Raleigh to play for a Pack team that had not been in the NCAA Tournament for 11 years, and it left playing in four straight Big Dances.

The Wolfpacker has taken a look back at the last 40 years of NC State men's basketball recruiting, and head coach Herb Sendek, and this section covers the glory days of Sendek, between 2001-05.

The class of 2002 also introduced the Internet era of basketball recruiting, with Rivals.com beginning its national rankings.

Related links: 1980-85 | 1986-90 | 1991-95 | 1996-00

• Jordan Collins (6-10, C, Hyattsville (Md.) DeMatha Catholic)

• Ilian Evtimov (6-6, SF, Winston-Salem (N.C.) Bishop McGuiness)

• Julius Hodge (6-6, SG, Bronx (N.Y.) St. Raymond’s)

• Josh Powell (6-9, PF, Riverdale (Ga.) High)

• Levi Watkins (6-7, PF, Rockville (Md.) Montrose Christian

Overview: The arrival of the class of 2001 has forever been known as the group that helped save head Sendek’s job.

Sendek and the Wolfpack had gone to the NIT Tournament in four out of his first five years, but broke through in 2001-02 thanks to this freshman class. They reached the NCAA Tournament all four years of their careers, including reaching the Sweet 16 in 2004-05 as seniors.

The Recruiting Services Consensus Index (RSCI) had Hodge ranked No. 7 in the country, Watkins at No. 60 and Powell at No. 65.

Hodge more than lived up to his prep hype during his four-year career at NC State after he picked the Pack in a spirited recruitment over Syracuse. The former McDonald’s All-American and second-team Parade Magazine All-American was impressively consistent his last three years, averaging at least 17 points per game in each.

Hodge earned ACC All-Freshman honors. He then became first-team All-ACC his sophomore and junior years and was second-team all-league as a senior.

Hodge’s junior year proved to be his breakout year nationally. He was named the ACC Player of the Year and second-team All-American. Hodge averaged 18.2 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.4 steals per game in 2003-04. He shot 50.7 percent from the field and 82.8 percent at the free-throw line.

Hodge started 125 out of 129 games he played in, and averaged 15.8 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. Only Scott Wood started more games in a Wolfpack uniform. He is one of just three players in Wolfpack history with over 2,000 career points and is the third all-time leading scorer in the school's history books with 2,040. He is also sixth in assists (454) and 14th in rebounds (773).

His No. 24 jersey number is honored at NC State.

The Denver Nuggets drafted Hodge with the No. 20 overall pick in the first round in 2005. He played three years in the NBA, averaging 1.2 points per game in 23 career games. Hodge played overseas until 2004.

Evtimov proved to be a quality role player all four years at NC State. He averaged 10.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game his senior year, and shot 39.2 percent on three-pointers. The three-year starter was named to the 2005 All-ACC Tournament squad.

Evtimov shot 199 of 508 from three-point land for 39.2 percent in 131 career games (83 starts) and remains fifth in career threes made at NC State. He finished averaging 9.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game over his four years in Raleigh.

The Bulgarian-French native is still playing overseas. He signed with Cholet Basket in France on June 9, 2016, and has been with the squad ever since.

Powell ended up playing two years at NC State before making the jump to the NBA. He was first-team All-Freshman in the ACC, and then had a banner 2003 ACC Tournament, where he earned first-team honors.

Powell shot an impressive 57.1 percent from the field to go along with 12.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game his sophomore year. Overall, Powell shot 55.3 percent from the field in his career, fifth best in school history.

Powell went undrafted, but earned a spot with the Dallas Mavericks in 2005-06. He earned a pair of rings with the 2009 and 2010 Los Angeles Lakers, and he also suited up for the Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Clippers, Atlanta Hawks and Houston Rockets. He averaged 3.9 points and 1.9 rebounds in 12.6 minutes per game during his eight-year NBA career (316 games). Powell also played overseas, and he retired after 2017.

Collins was a steady backup center that averaged 3.4 points and 1.8 rebounds in 11.6 minutes per game in 106 career games (30 starts). He played overseas until finishing up playing in the Vietnamese Basketball Association in 2017.

Watkins was a gifted inside-outside player, but a knee injury affected his college career. He averaged 5.1 points and 2.1 rebounds per game in 97 career contests, including a career-high 6.3 points and 2.4 rebounds in 19.6 minutes per contest in 2003-04.

