by Alex Schwartz

Yesterday, seemingly out of the blue, CJ Leslie '10 made his college choice. The 6'8 power forward out of Word of God Academy (NC) committed to the North Carolina State Wolfpack. Leslie, currently ranked #22 in Northstar Basketball's Class of 2010 Terrific 125, had been previously been an NC State-pledge, but re-opened his recruitment late in his junior year.

Leslie, who was both a McDonald's All-American and a Jordan Brand Classic All-American, is a big-time athlete with a high motor. While his overall game is still improving, with his impressive length and athleticism, Leslie should be able to make a major immediate impact on a Wolfpack team that fell short of even the NIT in 09-10.

Leslie's commitment to NC State, which is in the same city, Raleigh, as his high school, was first reported by Scout. Kentucky and UConn were Leslie's other finalists, while Florida and Oregon were two other schools that stayed on his list for quite some time.

Many thought that Leslie would wind up at Kentucky the second time around, for a number of reasons, starting with the fact that it is rare for a basketball player to decommit from a school and then recommit there. Also, John Wall and CJ Leslie were high school teammates and Wall became a 1st Team All-American in  his one year in Lexington and is the likely number one overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft. In addition, John Calipari and Co. focused a lot of attention on Leslie and needed a 4-man in this class.

Kentucky will now hope to land Terrence Jones '10 of Jefferson (OR), a 6'8 combo forward who will be announcing his college choice tomorrow. Jones, currently ranked #20 in the Terrific 125, is believed to be choosing between Kansas, Kentucky, and Washington, with the Huskies as the favorites. UK is also involved with the only other top 100 player left on the board besides Jones, 6'8 ex-NC State commit Luke Cothron of Flora MacDonald Academy (NC) as well as 6'7 ex-Clemson signee Marcus Thornton of Westlake (GA).

Though Leslie is a tough loss for Kentucky, he is a much bigger get for North Carolina State. As mentioned above, he will have an immediate impact for the ACC school. Also, it is huge for Sidney Lowe, whose job security had been in doubt. Now, Lowe is bringing in a fantastic three-man recruiting class. When Cothron was a part of the class instead of Leslie, the group was ranked seventh in my Class of 2010 Team Recruiting Rankings- January Edition. Now, considering Leslie is a far better prospect than Cothron, the group has a legitmate shot to finish as a top five class despite being just three deep.

Ryan Harrow, a 6'0 point guard from Walton (GA), is right now the #26 player in the Terrific 125, but he will move into the top 25 when the final rankings come out. Thus NC State will be one of the only teams bringing in two top 25 players, and just one of two in the ACC. Along with Harrow, an electric playmaker, and Leslie, Lowe will also add Lorenzo Brown of Hargrave Military Academy (VA). A 6'4 combo guard, Brown was ranked #35 in Northstar Basketball's Class of 2009 Terrific 35 when he graduated from Centennial (GA), before doing a PG year at Hargrave. With Harrow and Brown in the backcourt and Leslie in the frontcourt, and some other young talent returning, Lowe will have a nice group of players to build around.

Now that CJ Leslie is off the board, just five players currently ranked in Northstar Basketball's Class of 2010 Terrific 125 are still uncommitted in #20 Terrence Jones of Jefferson (OR), #62 Luke Cothron of Flora MacDonald Academy (NC), #95 Dwayne Polee of Westchester (CA), #116 Jonathan Graham of Calvert Hall College HS (MD), and #125 Melsahn Basabe of St. Mark's (MA).

Note- photo is from http://scouthoops.scout.com/