With the focus on college basketball recruiting and the high transfer rate this off-season, every side of the issue has begun to point fingers, either at AAU, high school, college, or any other factor that could support one’s case.
But The Daily’s Dan Wolken, in a column Monday, turned the spotlight to the people who many have been quick to forgive, when it comes to finding a cause: college coaches.
“More often than not, coaches know whether the players they’re recruiting have a chance to make an impact right away,” Wolken writes.
“But none of that matters in the actual recruiting process because the stakes are so high and the business is so competitive. A coach can either be honest about where a player fits or sell an unrealistic vision and worry about keeping the kid happy later.”
It’s an unfortunate view of the recruiting process, and not all coaches do it, but it certainly happens.
Not to begin to defend coaches, as they have plenty who will come to their defense anyway, but when it boils down to it, the careers of these coaches depend on the decisions of 17- and 18-year-old kids.
A string of a few years where recruits flock elsewhere and it could spell the end for a coach.
Does that happen at your job?
That in no way should legitimize or encourage deception, though. It points out a need for more support on the side of the players, with a circle of people who have the recruit’s true interest at heart.
But not every player has that luxury, so if coaches don’t change, the system may not either.
Read the rest of Wolken’s column here.
Daniel Martin is a writer and editor at JohnnyJungle.com, covering St. John’s. You can find him on Twitter:@DanielJMartin_