12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

I have been receiving a lot of emails about topics ranging from recruiting, to scheduling, to injuries, to the state of the league, etc. etc.. so during the Christmas break I will address a different topic each day in order to give as much insight into the program as possible. These updates will start on Tuesday the 16th and appear regularly into the New Year. I hope you will enjoy.

SECOND DAY

Question: How do you think the freshmen have done so far?

ANSWER- RJ and Devin were thrust into difficult positions because of our injury situation. As I've said over the years if you HAVE to play freshmen at our level you are in trouble. That being said I am really pleased with the attitude, energy level, and desire to learn, that both have shown. The biggest adjustment that both have had to make is on the defensive end of the floor, especially learning to communicate with their teammates. Also having never had to prepare for an opponent in high school like we do at the college level, attention to detail is something that they struggle with. Offensively RJ has been the most consistent. His ability to get to the basket, and rebound on the offensive end, is getting better each day. Devin has had to try to learn to play the point. because of Pat's injury and naturally his play has been more up and down. It is a position he had never played prior to this year, and obviously the most difficult position on the offensive end to learn. Though as you would expect, he still struggles mightily at times, he has really done a remarkable job in a truly difficult situation. Think of Ray Allen having to replace Rjon Rondo at the point guard spot. Think of him doing it as a frosh in college.

Both are still learning the difference between high school and college, learning what doesn't work any more, and adding things that do. Think of Kevin Hamilton, Keith Simmons, Torey Thomas, Ryan Serravalle, Jared Curry, Brian Wilson, Tim Szatko, Pat Whearty,et al, as frosh and the leap forward as sophs and juniors. That is the reality of our level. We recruit based a lot on upside potential, and where we feel we can help a player get to, in two or three years.

The challenge going forward for both of them this year, will be as teams get more and more film, to continue to work on their weaknesses, while finding ways to play to their strengths. Teams will obviously be trying to take away their strengths. Both are really quality people and players who have a very bright future, because of their ability, work ethic, and attitudes. As both Coach and alum, I couldn't be happier having both in the program.

FIRST DAY

Question: Have there been any changes to the recruiting landscape since you came back to the Cross 10 years ago?

Answer- There have been many, but the single biggest change has been the implementation of the APR by the NCAA. This tracks the graduation rates at all NCAA schools and penalizes those schools with poor graduation rates. Many of the BCS schools have adjusted their recruiting to raise their graduation rates. They are now recruiting good players who are not ready to contribute right away, but have great grades. Though they may or may not contribute as juniors or seniors they will definitely graduate and add stability to the program. Obviously these are the kids we always targeted as primary recruits. We invested the time and effort to develop them into productive players as sophomores and juniors, and many turned into stars during that time period. Over the past 3 years there have been 5 or 6 players that we have lost to the BCS schools, that they simply would not have recruited prior to the APR. Talking to other coaches at the mid major level, this is a problem that is affecting everyone. However it affects our league more than just about everyone because of the higher academic standards needed for admission. It affects the Ivies also but because they have no restrictions on the number of recruits they can bring in each year they have a larger margin of error. It has definitely shrunk the pool we have to recruit from. By the way we are in the top 1% of the APR.