PHOENIX β For college basketball coaches all over the West, it isnβt just that two weekends of Section 7 events are bringing over 200 of the regionβs top high school programs together.
Itβs that any of them are there at all.
Anybody, in person. Not a live stream or video highlight.
Just actual live basketball.
βIt feels like spring after a hard winter,β Cal coach Mark Fox said. βI donβt think thereβs any doubt that we all feel like weβre behind because thereβs nothing like in-person evaluation but this has been wonderful, just to actually see guys in person, to see a mass number of guys.β
Fourteen-plus months of COVID-19-induced dead periods, finally, are over. Coaches were allowed to resume in-person recruiting on June 1 and they have been allowed to start evaluating high school events in person over the last two weekends of June.
Now coaches are sitting courtside, some last weekend at State Farm Stadium for the Section 7 team camp and some this weekend at Phoenix Brophy Prep, for the Section 7 finals.
Theyβre not sitting in front of a computer screen.
βItβs almost surreal to be to be back here, you know,β UCLA coach Mick Cronin said at State Farm Stadium last weekend. βItβs almost like `Was it just a bad movie? Were we all just sleeping?β β
Working off video and the memory of in-person evaluations from previous years worked well enough to finish up recruiting the class of 2021, which had already been pretty thoroughly examined before the pandemic shut down things in March 2020.
But the lack of in-person evaluation has meant some coaches have been anxious to get out and watch the high school classes of 2022, 2023 and 2024 this month.
Players are anxious, too. In the type of comment that has been common at Section 7, UA target Aaron Powell of Los Angeles Campbell Hall said he had been βwaiting for this moment,β and Colorado coach Tad Boyle sympathized.
βIβm happy for the kids because theyβre the ones that have been kind of cooped up, and thereβs a lot of these kids from certain states that havenβt had a chance to play organized basketball very much,β Boyle said. βAnd especially with the senior class, a lot of coaches havenβt seen them since they were sophomores.β
There are also some late-blooming guys coaches may not have seen at all, those not on the five-star radar, without videos and hype to keep their names afloat during the pandemic.
βI think it probably a little bit depends on the level youβre recruiting at,β UA coach Tommy Lloyd said. βWhen youβre not seeing kids, itβs hard to find that hidden gem. A lot of times, the better players are easily and highly publicized so youβll learn more about them quicker but this is a great opportunity for some of the lesser-known kids.
βAnd then it allows you to see some of the better known kids to see if thereβs some substance behind the hype.β
While the race to catch up might be intense this summer, theyβre all starting from the same place.
βYou only get behind when other people are doing things you canβt do,β San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher said. βAll of us were off the road. It feels good to have everybody out here but you donβt feel like youβve lost any kind of competitive advantage for having sat a year.
βWeβre all starting to ramp up recruiting, seeing some of these kids for the first time.β
Actually, it could be better than ever for coaches. Not only is in-person recruiting back, but the virtual recruiting tactics that became necessary during COVID-19 might stick as permanent supplemental strategies.
βI think that will happen for sure,β said Pepperdine coach Lorenzo Romar, who was UAβs associate head coach in 2017-18. βKids who arenβt local, when you want to show them your facilities β there were videos before but now they can interact with you, with Zoom. The streaming has been very helpful. Tournaments you canβt get to, you can still watch. So I think thatβs here to stay.β
Still, thereβs no argument that live is better.
When itβs available.
βIf your staff is doing their job and youβre doing your job, you know names and youβve seen film,β Boyle said. βBut you havenβt seen them in person for a year and a half, so itβs good to see guys have gotten bigger and stronger or grown a couple inches and improved.β
Rim shots
Seattle-area guard Ben Ackerley tweeted that he has committed to Arizona to play next season as a walk-on. The 6-foot Ackerley averaged 34.7 points and 11.0 rebounds over three games for Eastside Prep last season. The Wildcats now have five walk-ons and 11 scholarship players on their 2021-22 roster.