Ryan Harrow, NC State mutually part ways

NC State's roster for the 2011-12 basketball season is coming into focus after Tuesday afternoon's announcement that rising sophomore point guard Ryan Harrow will transfer to another school outside of the ACC.

The Pack and Harrow reached this decision mutually.

"We wish him well and will do anything we can to assist him in this process," new Wolfpack head coach Mark Gottfried stated.

"I think this staff will do good things here at NC State," said Harrow. "The year off will help me improve in many ways, and I think the decision is the best for me personally."

Harrow's departure makes a thin backcourt even thinner. He played in 29 games as a rookie, starting 10, and averaged 9.3 points and 3.3 assists per game. The much-ballyhooed recruit however struggled with his confidence in his shot.

He made just 12 of 54 three-pointers for 22.2 percent and shot 39.0 percent overall from the field. Only departing guard Javier Gonzalez had a lower shooting percentage among regular Wolfpack players last season.

Without Harrow, NC State is left with rising sophomore Lorenzo Brown to play the point. Rising senior C.J. Williams, rising junior Scott Wood and incoming freshman Jaqawn Raymond will also have to play the guard positions.

Brown averaged 9.3 points and a team-high 3.7 assists per game as a rookie last year and paced the Pack with 40 steals. Wood averaged 9.7 points while shooting 41.9 percent (72 of 172) from three-point range. Both were full-time starters last season.

Williams averaged 4.7 points per outing and has 28 career starts to his credit. Raymond is a 6-foot-3, 195-pounder from Statesboro (Ga.) High that was a spring addition to the recruiting class. He averaged 23 points, six rebounds and three steals a game as a senior.

Harrow's departure is the end to what looked to be a promising future at NC State before last season. He was an under-the-radar, undersized commitment the summer before his junior season at Walton High in Marietta, Ga.

Harrow's quickness and scoring abilities though quickly won over critics, and he blossomed into a five-star recruit that was ranked No. 19 in the country in the final Rivals.com rankings. Despite overtures from other schools, Harrow remained loyal to NC State, and he played a role in luring five-star forward C.J. Leslie to Raleigh.

He struggled however finding his role in the offense and dealing with more physical guards at times last season, and he has been the subject of speculation ever since Sidney Lowe's resignation.

Most visibly, Harrow's body language at Mark Gottfried's introduction press conference was noticeably subdued, and he admitted after the PC that transferring was an option.