New N.C. State basketball coach Mark Gottfried is trying to avoid the now infamous rift between State AD Debbie Yow and Maryland coach Gary Williams. Yow publicly announced during the Gottfried press conference than Williams had tried to sabotage the search for a coach to replace Sidney Lowe.

“Let me say this, Gary Williams is a good friend, we have played golf together many times, and he is just a phenomenal, phenomenal basketball coach. For whatever reason there have been some issues between the two of them,” Gottfried said. “That’s not my fight to fight.”

Gottfried said that Yow wants to win. “She wants people to understand that she doesn’t want to back down from anybody either. I’ve told many people that if she’s going to play in the game I want her on my team,” he said.

“I don’t know that the other thing going on has anything to do with me but I’m glad she’s the kind of person that wants to do right for her own program,” he added.