Interesting tidbits: Hodge and Watkins are both on paths to become head coaches one day in college basketball. Hodge became the director of player of personnel at Buffalo for a year, before getting reunited with his former coach, Herb Sendek, at Santa Clara in 2016-18. He departed the Broncos and just finished his second year at San Jose State … Watkins became the video coordinator at NC State from 2007-09, and then director of operations with the Wolfpack from 2010-13. He was under both Sidney Lowe and Mark Gottfried. He then got hired at Buffalo as an assistant coach, followed by two years at Arizona State and currently in his second year at Mississippi.

• Cameron Bennerman (6-4, 205, SG, Chatham (Va.) Hargrave Military Academy); Attended Greensboro (N.C.) Grimsley

• Dominick Mejia (6-4, 200, SG, Voorhees (N.J.) Eastern Regional)

• Adam Simons (7-0, 248, C, Burlington (N.C.) Williams)

Overview: The athletic Bennerman proved to get better each year at NC State, saving the best for last. He played a year at Chatham Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Va., under current NC State head coach Kevin Keatts. He was a Rivals.com three-star prospect and ranked No. 84 in the country in the RSCI class of 2002 rankings.

Bennerman averaged a career-high 14.1 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game in 2005-06. He made a career-best 51 three-pointers and was an impressive free throw shooter at 84.2 percent. Bennerman earned third-team All-ACC for his efforts, and is known for hitting the game-winning three-pointer with 32.3 seconds left to top California 58-52 in the first round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament. He had 18 points in the win.

Bennerman ended up logging 118 career games at NC State, and he averaged 7.4 points and 2.3 rebounds per contest.

Bennerman went on to play minor league basketball and overseas — Italy, Spain, Poland, Turkey, Israel, Finland, Australia, Bulgaria, Argentina and Canada, among others.

Mejia scored 32 points and dished out 10 assists in his 20 games at NC State, leaving during the 2003-04 for Drexel. The three-point marksman went on to average 12.6 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game in 85 contests for Drexel. He shot 37.5 percent on three-pointers and 81.5 percent at the free-throw line.

Mejia scored 11 points for the Dragons in a 63-56 NIT loss to NC State on March 13, 2007

Simons redshirted his first year at NC State, and then had six points and nine rebounds in seven games played his next two seasons with the Wolfpack. He transferred to Xavier for his last two years, where he played for former NCSU assistant coach Sean Miller, now the head coach at Arizona. Simmons scored one point and grabbed nine rebounds in 13 games played for the Musketeers.

Interesting tidbits: Bennerman wrote a book released Aug. 15, 2016, called “The Process,” which can be bought for $13.00 on amazon.com. The 144-page book is about having success through basketball … Simons’ father, Mark Simons, coached the men’s basketball team at Elon from 1993-03. He made the transition to women’s basketball and is currently an assistant coach at Central Michigan, and also coached at Georgia Tech, Michigan State and Auburn. Simons’ former step-mom, Gail Goestenkors, was the head coach of Duke from 1992-2007 and also at Texas from 2007-2012. She finished with two NCAA runner-up finishes at Duke and went 498-163 overall.

• Engin Atsur (6-4, 200, PG, Istanbul, Turkey)

• Michael O’Donnell (5-11, 150, PG, Clearwater (Fla.) High)

• Tony Bethel (6-2, 170, PG, Georgetown transfer)

Overview: Atsur, Bethel and O’Donnell were all Rivals.com three-star prospects, but Bethel was a proven commodity after playing his first two years at Georgetown.

NC State went the International route for the first time in decades in landing Atsur.

The steady Atsur was a good shooter that averaged 9.9 points, 2.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game in his four years at NC State. He started 114 of the 119 games that he played in, and that is third most in school history. He is 10th at NC State in career steals (164) and 12th in assists (365). His 223 made threes are the third most for the Wolfpack.

Atsur played for both Herb Sendek and Sidney Lowe while at NC State. He was named to the 2003-04 ACC All-Freshman squad, after averaging 8.5 points and 2.5 assists per contest.

He posted his best numbers senior year, but did battle some nagging injures. He averaged 11.3 points and 4.2 assists in 24 games in 2006-07, which was Lowe’s first season. He earned second-team All-ACC Tournament that year while leading the Pack to an improbable title game appearance.

