In my 9th year as an assistant coach at Edwardsville we have had our fair share of Division 1 basketball players. We don’t have McDonald’s All Americans or kids that end up in the top 100 of national rankings. What we have are tough, smart kids, that are winners and proven players. This year we were fortunate to have two All State players that both will play in the MVC conference next year. One of our players has a great future ahead of him at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. His recruitment was fast and relatively easy as he received an offer early in the school year after blowing up during the summer AAU circuit. He jumped on it and is very happy with his decision to be a Saluki.
With recruiting rankings and message boards tracking every move head coaches make, recruiting is much more of a roller coaster for 17 and 18 year old kids than most people could ever imagine. I have seen no greater example of this than with our graduating senior point guard. First, let me give you his credentials. He was our starting point guard for the last three years in which we finished in the Top 8, 3rd place, and 4th place in the largest class of basketball in the basketball rich state of Illinois. He lost 12 games as a starter in 3 years and 3 of those were at the state tournament against players that are now playing at basketball blue bloods or entering the NBA draft. This year he averaged 18 ppg, 8 assists, and shot 40% from 3. He’s fast, smart, and tough as nails. He’s also an honor student and member of the National Honor Society. He finished First Team All State, Belleville News Democrat Player of the Year, and Alton Telegraph Player of the year. He was also All Metro for the St. Louis Post Dispatch. He ended his career for us as the most decorated player to ever graduate from Edwardsville. On paper it seems to be a no brainer that he is a sure fire D1 recruit and with his grades and accomplishments probably garnered many offers from D1 coaches. What I left off the list was that he is favorably listed at 6’1 and has not dunked a basketball in any of our games. Believe me, the latter of that statement is valuable and maybe more valuable than many of his other qualifications.
The reality of his recruitment is that he didn’t receive his first offer until late January of his senior year after dozens of head coaches had been to practice and games evaluating his every move. Everyone loved him...right up until the part when it came to making a scholarship offer. Every coach said the right things but nobody would pull the trigger. Imagine the frustration with him as he is competing against, and in many cases, dominating other players that already had numerous offers. He is short by basketball terms. His size is a concern. How athletic is he as far as jumping and such? Who else has offered scholarships these coaches would ask? These were the main statements and questions we heard as coaches tried to justify their non-offers.
After one particular game in which he had over 20 points and controlled the game he shouted to himself and anyone that would listen, “It’s time for some offers!” Not in a cocky showman type of way but in a “What the HELL else do I have to do to get an offer,” type of way. His frustration was clear and as a coach there was nothing to say to him except, “You are right.”
Once Eastern Illinois made him his first offer, his recruiting took off. Within a week Shawn had 6 offers from school such as Navy, UMKC, and UW-Milwaukee. Now coaches were pitching that he would have the keys to the sports car that was their high powered offense. What changed? How could he go from plan B to a wanted man? Easy...he had other offers! Coaches could now justify to their fan base that he was a great player. His stats didn’t change and he didn’t magically grow two inches. While all of the coaches were very professional and respectful throughout the process it was amazing to me that coaches don’t just identify the type of player they want and go after him. They worry. They are filled with doubt and often think about what a player CAN'T do as opposed to what he CAN do. Our point guard is a winner and facilitates winning. One coach told me unfortunately how many games a kid wins in high school isn’t really part of their evaluation. He ended up receiving 8 offers at the end of the season and the offer list grew when many Mid Major programs lost players to transfers in the Spring. He had numerous coaches tell him they would have an offer for him as soon as a certain player left or they pushed him out. Some of that was true while other coaches never were able to get a player to leave.
He eventually went on official visits to UC-Davis, Navy, and Missouri State. Missouri State was the last school to offer him but he fell in love with their coaches and program on his visit. Missouri State’s point guard shocked the staff and abruptly left the program after the season. They hadn’t been to any of our practices or games to see him play during the season. But, they could justify their offer because he had other offers...if that makes sense. He then faced the tough task of calling the head coaches that had recruited him and treated his family to a visit to break them the bad news that he was going elsewhere. These were the hardest things he had to do he told me. To his credit he manned up. He didn’t text or email or have his Dad call.
As a coach and especially as an assistant coach I think its best to just be supportive and only offer advice if it is asked. Our head coach did a great job of keeping him positive and helping him remain confident that things would work out. He also comes from a very strong family which really helped. As a coach you start to take offense with college coaches and their desire to offer bad character kids that may be taller or jump higher but simply aren’t better basketball players. The transfer rate has sky rocketed and this recruitment allowed me to see why. Coaches seem to recruit a type of athlete opposed to a type of player and man. There is no doubt in my mind that after a couple of years with him at Mo State we will have many opportunities to tell coaches when they come in to recruit a new kid, “We told you so.”
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