More recruits try to improve, not impress recruiters

Sporting News, The, July 22, 2002 by Mike DeCourcy

According to NCAA rules, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski could not speak with gifted forward prospect Kris Humphries during last week's Nike All-American Camp--not in person, not on the telephone. But before leaving his Minnesota home for Indianapolis, Humphries accepted a bit of instruction from his future coach on how to improve while on the July recruiting circuit.

Though he won't be on the roster until September 2003, Humphries is a Blue Devil and already has tuned out other coaches. He pledged in May to sign a letter of intent this fall and is among the growing number of elite players for whom this year's summer evaluation period only was marginally about evaluation. The recruiting services still examined Humphries' game to determine his value among his peers, and the pro scouts still got an early look. But any college coaches not wearing Duke gear who were assessing his skills only were searching for ways to defeat him.

This was the first year players were permitted to make official visits--those arranged and financed by schools--during their junior year. In the past, it was the norm for only a handful of players to commit before the July recruiting season. This year, 13 of recruiting analyst Dave Telep's pre-summer top 50 prospects committed before attending the Nike Camp or the adidas ABCD Camp in New Jersey. And many other elite players who just missed that list also are off the market, including two headed for Kansas, two for Xavier and two for LSU.

The primary reason for adopting the new recruiting calendar is to allow college coaches to build relationships with prospects earlier, ideally diminishing the impact of peripheral influences on their decisions and development. That, of course, is a good thing.

It's a little early to gauge all of the accompanying side effects, but one that clearly seems to be positive is the new emphasis on the development of these players' talents. Increasingly, camps such as Nike or adidas had become Broadway auditions, where the players were throwing out every high note they could reach just to show some form of potential. Now, with scholarship already in hand, more players are concerned with simply becoming better players.

There are a variety of reasons players have chosen this course. Point guard Mike Henderson of Waterloo, Iowa, committed to Iowa State early because he wanted to release the pressure that was building daily. Future Wake Forest point guard Chris Paul determined that once he knew his choice, "I thought it wouldn't be right to the other schools. They could go out and find a good player instead of waiting around for me."

And players can use the extra time to heed their future coaches' advice. Paul says Wake coach Skip Prosser suggested that Paul continue getting stronger and that he work on creating scoring opportunities off the dribble. Humphries will attempt to follow Krzyzewski's plan to try gaining strength without additional bulk. His workout routine now involves lifting less weight with more repetitions. Humphries can play power forward at 6-8, but the Blue Devils recruited three taller inside players in their current freshman class, so small forward might be Humphries' best fit. First, he needs to become less rigid and develop better ball skills.

Had Humphries been unable to take official visits as a junior, he says his parents would have paid for trips so he could have investigated the schools' capacity to facilitate his future. But not all parents have the means or interest to transport their son from Minnesota to North Carolina on a spring weekend.

Still, not all players are in a hurry to get through the recruiting process. Jason Rich, a 6-2 shooting guard from Orlando, is a year away from being completely immersed in all this. Rich can imagine taking official visits next spring, toward the close of his junior year, but he can't picture committing at that point. "You never know what door is going to open up," he says.

Given the current pace of the recruiting process, though, every time a door opens, another one closes.

INSIDE DISH

Although it seems unlikely he'll attend college, Akron prep SF LeBron James says he hasn't decided whether he'll enter the 2003 NBA draft--he'd likely be the top pick--and plans to take his allotted five official recruiting visits to North Carolina, Duke, Florida, Ohio State and Louisville.... PG Randy Foye, a vital part of Villanova's exciting incoming freshman class, has met NCAA eligibility requirements and is enrolled in summer classes.... The best big man at the adidas ABCD Camp in Teaneck, N.J., was the biggest big man: 6-10, 300-plus-pounder James Lang of Birmingham, Ala. Though he needs to lose weight, Lang was the most aggressive big man in camp, hungry to swat down every shot he could reach and nimble enough to reach nearly every shot in the lane. He has made an unofficial visit to Louisville, and Alabama is interested. North Carolina also figures to join the pursuit.... SG Vakeaton Wafer, of tiny Lisbon, La., demonstrated at the Nike All-American Camp that his performance at an April tournament in the Houston area was legitimate. Before that event, only Louisiana Tech was interested in Wafer. He now is looking at Texas, Indiana, LSU, Cincinnati, Louisville, Florida, Maryland, Charlotte and Mississippi State. The 6-4 Wafer is long, and he is a great leaper. He has an electric first step and is an excellent shooter.... LSU has commitments from two gifted frontcourt players: 6-8 Darnell Lazare of Baton Rouge, La., and 6-8 Regis Koundjia of Laurinburg, N.C., but the Tigers still are making muscular 6-8 F Brandon Bass their No. 1 priority. They also are interested in Houston PG Tack Minor, whose current top pursuer is Cincinnati.--M.D.