After college, he played professionally overseas from 2007-2018, becoming a three-time Turkish League champion.

Bethel had averaged 10.5 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game during his two years with the Hoyas, and he almost equaled those numbers in Raleigh.

The former Rockville (Md.) Montrose Christian standout managed to play in 58 contests with the Wolfpack, despite dealing with a groin injury and colitis. He averaged 8.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists per contest during his stint at NC State. He tallied 183 career steals in 116 games combined with Georgetown and the Wolfpack.

O’Donnell averaged 2.4 points and 1.1 assists in 11.3 minutes per game his freshman year, appearing in 30 contests. He transferred to Central Florida, where he went on to average 10.2 points and 3.6 assists a contest in 89 appearances. He shot 39.0 percent from three-point land in his 119-game college career.

Interesting tidbit: Atsur’s nationality was both Turkish and German. He was NC State first foreign signee since center Panagiotis Fasoulas of Greece in the class of 1985 ... Bethel was the video coordinator for NC State for two years, and then was briefly an assistant coach at Mount St. Mary's.

• Andrew Brackman (6-9, 205, PF, Cincinnati (Ohio) Archbishop Moeller)

• Gavin Grant (6-7, 190, SF, Bronx (N.Y.) St. Raymond’s)

• Cedric Simmons (6-9, 205, PF, Shallotte (N.C.) West Brunswick)

Overview: Simmons and Brackman both played professionally, but in different sports.

Simmons was fourth-team Parade Magazine All-American in 2004. Rivals.com ranked Simmons No. 71 overall nationally in the class of 2004, and he became a first-round NBA Draft pick after his sophomore year at NC State.

Simmons made a big jump from 3.5 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game his rookie year, to 11.8 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.5 blocks a contest as a sophomore. He shot 58.7 percent from the field to finish sixth in the ACC and remains sixth all-time at NC State. Simmons' total blocks ranked second in the league and 19th nationally. He earned ACC All-Defense in 2005-06. The 80 blocks are fourth most in a single season at NCSU.

Simmons went in the first round with the No. 15 pick to the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Thunder in 2006. He played in the NBA from 2006-09 and averaged 2.2 points and 1.9 rebounds per game in 75 career contests. Simmons is still playing professionally overseas, which he’s done since 2010. He was a Greek League all-star in 2011, after he led the league in rebounds and blocks.

Brackman, who Rivals.com ranked No. 93 overall in country, also played two years at NC State but for different reasons. He averaged 7.5 points and 3.5 rebounds per game, and he made 48.8 percent from the field and 77.9 percent from the free-throw line in 67 career contests (24 starts).

The 6-10, 233-pounder was drafted with the No. 30 overall pick in the first round to the New York Yankees. He had gone 11-8 in his three years on the mound for the Wolfpack, where he battled injuries.

Brackman was the Yankees third-best minor league prospect by Baseball America in 2011, and he went on to make his MLB debut on Sept. 22, 2011. Brackman signed a minor league contract with his hometown Cincinnati Reds in 2012, and then another minor league deal with the Chicago White Sox in 2013, before he retired.

Grant arrived from St. Raymond’s in Bronx, N.Y., which is the alma mater of former NC State star Julius Hodge. Rivals.com ranked him No. 108 overall in the country.

Grant averaged 10.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 132 career games at NC State. He enjoyed his best season as a junior in 2006-07, averaging 14.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.8 assists per contest.

He was named to the 2007 All-ACC Tournament squad. The loquacious Grant played two years with the Utah Flash in the G-League from 2008-10.

Interesting tidbits: Simmons was traded three times in the NBA, and twice he was packaged with power forward Drew Gooden, the former Kansas star. Simmons, Gooden, Larry Hughes and Shannon Brown were traded to the Chicago Bulls for Ben Wallace and Joe Smith on Feb. 21, 2008. Simmons and Gooden were then sent to the Sacramento Kings for Brad Miller and John Salmons on Feb. 18, 2009. His first trade was when the Hornets sent him to Cleveland for David Wesley on Sept. 29, 2007 … Grant had a scare his freshman year when immigration officials began removal proceedings Oct. 2005. He was born in Jamaica and moved to New York City when he was 9 years old.

