Mark Fox was in North Augusta at Peach Jam last night. I saw him watching the CP3 vs Houston Hoops game. Wendell Carter didn't play (I have not seen an explanation for that).
If you have never been and you are a basketball fan, you should go. If you go, wear your UGA gear. The event is in our backyard, but much like the SEC tourney in Atlanta, is not well attended by UGA fans.
As I watched all of the AAU teams last night, something else occurred to me that Dan often addresses.... College basketball recruiting is such a different beast from college football recruiting. Everyone talks about "building a fence around the state" in football recruiting. At the same time, most people assume that local talent should stay local in basketball. However, it just doesn't seem to work that way in basketball.
Many of these kids have been playing travel ball since they were 14 or 15. Many have been in prep schools for multiple years. They are used to being away from home. They are used to their families not watching them play. It's the only life they have known.
When they do choose a college, they have a 30 game schedule, with 15 away games, not including tournaments and occasional international trips. It's simply not practical for most parents to be able to attend all of those. In addition, the best college basketball players realize that they will only be on campus for 1-2 years, making the distance from home even less of an issue.
In the meantime, football recruits are dealing with a minimum 3 year stay and 6-7 home games a year, with crushing traffic issues that make proximity much more pertinent.
The following represent the number of players from home states on several of last year's rosters:
UNC- 8
Arizona- 0
Michigan State- 6
georgia tech- 9 (includes Mitchell- transfer)
UGA- 8
Tennessee- 3
UCLA- 7
LSU- 7
Florida- 7
Duke- 0
Kansas- 4
Virginia- 2
Villanova-4
At any rate, I'm not saying that UGA couldn't do better with in state recruiting or recruiting in general. I'm not saying that Fox is or isn't the answer. I'm not addressing the fans or arena or conference or administration.
I do think, however, that in state recruiting in basketball is a more complicated issue than geography. With the amount of basketball talent I saw on the floor last night, I was actually a little overwhelmed contemplating how difficult it must be to find 2-4 kids a year with the talent, work ethic, reliability, personality, and potential to fit into your basketball program with the amount of entitlement that some of these kids must have.
Obviously it can be done. I hope that our staff can be successful.
If you have never been and you are a basketball fan, you should go. If you go, wear your UGA gear. The event is in our backyard, but much like the SEC tourney in Atlanta, is not well attended by UGA fans.
As I watched all of the AAU teams last night, something else occurred to me that Dan often addresses.... College basketball recruiting is such a different beast from college football recruiting. Everyone talks about "building a fence around the state" in football recruiting. At the same time, most people assume that local talent should stay local in basketball. However, it just doesn't seem to work that way in basketball.
Many of these kids have been playing travel ball since they were 14 or 15. Many have been in prep schools for multiple years. They are used to being away from home. They are used to their families not watching them play. It's the only life they have known.
When they do choose a college, they have a 30 game schedule, with 15 away games, not including tournaments and occasional international trips. It's simply not practical for most parents to be able to attend all of those. In addition, the best college basketball players realize that they will only be on campus for 1-2 years, making the distance from home even less of an issue.
In the meantime, football recruits are dealing with a minimum 3 year stay and 6-7 home games a year, with crushing traffic issues that make proximity much more pertinent.
The following represent the number of players from home states on several of last year's rosters:
UNC- 8
Arizona- 0
Michigan State- 6
georgia tech- 9 (includes Mitchell- transfer)
UGA- 8
Tennessee- 3
UCLA- 7
LSU- 7
Florida- 7
Duke- 0
Kansas- 4
Virginia- 2
Villanova-4
At any rate, I'm not saying that UGA couldn't do better with in state recruiting or recruiting in general. I'm not saying that Fox is or isn't the answer. I'm not addressing the fans or arena or conference or administration.
I do think, however, that in state recruiting in basketball is a more complicated issue than geography. With the amount of basketball talent I saw on the floor last night, I was actually a little overwhelmed contemplating how difficult it must be to find 2-4 kids a year with the talent, work ethic, reliability, personality, and potential to fit into your basketball program with the amount of entitlement that some of these kids must have.
Obviously it can be done. I hope that our staff can be successful.
