A Beginners Guide to Kansas Recruiting

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Who are the prospects to whom I should pay attention?

How many scholarships does KU have?

What does Roy want from this recruiting class?

Who works harder at recruiting than Roy Williams?

When does the recruiting process begin and end?

When should I start listening for news?

What's a verbal commitment?

What's a letter of intent?

When are the letter of intent signing periods?

What are recruiting gurus, and how can I get more information on recruiting?

What are the summer camps?

What are evaluation and contact periods?

When are the Contact and Evaluation Periods?

Can Coaches call Prospects?

What's an official visit and what goes on?

What's a McDonald's All-American?

This page is designed to provide basic recruiting information to the average fan. I am not a recruiting guru so you won't find any news on recruits here that you can't find on the newsgroup boards. But, if you want to know enough about recruiting in general and Kansas recruiting in particular so that you can follow the conversation around the water cooler, this page may help.

Q: Who are the prospects to Whom I should pay attention?

Roy Williams has several time warned fans that this could be a slow fall for KU recruiting. Williams has said that he considers the class he signed last year a "nucleus" class. In other words, KU brought in a load of talent last year. As a result, it sounds as if he is being very selective in who he is recruiting this year. He has stated he will make fewer in-home visits this fall than he has in any previous year.

None of this means that KU won't have a good recruiting year. In fact, KU already has the start on a great class with the verbal commitment of DeShawn Stevenson. Here are the two players KU has apparently targeted.

1. Travon Bryant, PF, 6-8, 225 lb., Long Beach, CA.

Travon is rated in the top 20 according to most analysts and could play either the wing or power forward positions. He attended Late Night and reportedly had a great time. It is believed that his choice will come down to KU, Missouri or Kentucky, with KU believed to be the favorite. It is unclear whether Bryant will sign in the Fall or wait until the Spring.

2. DeShawn Stevenson, SG, 6-5, Fresno, CA--Committed to KU

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Q: How many scholarships does KU have?

The Jayhawks have 3 scholarships available for the 2000-01 season. Nick Bradford, Ashante Johnson and Lester Earl are seniors this year and will each vacate scholarships after this season. Don't be surprised if KU doesn't use all three this season. Williams commented recently that he wouldn't mind having an extra scholarship is his hip pocket in case a quality transfer came along. He wouldn't turn down a quality recruit to keep a scholarship open, but apparently wouldn't be concerned if he didn't use all three this year.

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Q: What does Williams want from this recruiting class?

One can only make an educated guess based on who KU will lose and who will be coming back. With Bradford and Johnson both leaving, the Jayhawks could use one and perhaps two wing forwards. Look for Paul Pierce-type players to be high on KU's list.

With Lester leaving after this season and Chenowith entering the 2000-01 season as a senior, KU would have a spot for another power forward or a center. While both Collison and Gooden have the potential to have great careers, neither is a true center.

Williams' expectations for this recruiting class are not very high, though, because last year's class was so good. Williams has described last year's class as a "nucleus" class around which one can build a team. That takes pressure off this recruiting class. Also, the three players KU will lose alter this year will each be competing for playing time this season and, thus, their departure will leave comparatively smaller holes than, say, the loss of a LaFrentz or a Pierce.

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Q: Who works harder at recruiting than Roy Williams?

Nobody.

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Q: When does the recruiting process begin and end?

The recruiting season for a high school senior officially begins in July the summer before the recruit's senior year. This is when the summer camps are held and when coaches can start making contacts with a recruit.

For the individual prospects the process lasts until the prospect makes a verbal commitment and then signs a letter of intent. Recruits can make verbal commitments as early as they want, although most wait until at least late the summer before their senior season. Many don't make a commitment until the spring of their senior year.

For a college coach, the process lasts until they have used up their scholarships. Coaches love to give out all of their scholarships during the fall signing period and relax in the spring. Most coaches don't have that luxury.

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Q: When should I start listening for recruiting news?

Players start making verbal commitments in late summer and early fall, but recruiting news really heats up in early October and peaks in November during the week of the fall signing period. Recruiting news then slows down during much of the rest of the winter. News tends to pick up again in March and peaks again during the spring signing period.

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Q: What's a verbal commitment?

A verbal commitment (also called a "verbal") is a statement by a player to a particular school's coach that he will sign a letter of intent to go to that school when the next signing period rolls around. It is non-binding. While most schools will back off a player and stop recruiting him once he gives a verbal commitment to another school, not all do, which tends to annoy the coach who got the verbal commitment. Verbal commitments can come very early in the process or just before the official signing periods. Coaches, of course, love getting early verbal commitments.

