Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Men's basketball coaches transition to virtual recruiting
5/6/2020 5:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Since the COVID-19 pandemic has forced most Americans to stay isolated at home, recruiting in college athletics has changed drastically.
This time of year, basketball coaches around the country are usually nose deep in making home visits and hosting recruits on campus. However, the NCAA has halted evaluation periods through May 31, creating a dead period where coaches can only communicate with recruits, not meet in-person.
"It's definitely different than everything we're used to," MT head coach Nick McDevitt said. "Everything is from a distance now. … There's nothing that's in-person or face-to-face, so we're doing everything on FaceTime and Zoom meetings.
"There are things that you want the prospects to experience on campus and with the team that they just aren't going to experience in this recruiting cycle."
While taking recruiting virtual has created challenges, McDevitt and his staff have transitioned to the change well.
"It's been pretty easy," he said. "The transition really has been pretty seamless for us.
"We're just trying to be creative and as detailed as we can. … I feel like we've hit a happy medium with being detailed and giving our prospects the information they need, but at the same time not killing them with information."
Assistant coaches Sean Dixon and Andre Morgan handle most of the scheduling and initiating communication with recruits.
For Morgan, utilizing the university's virtual tools the last few weeks has been crucial. He's used virtual tours of the university, athletics department and basketball locker room and facilities to try and give recruits a feel for what the program has to offer.
"It's forced us to be as creative as possible in giving recruits and their parents as much information as possible virtually," he said. "We have so much to offer at MT, from our facilities and our campus to throughout the Middle Tennessee area, so it's been a plus for us to be able to give tours and showcase our program virtually."
The NCAA's dead period also means coaches aren't allowed to evaluate players at amateur tournaments, though most AAU events scheduled in the near future have been canceled anyway.
Not having film from those tournaments is a bit of a blow, since the competition level at those events is generally very high. They also give coaches an opportunity to see multiple recruits at once.
"What it could mean is more recruiting trips once the school year opens up," McDevitt said. "You're normally able to see a ton of prospects at one site … so you may have to make 15-20 separate trips now to see those same young men."
In most of his conversations with recruits and their families, Morgan has tried to make a balance between talking about basketball and Middle Tennessee as well as the pandemic and staying safe.
He said there's one commonality in most of his conversations: everyone is ready to get back to some sense of normalcy.
"We try to hit on it in most of our conversations," he said. "There's a human element to all of this, because there is so much uncertainty.
"We've talked to them about it, but people are really ready to get back to a little bit of a norm. It's good to talk a little basketball."
This time of year, basketball coaches around the country are usually nose deep in making home visits and hosting recruits on campus. However, the NCAA has halted evaluation periods through May 31, creating a dead period where coaches can only communicate with recruits, not meet in-person.
"It's definitely different than everything we're used to," MT head coach Nick McDevitt said. "Everything is from a distance now. … There's nothing that's in-person or face-to-face, so we're doing everything on FaceTime and Zoom meetings.
"There are things that you want the prospects to experience on campus and with the team that they just aren't going to experience in this recruiting cycle."
While taking recruiting virtual has created challenges, McDevitt and his staff have transitioned to the change well.
"It's been pretty easy," he said. "The transition really has been pretty seamless for us.
"We're just trying to be creative and as detailed as we can. … I feel like we've hit a happy medium with being detailed and giving our prospects the information they need, but at the same time not killing them with information."
Assistant coaches Sean Dixon and Andre Morgan handle most of the scheduling and initiating communication with recruits.
For Morgan, utilizing the university's virtual tools the last few weeks has been crucial. He's used virtual tours of the university, athletics department and basketball locker room and facilities to try and give recruits a feel for what the program has to offer.
"It's forced us to be as creative as possible in giving recruits and their parents as much information as possible virtually," he said. "We have so much to offer at MT, from our facilities and our campus to throughout the Middle Tennessee area, so it's been a plus for us to be able to give tours and showcase our program virtually."
The NCAA's dead period also means coaches aren't allowed to evaluate players at amateur tournaments, though most AAU events scheduled in the near future have been canceled anyway.
Not having film from those tournaments is a bit of a blow, since the competition level at those events is generally very high. They also give coaches an opportunity to see multiple recruits at once.
"What it could mean is more recruiting trips once the school year opens up," McDevitt said. "You're normally able to see a ton of prospects at one site … so you may have to make 15-20 separate trips now to see those same young men."
In most of his conversations with recruits and their families, Morgan has tried to make a balance between talking about basketball and Middle Tennessee as well as the pandemic and staying safe.
He said there's one commonality in most of his conversations: everyone is ready to get back to some sense of normalcy.
"We try to hit on it in most of our conversations," he said. "There's a human element to all of this, because there is so much uncertainty.
"We've talked to them about it, but people are really ready to get back to a little bit of a norm. It's good to talk a little basketball."
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