Portland (Maine) Press Herald: International Players Increase at Mid-Majors

Ignatius L Hoops

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http://www.pressherald.com/2017/03/05/umaines-foreign-recruiting-makes-a-world-of-difference/

An article focused on Maine but discussing the increase in international (Europe especially) recruiting by mid-majors:


ORONO — They looked at their roster, at the gaps and holes, which only seemed to be growing deeper.

“We had a void,” Amy Vachon said.

Head coach Richard Barron and Vachon, his assistant coach, had just finished their first season in 2012, trying to rebuild a University of Maine women’s basketball team that finished with eight wins and 23 losses.

“At the end of the season, for a lot of different reasons – kids transferred, or were hurt, or stopped playing basketball – we had a lot of (roster) spots we needed to fill,” Vachon said. “We needed to find six kids who were still available and who we thought were good enough to play for us.”

By April, most players had already committed to other colleges.

So the Black Bears looked abroad.

“Coach (Barron) took a whirlwind trip to Europe, met with a lot of families and saw a lot of basketball,” Vachon said. “Out of that trip, we signed six kids.”...

... In 2000, there were 110 international players on NCAA Division I women’s basketball rosters. That number grew to 198 in 2012-13, the year Maine jumped into the foreign market. By 2016, there were 301.

Foreign recruiting has paid off for Maine, which tied with the University of Albany atop the American East Conference regular-season standings in 2015 and 2016.

The Black Bears lost eight seniors to graduation last spring, but have reloaded with a freshman class that includes three players from Spain, two from Croatia, one each from Sweden and Canada, and one from 50 miles away, on Mount Desert Island....


...The players were thrilled about the student-athlete approach at American colleges.

“When I understood that I could actually get a free education in the U.S. and play basketball at the same time, that became my goal,” said freshman forward Fanny Wadling of Sweden....


...Despite the emphasis on international players, Maine’s recruiting budget has not changed that much.

Barron’s “whirlwind trip to Europe” in 2012 did bounce the budget up to $91,000, from $39,000 in 2011 and $49,000 in 2010.

But the budget expenditures have gone down since. They were $35,000 in 2016.

Vachon said recruiting in the United States can require several flights, plus fees to attend the showcase tournaments.

“A lot of times, you’re looking at one kid, and you’re paying a $600 (fee) to see one kid. It’s crazy,” Vachon said. “Just to go to a tournament in Washington, D.C., the (total cost) is going to be at least $1,500.

“Whereas you go to Europe, you can get a flight for $600. You don’t have to pay to go to those tournaments. And you can get really cheap hotels in Europe, plus public transportation. It’s $1,000.”

All of the college coaches interviewed spoke of the madness of summer recruiting in America, with hundreds of coaches at a showcase tournament.

“I despise the month of July,” said Fernandez, the South Florida coach.

As a result, more coaches are reaching for their passports.

“When we first started going over five years ago,” said Williams, the Colorado State coach, of his overseas recruiting trips, “we ran into a few other coaches. Now we’re running into a bunch.”
 




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