Bryan Sherrer is staying busy this July.
Not only is the Murray State graduate assistant keeping tabs on the players currently on campus, but he’s also wrapping up his time with the program.
After two years on staff in Murray, Sherrer, a former Murray State player himself, is interviewing for assistant coaching positions, getting looks from High Point and Wallace State (Ala.) Community College-Selma.
But for now, he’s carrying the graduate assistant tag and everything that comes with it.
“You have to look at it like, everyone that started as a GA [graduate assistant],” Sherrer said by phone last week.”You have to look at the future and think ‘this is where I’m going to get,’ it motivates you to try to get where I want to be [as a coach].”
Sherrer (pictured above) said he hopes to hear something about a coaching position in the next few weeks.
To read through NBCSports.com’s series on July’s live recruiting period, click here.
Until then, Sherrer has done what most GAs do during the July live recruiting period, maintain and organize. He makes sure the players are attending their summer classes and weight room sessions, while also getting shots up and working on their respective games in the CFSB Center.
This is the picture that’s painted across most college basketball programs at this time. Along with the on-campus responsibilities, GAs like Western Kentucky’s Michael Pollio also keep in constant contact with the head and assistant coaches on the road to help them keep a handle on the recruiting scene.
That’s one wrinkle that most graduate assistants also carry with them in July.
Most of that has to do with keeping track of the schedules that the coaches must keep while on the road. Including keeping up with information on where certain targets are playing, whether their respective teams have changed schedules or whether the player coaches want to evaluate will be playing in the game.
“It’s different with all the coaches,” Pollio said. “Some of the coaches, some days I’ll talk to them to see how their trip went, see if they need anything, directions to gym, anything like that. [Others] I’ll talk to them at night when they’ve finished their recruiting days.”
The Little Things
The basis of the summer period remains the same for most GAs. It’s the smaller nuances that both make their time with their respective teams different and also attempt to give them an edge toward becoming a coach, something all three graduate assistants interviewed for this story want to be.
In the case of SMU intern Sean Stout – different programs have different titles for their graduate helpers, such as assistants/managers/interns/etc. – he is in his second summer working with Larry Brown, from whom he’s already learned a vast amount, on and off the court.
“It’s been great,” he said. “I didn’t know a lot before I took the job. It’s been better than I ever could’ve ever imagined. Coach Brown is concerned with what’s going on with you and what’s going on with your family…The biggest thing is, he wants everyone to be a head coach. So he’s helping me or any of the assistants get to that point.”
Stout added that Brown’s presence in recruiting has helped the Mustangs get in the race for recruits that they otherwise wouldn’t have had a chance with — SMU brings in two four star recruits in Keith Frazier and Sterling Brown and a three star recruit in Ben Moore in their 2013 haul. Also, despite heading into the newly-minted American Athletic Conference, the staff hasn’t altered its recruiting pitch or preparation.
“I don’t think the conference is as important to the kids as it was 5-10 years ago,” he said.
Jack Of All Trades
When the coaches come in from the road, Pollio says the team takes on a schedule that includes meetings to go over the details of the next recruiting live period, discussing summer practice routines and getting a progress reports on current players.
“When the coaches are in town, we have two hour practices,” Pollio said. “We work with the guys when the coaches aren’t in town, make sure guys are in their lift sessions. All players are in July classes, so we make sure they’re in their classes….We require a certain amount of study hall hours. A lot of it revolves around the academic side with our players.”
For others, the progression of the players takes an equal amount, if not more time, than keeping up with the coaches while they’re out recruiting.
In his capacity with the team, Stout said he can spend additional time outside of the NCAA-mandated two hours per week with the players. Those two hours are the limit for head and assistant coaches in the summer. In total, players can spend eight hours per week working in the summer periods: two hours on the court and six in the weight room.
Stout said the coaching staff breaks the two on-court hours down to three 40-minute practices per week. And while the summer sounds like a slower time, take Stout’s word for it, it’s no time to get lethargic.
“Not necessarily,” Stout said when asked if he gets a break in the warmer months. “The summer is supposed to be a little slower, but especially during this recruiting period, it doesn’t slow down…..It’s still a lot busier time that people think. It’s not a vacation, that’s for sure.”
Though all of the preparation and planning back on-campus is for one thing: The regular season.
“We are always working towards next year,” Pollio said. “So the motivation comes from [that] we’ve already started working towards next season. So the motivation is pretty easy on that side of things.”
For guys like Sherrer, who know all too well that their job as a GA is temporary, it’s also about getting things ready for the next person that takes their job after they’ve moved on.
“I’m really getting stuff for the next guy that comes in,” Sherrer added. “Make sure they have everything mapped out for when they come in.”
(Photo courtesy of Tab Brockman)
Follow David Harten on Twitter at @David_Harten
