COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- It wasn't necessary, really, but Florida coach Billy Donovan was nice enough to give Michigan's Tommy Amaker a call before taking one of Amaker's recruits.
Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins? He wasn't nice. He never called Baylor's Scott Drew. But after Huggins swiped a Baylor recruit last week, you can believe Drew called Huggins. Drew wouldn't share with SportsLine.com what he said to Huggins, but we can guess.
"I'll leave it that we talked," Drew said.
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| Justin Reed originally commited to Auburn, which could have used him over the past four years.(Getty Images) |
The player's name is Jihad Muhammad. Jihad, of course, is the Islamic word for "holy war."
Ironic, because in college basketball there is nothing holy about the war for recruits.
In a trend that disturbs coaches -- but doesn't surprise them -- more and more recruits are committing to one school but signing with another. The trend isn't a surprise for a number of reasons, ranging from the cynical to the sweet.
Cynical? Here you go: Coaches have too much at stake, starting with salaries in the $1 million range, to let a little thing like honor stop them from pursuing another program's recruits.
Sweet? Try this: Recruits are making commitments earlier than ever, some in ninth or 10th grade, and while their bodies are huge, they are still just kids -- and kids do change their mind.
"Overall, recruiting is a lot different than it was just a few years ago," Drew said. "High school seniors are a bit more stable than sophomores and juniors, because those kids are more likely to change their mind.
"That's indicative of our culture nowadays, too. It used to be your word was your bond. People don't value their word as much."
The trend is disturbing to coaches because a late -- and unexpected -- loss on the recruiting trail could ultimately lead to the loss of a job. It's not hard to imagine the survival of Cliff Ellis -- who was fired earlier this month after the team's third mediocre season in four years -- had Justin Reed spent those four years at Auburn and not Ole Miss. Reed, a nearly 2,000-point scorer for the Rebels, originally committed to Auburn.
Five years ago, when Reed pulled his switcheroo, it wasn't like Ellis could just go to the next name on his prospect list. Once Reed committed to Auburn, Ellis stopped recruiting other players at power forward. Everyone moved on, and players aren't inclined to be receptive to a school that has jilted them once.
Imagine being Baylor. Drew cut his ties with several point guards once Muhammad made his commitment out of San Jacinto (Texas) Junior College. Now that Muhammad is going elsewhere, Baylor is scrambling to find a serviceable point guard.
Forget landing one as good as Muhammad, who will start for the national power Bearcats and would have been Baylor's best player. This late in the process, Baylor will be lucky to find a point guard good enough to come off the bench in the Big 12.
That's why Donovan felt the need to call Amaker about power forward Al Horford of Grand Ledge, Mich., even though Donovan hadn't done anything requiring an explanation.
While Horford had made a big deal of his verbal commitment to the in-state Wolverines, with a press conference and Michigan baseball cap and the whole bit, he soon had second thoughts. Horford began telling friends the school he really wanted to attend was Florida. He will be a Florida freshman this fall.
Even as Horford maintained his public commitment to Michigan, his second thoughts reached the ears of Amaker, then Donovan. Before getting re-involved with Horford, Donovan called Amaker to make it clear Florida hadn't contributed to Horford's change of heart.
"You know how it is," recruiting analyst Dave Telep said. "Kids change their mind."
Sometimes they even have a good reason. Three years, ago Indiana schoolboy star Robert Vaden committed as a high school freshman to Purdue, but talk of Gene Keady's pending retirement scared Vaden into switching his allegiance to the Indiana Hoosiers. (He'll be a freshman this season.)
Purdue fans were incensed -- imagine a recruit switching from North Carolina to Duke, or Missouri to Kansas -- but Vaden was vindicated two weeks ago when Purdue announced the 2004-05 season would be Keady's last.
"I heard what people were saying about me," Vaden said. "Looks like I knew what I was doing."
Indeed, it's not always an example of unethical recruiting when a prospect commits to one school but signs with another. Take the case of Jesus Verdejo, who signed two years ago with Temple but never got eligible. Verdejo's stock has been rising during his year at a prep school, and he told Temple coach John Chaney while he was still "committed" to Temple, he was going to visit other schools, too.
The irascible Chaney told Verdejo good luck and cut him loose, declining to get into a second recruiting battle for one of his own recruits. Verdejo signed last week with Arizona.
"We're excited to get a player of Jesus' caliber at this point of the recruiting season," Arizona coach Lute Olson said.
Louisville coach Rick Pitino is hoping for that same level of excitement soon.
One of the spring's most intriguing recruits is Churchill Odia, who committed to Xavier last year. Like most prospects out of Montrose Christian Academy in Rockville, Md., Odia signed a scholarship agreement instead of the more binding, and common, national Letter Of Intent. A scholarship agreement is more of a binding commitment for the college than the recruit; the LOI is the other way around.
Montrose coach Stu Vetter, knowing college coaches often switch jobs in the spring, advises his players to leave themselves that option.
"Unless something happens like a coach leaving or some other kind of (unforeseen) trouble that would be detrimental to the player, I tell our players they need to follow through on that commitment," Vetter said. "A situation like this (with Odia), that's the type you have to be concerned with."
The situation is this: A week before the signing period, Odia's stock soared during the Nike Hoop Summit in San Antonio. Playing point guard for the international team, the 6-foot-6 native Nigerian was one of the most impressive players on the floor -- and the floor included roughly 10 U.S. prospects considering entering the 2004 NBA Draft.
Pitino, apparently, saw Odia as the solution to his problem. Louisville recruit Sebastian Telfair, penciled in as the Cardinals' starting point guard next season, might enter the NBA Draft. Until Telfair makes that choice, Odia probably won't sign with anyone -- a bad sign for Xavier.
Nary is heard a disparaging word against Louisville, at least not from Vetter's mouth, but he gets his point across nonetheless.
"Because Churchill signed a scholarship paper with Xavier," he said, "most schools are honoring that."
Most, but not all. The holy war rages on.
