SDSU basketball recruiting target commits to North Carolina State

San Diego State’s basketball team has two big men from Ghana. It won’t get a third, at least not right now.

Ebenezer Dowuona, a 6-10 Ghanaian center from The Heritage School outside Atlanta, committed to North Carolina State on Friday after also taking official recruiting trips to SDSU, South Florida, Pitt and Denver. The decision apparently came down to the Wolfpack and the Aztecs.

Dowuona can’t sign a letter of intent until next month, and even then his commitment might not be cemented if North Carolina State is sanctioned by the NCAA from the federal probe into college basketball.

In July, North Carolina State became the first school implicated in the federal case to receive a Notice of Allegations from the NCAA, which some outlets reported was intentional given the scope of the alleged transgressions. Orlando Early, an assistant coach and lead recruiter on Mike Gottfried’s staff, is accused of arranging for star player Dennis Smith Jr. to receive $46,700 in impermissible benefits – most notably a $40,000 cash payment to Smith’s father from Adidas representative TJ Gassnola.

The NCAA also identified a “pattern of noncompliance” within Gottfried’s program. Several of the alleged violations are considered Level 1 infractions that carry the most severe penalties, and much of the evidence comes from court documents and testimony under oath.

Now consider that last month fellow ACC member Georgia Tech received a postseason ban for 2019-20 and the loss of one scholarship over each of the next four years for seemingly far less egregious crimes: a booster giving a recruit $300 to visit an Atlanta strip club and another booster providing $2,400 in benefits to two players.

The NCAA, as is standard procedure in cases involving a postseason ban, allowed Georgia Tech players to transfer and have immediate eligibility at their new schools.

North Carolina State was originally given until Oct. 7 to respond to the Notice of Allegations, but the NCAA has since delayed that deadline until after Nov. 20. Smith Jr., who currently plays for the NBA’s New York Knicks, has denied that he or his family received the money from Gassnola or anyone at the school.

“From a recruiting standpoint, it’s been a little bit of a challenge,” head coach Kevin Keatts, who replaced Gottfried, said at the Wolfpack’s preseason media day last week. “As you know in basketball or any sport, any time of your competitors can use something that may happen or may not happen against you, then they do.”

SDSU has four scholarships available for 2020-21 – three from seniors leaving and one unused this season – and filled three with commitments from guards or wings: Lamont Butler Jr., Keith Dinwiddie Jr. and Che Evans Jr. All three are expected to sign letters of intent next month.

The focus then turned to a post player to replace senior bigs Nolan Narain and Yanni Wetzell. Coach Brian Dutcher made three trips to Atlanta in the last month to woo Dowuona, who brings a similar skill set to 6-10 sophomore Nathan Mensah.

The Aztecs also pursued Coleman Hawkins, a 6-10 forward whose father played at SDSU, but backed off and he committed to Illinois. They were a finalist for guard Noah Taitz as well, but there is less need at that position and Taitz committed to Stanford.

That probably ends SDSU’s recruitment from the high school class of 2020. Dutcher is expected to hold the remaining scholarship for the spring transfer market.