DURHAM -- It may get worse from here for N.C. State, but it's hard to imagine.
As if it hadn't been an ugly enough season, Saturday's blowout loss at Duke combined with C.J. Leslie's suspension put things over the top - or down to the very bottom.
Not that anyone expected a win at Cameron Indoor Stadium, but a little competitiveness would have been appreciated, particularly in the first half, when the Wolfpack had no answer for anything Duke did on its way to a 76-52 loss.
With Tracy Smith aching, Ryan Harrow still ailing and Leslie invited to remain home, the Wolfpack kept it close until the first TV timeout, at which point Duke ripped off a 21-2 run on its way to a 30-point first-half lead.
"I hate playing the way we are right now in the first half most games," N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe said. "But we still have a lot to play for. It was encouraging to see our kids play as hard as they did in the second half."
No, it wasn't like the Wisconsin loss, when the Wolfpack mailed in the second half under similar circumstances, but it was supposed to be better than this for the Wolfpack this season.
When Leslie committed to N.C. State in April, it was - as it turns out - as good as the season would get for the Wolfpack. His decision to stick with his original college choice cemented an incoming class that had both recruiting analysts and fans excited.
With Harrow and Lorenzo Brown already on board, Leslie was the trump card, the five-star recruit whose athleticism gave him the potential to become one of the ACC's most hard-to-guard players.
Lowe beat off Kentucky and Connecticut for Leslie's signature, and the optimism surrounding the program had never been higher in Lowe's tenure.
Nine months later, it's never been lower.
Lowe said Leslie's suspension is "just one game" for breaking an unspecified team rule. With heads still shaking over Larry Drew II's sudden departure from North Carolina on Friday, the two events served as a reminder that recruiting is an inexact art and Internet star ratings aren't worth the paper they aren't printed on.
Roy Williams thought Drew was the kind of point guard who could follow in the footsteps of Ray Felton and Ty Lawson, with basketball genes and an NBA pedigree. Drew became a lightning rod for fans unhappy with a miserable season last year, but he was a key contributor to the Tar Heels' recent resurgence in a lesser role, right up until he walked out the door without a word to his coach or teammates in the middle of the season.
Leslie had the kind of recruiting buzz that Drew could only envy, but he's done even less for N.C. State than Drew did for North Carolina. He's second on the team in scoring, but his defense has been suspect to say the least and the suspension further muddies the water.
Leslie came onto campus in a supernova of excitement. Supernovas burn bright, but most collapse into black holes. The first-half implosion felt like that for N.C. State.
"The first half of an ACC game, to be up like that, it's just not going to happen hardly at all," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "I was shocked we had that lead at halftime."
If he was shocked, imagine the reaction of all the fans who were so excited when Leslie decided he was coming to N.C. State.
Saturday, Leslie was nowhere to be found, just like the optimism he brought with him.
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