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Q: What's a letter of intent?

The Letter of Intent is the holy grail of college recruiting. Getting a Letter of Intent from a top recruit is the reason college coaches travel the country relentlessly, call 17 year-old kids once a week just to chat, mail them letters every week and otherwise humble themselves. It is a document signed by the recruit pledging to attend a particular school, play basketball for the school and to accept a scholarship. Usually the recruitment of a prospect ends once the player signs a Letter of Intent. It is difficult for a player to get out of a Letter of Intent unless the school releases the player.

Letters of Intent are administered by the Collegiate Commissioners Association, not the NCAA.

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Q: When are the Letter of Intent signing periods?

There are two signing periods. One in the fall and one in the spring. The fall period is Nov. 11-18. Players who don't sign at that time must wait until April 7.

Many players sign in the fall, end the process and go back to living normal lives. Others wait until spring either because they haven't made up their minds or because they have not yet made a qualifying score on either the SAT or ACT, which is required before signing a Letter of Intent during the early signing period.

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Q: What are recruiting gurus, and how can I get more information on recruiting?

Also known as recruiting analysts, recruiting gurus generally write for recruiting publications that rank the high school players by position, by region and nationally. They also report on and or speculate about which schools are interested in which players, and vice versa. Bob Gibbons is probably the best known recruiting guru. A few of these publications are available on the newsstand. Most are subscription newsletters. Some also have 900 numbers and subscription web sites where one can get the latest scoop for a fee.

Recruiting analysts spend a lot of time at the summer camps evaluating players and trying to pry information from the college coaches about who they are recruiting and from the players and their family, friends and coaches about the schools in which the players are interested.

Even the best analysts are wrong about where a player will end up more than they are right, at least until a day or so before the player actually announces. The information in these recruiting reports comes from a variety of sources, some much more reliable than others. While the analysts' reports can be interesting and generally give a fairly accurate picture regarding which schools a player is looking at, one shouldn't put too much stock in any "inside" tip they provide.

These links will take you to a sampling of the recruiting analysts on the web:

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Q: What are the summer camps?

The summer camps are camps at which the best 200 or so high school players compete with each other for the attention of the college coaches. The college coaches in turn spend a lot of time evaluating the players and hoping to make eye contact with the top prospects. In the midst of this courtship, the gurus and the public get a chance to watch and come to their own opinions about the top prospects. Most of the camps are held in July because July marks the first evaluation period of the recruiting season.

The most prestigious camps are sponsored by shoe companies, like Nike. Not everyone thinks that is good. A player's stock in the eyes of the recruiting gurus can rise or fall dramatically based upon their performance at these camps. Some analysts only see a particular player once during the year and often it is at one of these camps, which is why the rankings of the gurus can be suspect.

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Q: What are evaluation and contact periods?

Like the tax code, the NCAA's rules regarding recruiting are complicated, and easy to confuse. Many schools have employees, often lawyers, whose primary job is to make sure the coaches and athletes understand the rules.

The NCAA has strict rules governing face to face contact between prospects and coaches. The NCAA divides such meetings into two categories--"Evaluations" and "Contacts"--and limits the number of each that a coach can have with a prospect.

"Evaluations" are opportunities for college coaches to watch recruiting prospects in person. The NCAA defines an "evaluation" as follows:

An evaluation is any off-campus activity used to assess your academic qualifications or athletics ability, including a visit to your high school (during which no contact occurs) or watching you practice or compete at any site.

A "contact" is a face to face meeting between a prospect and a college coach. Per the NCAA:

Any face-to-face meeting between a college coach and you or your parents, during which any of you say more than "hello" is a contact. Also, any face-to-face meeting that is prearranged or that occurs at your high school or competition or practice site is a contact, regardless of the conversation. These contacts are not permissible "bumps."

The NCAA limits both when these encounters can happen and how many a coach can have with a player. A college coach may contact a recruit in person off the college campus only on or after July 1 after completion of the prospect's junior year and only during the prescribed contact and evaluation periods. Coaches may contact a prospect off the college campus no more than three times. However, a college coach may visit the player's high school only once a week during a contact period.

A coach can only evaluate a player during a Contact Period or during one of the prescribed Evaluation Periods.

