Tudor's Take: Fowler's legacy up to Lowe, O'Brien

RALEIGH -- Will Lee Fowler one day be remembered as the athletic director who made two of the best coaching hires in N.C. State history?

That development is every bit as possible as it would be ironic.

After 10 seasons in the job, the 58-year-old Fowler has been forced out, but he leaves behind basketball coach Sidney Lowe and football coach Tom O’Brien at a time when both seem to be on the brink of substantial improvement.

Word of Fowler’s pending exit came on the very day that one of Lowe’s highest rated recruits, forward C.J. Leslie, was scheduled to sign his letter of intent to play for the Wolfpack.

There’s a decent chance that Lowe’s 2010-11 team will be the preseason pick to finish third or fourth in the ACC. A State team has finished higher than fourth in the league regular-season race only twice since 1988-89.

O’Brien’s fourth Wolfpack football team will begin 2010 with one of the nation’s best quarterbacks — Russell Wilson — preparing for a schedule that includes four home dates among the first six games.

Fowler hired both primary coaches, as well as new women’s basketball coach Kellie Harper during his tenure.

Although Fowler has had critics within the fan base for years, the failure of O’Brien and Lowe to win relatively big from the start extensively eroded his standing the last three or so years.

The fact that State’s non-revenue teams rarely won championships certainly didn’t help Fowler’s footing, but that would have remained totally insignificant if the basketball and football teams had been national top-25 regulars.

Fowler’s successor will benefit enormously if Lowe and O’Brien go on winning sprees. But if they don’t, the next athletic director will have to bring in new ones. And if those coaches don’t win quickly, the new AD also will inherit Fowler’s critics.