• Brandon Costner (6-8, 217, PF, West Orange (N.J.) Seton Hall Prep)

• Courtney Fells (6-5, 180, SG, Shannon (Miss.) High)

• Trevor Ferguson (6-5, 190, Palm Harbor (Fla.) Oldsmar Christian); Had signed with Pittsburgh and redshirted at NC State

• Ben McCauley (6-9, 225, C, Herminie (Pa.) Yough)

Overview: Fells was the first five-star prospect NC State signed in the Rivals.com era, and Costner was a McDonald’s All-American and third-team Parade Magazine All-American.

McCauley was also a top prospect, and the trio became the backbone for coach Sidney Lowe's early teams.

Rivals.com ranked the inside-outside game of Costner at No. 30 in the country. However, he needed a year before he could show off his talents, getting hurt and redshirting his freshman year.

Costner became a star in 2006-07, averaging 16.8 points and 7.3 rebounds and having a memorable ACC Tournament run, helping the Wolfpack reach the title contest. He had 30 points in an 85-80 overtime win against Duke in the ACC Tourney in Tampa, Fla.

Costner was named third-team All-ACC, to the league's All-Freshman squad and first-team All-ACC Tournament his redshirt freshman season. He ranked ninth in the league in scoring and sixth in rebounding. At the time, his scoring average was the highest by a Wolfpack freshman. Dennis Smith Jr. broke that mark in 2016-17 (18.1 points per game).

Costner underwent a minor knee surgery and wasn’t in shape his sophomore year. Combine that with the arrival of freshman post player J.J. Hickson and Costner’s numbers fell off. He bounced back his redshirt junior season with 13.3 points and 6.0 rebounds a contest, but elected to bypass his last year of eligibility.

Costner averaged 12.6 points and 5.9 rebounds per game in 101 career contests (84 starts). He has played in the G-League or overseas from 2009-to-present, played this past year with Eastern Long Lions in China.

Rivals.com ranked Fells the No. 24 overall player in the country, but he barely played his freshman year, appearing in 17 contests and scoring 34 points.

Fells became a double-figure scorer his last three years at NC State, and was often entrusted with guarding the opposing team’s top scoring wing.

Fells arguably had his best season his senior year, averaging 11.3 points and 3.6 rebounds per game, plus shooting 39.8 percent from three-point land and impressive 85.7 percent at the free-throw line.

Fells averaged 9.5 points and 3.1 rebounds per game in his Wolfpack career, which spanned 111 games (92 starts). He played professionally overseas or in the G-League from 2009-to-present, nearly making the San Antonio Spurs in 2013. Fells last played with Soles de Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic.

McCauley, who Rivals.com ranked No. 92 in the country, had an uneven college career, finding his stride his sophomore year, but then also being affected by the arrival of Hickson.

McCauley averaged 14.4 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game in 2006-07, and he shot an impressive 58.4 percent from the field, which ranked second in the ACC and is fifth best all-time for a single season at NC State. He was named to the 2007 All-ACC Tournament team, and he ranked ninth in the league in rebounds per game and 15th in points a contest.

McCauley fell to 6.1 points and 3.7 rebounds a contest his junior year, but bounced back. McCauley exited his stint at NC State, averaging 12.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists a game his senior year.

He averaged 9.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game in 124 career games (81 starts), and he shot 53.5 percent from the field, which is 12th best in school history. He’s played overseas ever since his college career ended, and was with Wilki Morskie Szczecin in Poland this past year.

Ferguson had signed with Pittsburgh, but went back to prep school before settling in at NC State. He played three years for the Wolfpack, averaging 3.7 points per game, and he shot 37.4 percent from three-point land in 52 contests. His best moment came his junior year where he went 9 of 18 on three-pointers over a four-game stretch, but then he injured his ring finger on his non-shooting hand.

Interesting tidbits: When Costner, McCauley and Fells made their push to win the 2007 ACC Tournament title, the Wolfpack only had seven healthy scholarship players. NC State was the No. 10 seed and topped Duke, Virginia and Virginia Tech, before falling 89-80 to North Carolina on March 11, 2007. Costner logged 151 out of 165 total minutes, McCauley played 145 minutes and Fells logged 119 minutes. The trio went on to play in the NIT, which was their lone postseason appearance.

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