Mark Gottfried and the rest of his staff have, as you've probably noticed, done an impressive job on the recruiting trail since coming to NC State. Joe Giglio has a good story on the transformation led by Gottfried in that particular area.

In the three classes, Gottfried has mined a total of seven top 75 recruits with an eighth, class of 2013 forward BeeJay Anya, expected to commit Friday.

"N.C. State has quickly earned street cred with the best players in the country," ESPN recruiting analyst Dave Telep said. "They view State as a viable option, which in recruiting, is half the battle."

Herb Sendek helped to restore NC State's reputation in the minds of elite players--he was able to reel in several McDonald's All-Americans, including Julius Hodge, Damien Wilkins and Scooter Sherrill. Sidney Lowe also had his successes with top 100 kids, but what Gottfried has done is unlike anything we have ever seen. Seven--likely eight--top 75 recruits in a year and a half on the job is just amazing work. If this staff can add Julius Randle to next year's class, it would represent a huge triumph in what already is an improbable turnaround for this program.

None of this guarantees winning at a high level, of course, but we are in far better shape to sustain success than we have been since the 1980s. Let's hope it's just the beginning.