Hello out there! A long month of recruiting is finally over with, and the focus here at CNU men's basketball turns to the beginning of yet another academic year. I find myself saying this every year, but as I flip my desk calendar to August I realize that this summer has really flown by. In a way that is a good thing, since it usually means a lot has been going on. However, I probably need to find a little more time for beaches and barbeques next year! There is no excuse to still be looking like Casper the Friendly Ghost at this point in the summer.
As is usually the case, the month of July was a busy time for us coaches. Coach Krikorian, Coach Ross, and myself all hit the road at various times to evaluate potential recruits. My own journey ended last week after stops in Orlando, FL and Richmond, VA.
My Orlando trip took me to the AAU National tournament held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex in Disney World. With thirteen games going on simultaneously and hundreds of potential prospects present, I was able get good evaluations on a number of high school seniors from across the eastern seaboard. On the flip side, however, Mickey Mouse managed to elude me yet again, and my life-spanning streak of never actually having set foot in a Disney World park continues.
While the Orlando excursion allowed me to evaluate many out-of-state prospects, the final event I attended in Richmond last weekend allowed us to get one final look at many of the in-state recruits who we have been following for the past couple of months. With the recruiting period now over, we've accumulated a nice list of recruits who we feel posses the right combination of character, academic aptitude, and basketball talent/ability to be very successful student-athletes at CNU.
The next step in the process will be to host our top recruits on campus visits. This ties in with our primary goal of having our recruits become very comfortable with the entire CNU experience: our campus, our people, and of course the men's basketball program and everything involved with it. Finding the right recruits is just the beginning of the process. Now it is up to all of us here to convince our recruits that CNU is the right place for them.
In the meantime, there are preparations to make in order to ensure that we are ready to hit the ground running once classes begin in a few weeks. Most of the CNU players have been on their own for the last month or so. In talking to them and knowing the types of kids we have, I am confident that they have been getting the job done in the weight room and on the court. Of course, there will be nowhere to hide once we get into our preseason workout program. The coaches will be able to quickly tell who has been putting in the work during the summer.
During the next couple of weeks us coaches will be in full organizing mode, as we finalize our plan for the fall preseason. In less than three weeks the newest batch of freshmen will move into their residence halls and begin their Welcome Week orientation. It will be an exciting time for all of us.
The waiting is almost over; a new part of the journey is set to begin. Before that though, there is still a little bit of summer left. Enjoy the great Summer Olympics, make those last excursions to the beach, hit the links for a few more rounds, and take in another cookout or two. We'll be seeing you all soon!
