Why the nonstop basketball recruiting calendar ‘is a nightmare’ for college coaches

[BleedGopher]

Per Kyle:

Dan Hurley might’ve been the happiest man in the gym last week at Nike’s Peach Jam, the premier basketball recruiting event of the year, as he basked in the afterglow of a national championship. And why not? Five-star prospects perk up a bit more these days when the Connecticut coach slides into a courtside seat at their games.

But even Hurley felt an enormous sense of relief that the spring and summer evaluation season was finally winding down.

“With the propensity for players to look for greener pastures, it’s disconcerting to be on the road recruiting as much as we are,” he said. “You don’t know what you’re coming back to. We’re all paranoid, and I’d be a lot happier on campus, on the court — less recruiting days, more time on the court with my team.”

Alabama coach Nate Oats just signed his fourth consecutive top-15 recruiting class and cleaned up in the transfer portal, putting the Crimson Tide in position to win the SEC for a third time in four years. But he looked and sounded weary standing outside the Riverview Park Activities Center between games. Building a roster these days, or more often rebuilding a roster, is an exhausting, neverending endeavor.

“We had an official visit going on July 4,” Oats said. “The transfer portal has changed stuff. Since the season ended, I kind of made myself take Easter Sunday off to spend with the family, but that’s it. I don’t think I’ve had another day off since the season ended, really. It’s bad. I’m not going to sit here and complain — there are a lot of people who would trade jobs with me — but it definitely makes this harder.”

Not everyone hates it, but every coach The Athletic spoke to last week at Peach Jam at least acknowledged it: The Calendar, as college staffs refer to their schedules from March to August, never has been fuller. The day after this year’s Selection Sunday, a 60-day transfer-portal window opened. There’s a proliferation of recruiting obligations both on and off campus throughout the spring and summer, as well as the looming possibility that a player who has graduated (or does so by August) might still bounce for another program without penalty, just before the new season starts.

'The schedule is crazy.' The perpetual calendar is burning out college basketball coaches

Between the transfer portal and recruiting, coaches have few days free in the offseason. All agree the calendar needs to be changed,

theathletic.com

Go Gophers!!

 

[short ornery norwegian]

I understand the point of the article.

But there is a flip side - Coaches have always had the freedom to move from one school to another in search of more success, a bigger stage, and yes, more money.

now athletes have the same freedom of movement. it does make things less predictable, less controllable and more chaotic for coaches.

personally, I would like to see the whole recruiting world dialed back a notch. shorten the AAU season - or at least shorten the periods for open recruiting and official visits. and tighten the transfer portal windows to bring a little more order to the hoops scene.

 

[60's Guy]

Roster construction was difficult before the portal. Balancing the classes was big consideration.
Is it still a factor? Guys leave on a whim and you can replace them in a heartbeat if you have done the legwork and have a network to resource prospects. So many candidates available. But the stress, the angst...impossible to plan. Guys are gonna leave, you just hope it is at the end of the season.

The biggest issue is the commitment component. Guys can leave on a whim over a disagreement.
Guys can get offered promises by a rival program and they just up and leave. Just like an athletic director needs a list for coaches. Coaches need a list of guys they can target to replace a guy they were counting on....bridge guys to go along with the foundation guys.

Planning a roster has to be incredibly stressful. Guys are leaving at all times on the calendar. I'll bet it is a good percentage that the coach is surprised by the departure. Parents, AAU coaches, rival coaches in a players ear about this amazing opportunity over here.

Alabama has a lot of money to offer players. Sure he has to work hard to sell the top level talent he goes after but put the time in and his closing percentage is very high with his resources. A lot harder for coaches without the money to offer recruits.

Most important part is evaluating people and evaluating compatible talent. All these new guys gotta play together. Will this guy's game and personality fit what we are doing and who we have?
Never a harder time to coach. Social media means there are no secrets. I think nightmare is the appropriate term but it does pay well at the DI level.