But the game didn't start on time. The semifinal was held up when a team from Belmont Shores (Long Beach, Calif.) forfeited a game because of pregame arguments. One of the players eventually threw a ball at a referee's head. The championship game didn't start until nearly 4:30 p.m. It could have started earlier but the players were milling around for no apparent reason.

Williams checked his watch a number of times. He had to be seen but he also had to make his flight. He bolted right after half time. Why did he even have to be there? Williams had a home visit with Stevenson a week earlier in Fresno and didn't need to evaluate him again. Surely, Stevenson doesn't suffer from low self-esteem, needing to see the Kansas coach in person again at a meaningless September weekend basketball tournament?

	Jim Calhoun missed out on an important home visit because of Hurricane Floyd.

But that's the world of fall recruiting. If coaches and players get tired of July -- the traveling and pampering of players -- they are certainly spent by September.

The NCAA gives players and coaches three weeks of contact and evaluation time in September. It ends Sunday. During this time, coaches are trying to check up on current players on their own campus, get to home visits all over the country, set up campus visits for the rest of the fall and still check out games at weekend tournaments. The latter makes no sense. Yet, it's all about perception. Kansas and Fresno State certainly helped themselves by being at Stevenson's game. Connecticut sent assistant Karl Hobbs and Kentucky assistant Shawn Finney was there, too. UCLA, also a finalist for Stevenson, wasn't there on Sunday but did have a home visit the week before. Should it matter? No. But a lot of coaches feel like they've got to be everywhere.

"This is a very hectic time," Williams said.

Prior to coming to Fresno,Williams was down in Long Beach where some players didn't show up. A coach's time is precious in September. At least one summer league coach told the Word that coaches shouldn't expect to get a player if they don't get to the games. That's ridiculous, considering coaches have probably seen a player like Stevenson more than 10 times.

"I think it's the toughest time of the year," Hobbs said. "You're trying to squeeze everything in in such a short period of time."

So far, Fresno State, Kansas, UCLA and Georgia have taken home visits to see Stevenson, and Kentucky is scheduled to hit town Sept. 26. Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun was held up by complications related to Hurricane Floyd, missing missed a scheduled home visit. The Huskies will likely reschedule it for sometime after the season when coaches can make home visits again. But by missing a home visit, everything else on Connecticut's schedule got backed up. The NCAA won't budge from its set schedule -- even for natural disasters.

That's why having events run on time is crucial in September. Hobbs said he hasn't had a problem with events in the Northeast. Apparently that's true in the Midwest, too. But there have been problems in the West.

"Some of these events are awful," Saint Mary's coach Dave Bollwinkel said. "The NCAA certifies them but all you have to do (to host an event) is fax in a request. They may not have the manpower but shouldn't they check them? Maybe have someone check it?"

Not everyone puts a premium on making appearances at these events.

"They're less important to us," New Mexico coach Fran Fraschilla said. "Our key concern is the home visits. I don't think kids expect to see you at these events. But it does give face time with the players again."

The face time with the coaches at last weekend's event included nearly 40 Division I coaches. By Sunday, only the diehards remained from Fresno State, Kansas, Kentucky, Connecticut, USC, Saint Mary's and Loyola Marymount.

"No one is evaluating because at this point, everyone knows what the players can do," said Utah coach Rick Majerus, who said he has made five trips to the Dakotas in July and September. "Everyone is at these things for a presence and to ingratiate the players. When's the next kid going to make a decision on curriculum or the quality of practice or the teaching at the institution? Everybody loves this stuff -- the reporters, the AAU coaches, the kids -- they all want to be touched by it. Unfortunately, that's what we do. We go see these guys all over the place."

In defense of the title
Connecticut assistant Karl Hobbs gave insight to the Word about what's happening at Connecticut. All he had say was "Doug Wrenn." Wrenn is already being compared to former Husky Ray Allen, and even played him one-on-one recently on campus.

Hobbs said the 6-foot-6 Wrenn, who originally signed with Washington out of Seattle's O'Dea High in 1998 but sat out last season at a prep school, is easily the school's best athlete since Allen. He'll immediately step into the starting lineup at small forward in place of Richard Hamilton.

Junior guard Albert Mouring will replace Ricky Moore in the backcourt next to junior point Khalid El-Amin. The inside returns intact with senior forward Kevin Freeman and senior center Jake Voskuhl. Hobbs said the Huskies could go 11 to 12 deep. On paper, they do with sophomore forward Ajou Ajou Deng, junior forward Edmund Saunders, junior swing guard Beau Archibald, redshirt freshman center Justin Brown, senior center Souleymane Wane and freshmen guards Tony Robertson and Marcus Cox.

Archibald has been slowed by knee problems during conditioning, but could challenge for time behind Wrenn. Deng is the most anticipated newcomer outside of Wrenn. But he won't start over Voskuhl or Freeman.

Hobbs also gave the Word insight into the emotions of last year's national title. Want to know the team the Huskies feared the most? Gonzaga. It helped that the Bulldogs were the team that stood in the way of the Final Four, but also their ability to shoot scared the Huskies. Gonzaga was only a few possessions away from beating Connecticut. It's one of the reasons the Huskies wanted no part of the Bulldogs in this year's Great Eight. Connecticut drew Arizona while Gonzaga will play Temple in Chicago.

"I've never seen a whole team cry the way they did after beating Gonzaga," Hobbs said."The pressure was so great to get to the Final Four. When we won that game, the Final Four was easy after that."

Hobbs was right. The Huskies were the most relaxed team in the Final Four with everyone expecting Duke to win.