The most important contact is often the in-home visit, when the coach visits the recruit and his family in their home. This is a chance for the coach to sell himself and his program to the recruit's parents. Roy Williams is particularly good at the in-home visit. Mothers love him.

Basketball coaches have five "recruiting opportunities" to utilize on each prospect during any year. In using those five opportunities, the coach may use any combination of contacts and/or evaluations that equal five; however, not more than three of the opportunities may be in-person contacts.

Is it any wonder these rules give coaches headaches?

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Q: When are the Contact and Evaluation Periods?

Definitions of "Contact", "Dead", "Evaluation" and "Quiet" Periods

March 16, 1999 through March 22, 1999: Contact Period

March 23, 1999 through March 31, 1999 (8 a.m.) [except for (1) below]: Quiet Period

March 25, 1999 through March 30, 1999 (noon): Dead Period

March 31, 1999 (8 a.m.) through April 14, 1999 [except for (1) below]: Contact Period

April 5, 1999 through April 8, 1999: Dead Period

April 15, 1999 through May 31, 1999: Quiet Period

June 1, 1999 through July 7, 1999: Quiet Period

July 8, 1999 through July 31, 1999: Evaluation Period

August 1, 1999 through September 8, 1999: Quiet Period

September 9, 1999 through September 26, 1999: Contact Period

September 27, 1999 through November 17, 1999 [except for (1) below]: Quiet Period

November 8, 1999 through November 11, 1999: Dead Period

November 10 through November 17, 1999--Early Letter of Intent signing period.

November 18, 1999 through March 15, 2000 [except for (1) below] -

1.Those days during November 18, 1999 through March 15, 2000 not designated above for evaluation purposes: Quiet Period

March 16, 2000 through March 22, 2000: Contact Period

March 23, 2000 through April 5, 2000 (8 a.m.) [except for (1) below]: Quiet Period

March 30, 2000 through April 4, 2000 (noon): Dead Period

April 5, 2000 (8 am) through April 19, 2000 [except for (1) below]: Contact Period

April 12 Through April 15, 1999. Spring Letter of Intent signing period.

April 10, 2000 through April 13, 2000: Dead Period

April 20, 2000 through July 7, 2000: Quiet Period

July 8, 2000 through July 31, 2000: Evaluation Period

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Q: Can Coaches call Prospects?

Phone calls from coaches are not permitted until July 1 after completion of a player's junior year. After this, a college coach or faculty member is limited to one telephone call per week to each player, except that unlimited calls to a player may be made under the following circumstances:

•During the five days immediately before a player's official visit to that school;

•On the day of a coach's off-campus contact with a player;

•On the initial date for signing a National Letter of Intent through two days after the initial signing date.

Prospects can call coaches as much as they want, even if they call collect.

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Q: What's an official visit and what goes on?

An official visit is a chance for a prospect to visit a school at the school's expense to size things up. A school can give only one to each prospect. Prospects are only allowed to make official visits to five schools.

Official visits may not exceed 48 hours, and what the school can give to the prospect in terms of meals, tickets, entertainment and souvenirs is strictly limited.

From the school's standpoint, the official visit is a chance to close the deal. Coaches can get more quality time with a prospect at an official visit than during the rest of the entire recruiting process. Usually prospects will spend a lot of time with the current players, play a pick-up game with them and go to a football game in the fall or a basketball game in the winter.

At KU, Williams likes to get the prospects he is most interested in on campus for Late Night with Roy Williams so the prospect can see KU fans at their most zealous.

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Q: What's a McDonald's All-American?

The cream of the crop. A McDonald's All-American is a high school senior who has been selected to play in the McDonald's All-American game. The intent of the game is to bring together the top 20 or so high school basketball players. It is the most prestigious of the post-season all-star tournaments. Having one of your team's recruits named to the McDonald's All-American game makes a fan happy, as it is a sign that the coach knew what he was doing when he spent every free moment for six months talking to and/or thinking about the recruit.

Not all McDonald's All-Americans become stars. Calvin Rayford was a McDonald's All-American, but never was more than a role player at KU. Many college stars weren't named McDonal's All-Americans in high school. So, too much shouldn't be made of the game.

The game is usually played the Sunday of the Final Four.

KU currently has 5 McDonald's All-Americans: Nick Collison, Eric Chenowith, Kenny Gregory, Jeff Boschee and Lester Earl. Gregory was named MVP of the game.

Roy is a good recruiter.

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