Official paid visits to college campuses during the fall used to be a crucial part of the recruiting process. So, too, was a visit to a recruit's home, where a college coach would sit down for a home cooked meal with the family and friends to discuss a player's future.
Both still happen, although they now most often involve junior college players. For high school players, the traditional recruiting practices might as well be in an exhibit in the NCAA's museum in Indianapolis.
Official visits are nearly history. Dinner plans? Why bother making any RSVPs?
Players who'll make up the Class of 2002 are committing at a record pace before they even begin their senior years in high school, and more are soon to follow before the first day of the fall semester. But don't be fooled into thinking these players are making rash decisions without knowing what they're getting into, or vice versa for the school.
Instead, the pressure is on the players to commit after taking unofficial campus visits during their junior years -- be it during the winter, spring or sometime during the summer. And the "unofficial" visit is a trend that isn't going away. It has become a necessity to survive in the cut-throat world of college basketball recruiting.
"There is so much pressure on our staff to get kids on our campus early in their high school career," Virginia assistant Tom Herrion said. "We haven't been as fortunate to have kids come from wider parts of the country where there is a higher expense and the kid has to fly. We've had kids drive and obviously someone involved in the kid, whether it's his parents or someone else, helps out."
Everyone is doing it. Even kids committed to other schools will either drive or get a cheap airfare to see what another school may have to offer. Tabor Academy (Mass.) coach Dave First spent hours online trying to find cheap airfares for top-20 player Torin Francis to make his unofficial summer recruiting trips.
Remember, the NCAA doesn't allow official paid visits until a player is in his senior season, although schools would like to see that move to a player's junior season. But until then, schools and players are under the same pressure to make an unofficial visit happen fast so a decision can be made soon after the trip.
"So far I've been to Duke, Maryland, Georgetown and Florida on my own with my coach and my mom," Francis said. "A lot of players aren't taking official visits. They know which schools they want to go to and they want to take the trips and the scholarships before someone else does. There's a lot of pressure to commit and I plan on doing it soon."
The heat on these players, even the elite, gets so intense they literally get scared into making a commitment. Most know which school they want to go to but they do feel the need to make a decision before they get a chance to play during the summer evaluation period.
"I didn't want to get caught up with the college coaches calling me all the time," said New Hampton (N.H.) Prep guard Rashad McCants, who committed to North Carolina before he played at the Nike camp last week. "You hear from coaches that it's bad if you don't commit. I didn't want to wait until the fall to grab a scholarship. North Carolina said they would offer one now but if I didn't take it, it might not be there for me in the fall."
J.J. Redick, a shooting guard from Roanoke (Va.) Cave Spring High, didn't want to be romanced. He knew he wanted to go to Duke and once the Blue Devils reciprocated then he made the decision to commit.
"But, if you haven't committed by now, you do get 'dude what are you waiting for?' from people. People in our class are committing so early, as early as their freshman year," Redick said. "I drove on my visits and the time and money was worth it."
But not everyone is going to buckle to the recruiting pressure. Sean May, a 6-foot-8 forward from Bloomington North High in Indiana, is likely headed to the Hoosiers, but he's not going to concede too quickly. He said if a school puts the heat on him to commit in the summer, he's certain he'll still get a scholarship in the fall.
"I know a lot of guys get scared that it might not be there, but schools are just saying that to get them to commit," May said.
Bracey Wright, a 6-3 wing from The Colony (Texas) High, said the fear lies in too many players being recruited for the same position, especially for guards. The 2002 class is a guard-heavy and playing time could be at a premium. Wright, who is leaning toward Indiana, is expected to commit soon. But players who are flirting with the NBA, like Sani Ibrahim (Oak Hill Academy/Va.), Lenny Cooke (TBA) and Kelenna Azubuike (Tulsa Victory Christian High/Okla.) aren't going to commit too soon.
"Schools won't stop recruiting me because I'm taking longer," Azubuike said. "Whenever I think I'm ready, I will do it." Azubuike still took unofficial visits to Tulsa and Oklahoma.
Most coaches are in favor of the early commitments. Charlotte coach Bobby Lutz said it makes his life easier, even though some of the oral commitments might not come to fruition in November because they're not binding.
"Once the NCAA lets us talk to juniors there will be even more early commitments," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim of a proposed rule allowing coaches to call juniors in 2002-03. "Early commitments are a good thing because you can see where everyone is going and it can help the lower Division I schools (to see the rest of the pool)."
But it can lead to mistakes. Duke got an early commitment from Michael Thompson, a 6-10 center from New Lenox (Ill.) Providence Catholic High. Thompson, a consensus top 60 player, is expected to sign with the Blue Devils. But if Duke had waited, it could have landed (and still might) a more elite big man.
"The more kids commit earlier, the more bad decisions could be made," Rice coach Willis Wilson said of the recent trend. "But it does mean a number of dominoes could fall."
Some schools won't buckle, or at least say they won't, to the trend too early. That is, the commitment trend. Everyone, if they can, wants a player to visit their campus on their own. Forget about the free meal at mom's house. The real deal now gets done on campus in the spring and summer before a player's senior season.
The one-time recruits can't take unofficial campus visits is during the 10-day dead period college coaches are in from July 15-25, which Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun said would be ideal for that to happen. But ...
"We've never taken a kid before Aug. 15," Calhoun said. "I just had someone say to me that this kid was going to commit later. I said, 'what do you mean, by later?' They said in August. This trend is definitely here to stay."
Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.
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