July 9, 2008

The flight of the Gaels

Kevin McCarthy
 

Randy Bennett and his staff took over a men’s basketball program in ashes at St. Mary’s -- try 2-27 -- prior to the 2001-2002 season and a resurrection reminiscent of the mythological phoenix promptly took hold.

This has been well documented and justly so although much more national recognition would have accrued if the Moraga school was located anywhere near Tobacco Road or the New York metropolitan area. But one element of the hows-and-whys of this renaissance remains underappreciated.

That factor is the genuineness of the entire Gael coaching staff, with associate head coach Kyle Smith specifically in mind here. A Texas native, Smith offers no airs, requires no genuflection and his ordinary guy-ness must play positively in the extraordinary recruiting that has led St. Mary’s to receive exposure on ESPN and a berth alongside Gonzaga as one of the top teams opponents in the West Coast Conference must scale in order to win the league.

Now with tournament mecca time fast approaching and Las Vegas as ground zero from July 22-26 with the adidas Super 64, the Reebok Summer Championship and the Nike Main Event all happening simultaneously, college coaching staffs are gearing up. Since recruiting is the lifeblood of any basketball program, prospects in the tourneys will be assessed, re-appraised, discovered, discarded and dreamed about as coaches discretely makes their prescences known.

This element -- recruiting -- will counter the ‘what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas’ maxim because what is witnessed in the Entertainment Capital of the World in late July definitely plays a role in the futures of thousands of recruits as well as the continuity of coaching staffs and, of course, win-loss records.

We recently had the opportunity to talk with Smith about how the St. Mary’s coaching staff approaches the upcoming events and recruiting overall.

Fluidity is the first topic that came up.

"It’s never the same even from one day to the next," Smith said. "Players are moving up and down, committing and de-committing, expanding their favorites, dropping the number of schools they are considering. It’s just all part of the process. With 16 or 17 year old kids, players can make a big jump from when you last saw them back in April and we have to catch this."

Smith continued. "At St. Mary’s, we’re trying to find guys who weren’t getting a lot of attention. Kids slip through the cracks, change AAU teams or the club sponsorship changes and then there’s what seems to be a ‘new’ team but really isn’t. Plus, the number of teams have probably tripled in the last 10 years and that’s a lot of players to see. We really have to be organized and flexible or it’s easy to lose track of somebody."

This seems especially so with the increased NCAA mandated time, place and method restrictions regarding the contacting of recruits.

As for the recruiting process itself, the Gaels insist on recruit-head coach rapport as Smith says, "It’s critical [recruits] know what they are getting into and we want them to have a good relationship with Randy Bennett even if they are being recruited by Kyle Smith."

Before and during Las Vegas

"We know who we want to see as there are maybe 20-30 guys we are following and eight we are really interested in," Smith said. "The games are held in 14 or so gyms all over Vegas and we’re going from 7 a.m. to 11 at night. It’s 110 degrees, there’s lots of traffic -- it’s like a marathon."

The coaching staff gets back together for a late dinner each night, compare notes and discuss who and what was seen.

On a humorous note, Smith added, "Some guys will go out after that but you usually don’t see them until about noon the next day."

With so many kids to see among multiple venues, Smith said, "The head coach can only get to so many places so we try not to set a precedent of having [Coach Bennett] always at the game of a certain player" adding, "three grown men watching one kid is a little silly."

Leaving Las Vegas

Of course, more viewing and contacting takes place but St. Mary’s, as do most coaching staffs, then divide up the available scholarships. "If there are five kids we’re serious about, we’ll have maybe three playing the same position up for one of our scholarships and two kids at a different position for the other scholarship."

What has aided the Gael program is the landing of some locals like Diamon Simpon and Omar Samhan. and the credibility that provides: "It helps [recruiting] in that local kids know about Diamon Simpson."

St. Mary’s also places no emphasis on which coach ‘lands’ a certain player. "Some schools have assistants who are known for their recruiting but we aren’t concerned about getting a name," Smith said. "That gets away from our team concept and can sometimes interfere with being on the same page together."

According to Smith, it all boils down to what needs to be accmplished. "We want no surprises at the end so we make sure kids know where they stand and what it takes academically and with basketball to succeed at St. Mary’s. It’s critical to have good chemistry."

As for the future, the Gael staff is looking for the West Coast Conference to be viewed in the same light as The Atlantic 10 Conference, with St. Mary’s being seen the Xavier or St. Joseph’s of the WCC. Xavier went four games deep in the Big Dance this year -- beating Georgia, Purdue and West Virginia -- before falling to UCLA.

Gonzaga has certainly achieved a national prominence and San Diego also did quite well this past season. New-ish coaches are looking to reinvent and stabilize the Portland and Santa Clara programs, with fresh mentors at USF, Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine desiring to establish a St. Mary’s-like transformation. If successful, such will lift the entire conference.

After we commented that the Moraga campus is exceptionally serene and inviting, Smith cracked "We get the parents -- that’s no problem. If we were after 35-40 year olds, we would be number one."

But for those in search of livelier surroundings, both San Francisco and Oakland are just short drives away from the St. Mary’s campus.

Having a solid plan, doing it right, keeping at it and away from complacency-- with the coaching staff also working as a team -- that’s the St. Mary’s way and one that has certainly proven successful considering the team in Moraga could very well be the best 2008-2009 squad in the Bay Area.

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