Watch for Changes to July Recruiting in 2015
With the 2013 July men's basketball recruiting period in the books, I can say with confidence that the July 2015 men's basketball recruiting period will look significantly different. It might happen in 2016, but it will happen. I have no insider information or any source with any knowledge of any situation. I have not obtained any proposals, models, documents or discussion. But it is going to happen.
The reason is a change passed last January which will impact the July recruiting period in 2014. Proposal RWG-11-4 takes effect on August 1, 2013. It removes all restrictions on the number of coaches which can be out recruiting at any one time. For men's basketball that means instead of only having three of the four coaches out on the road and a relatively confusing set of rules about how to switch them around, all four coaches can be out at once.
While the proposal goes into effect August 1, it will not have a major impact right away. Men's basketball still has a limit of 130 recruiting person-days during the academic year. So while all four coaches might be recruiting on the same day, the entire staff is still limited to the same number of total days. We may see more intense recruiting by some staffs at key points during the academic year recruiting periods, but no additional grind or day-in, day-out travel, evaluation, and glad-handing with recruits.
Those 130 person-days do not apply to the July evaluation periods. The big limiting factors had been the length of the July recruiting period and the number of coaches who could be out. Now one of those limits is gone. All four coaches will be expected to be out evaluating players and making their presence felt every single day of the July period.
This will disproportionately effect head coaches. Some head coaches enjoy or at least do not mind the July recruiting trail. Others had been letting their assistants do most of the early legwork, then going out more later in July, focusing on a select group of targets. The limit of three coaches out on the road enabled such a strategy, since one of the coaches had to be off the road anyway.
Now some of those head coaches will feel the pressure to be out from day one, and the grind will likely get to them. Coaches are already complaining about the recently changes to July recruiting. The smattering of objections will become a chorus after pretty much every single Division I basketball coach has to spend all three July recruiting periods on the road next summer, especially the head coaches. With that much noise, something is bound to change for 2015, 2016 at the latest.