Excerpts from a Newsday interview with Lavin and Cassara on the new recruiting rules:
Must be a Newsday subscriber to see the whole interview, so I'll paste a few of the better quotes...
St. John's coach Steve Lavin:
On what his approach was to the new rules: I move at a very deliberate pace, almost tortoise-like in my philosophy or style. I think out of necessity because I knew we were going to sign, before these rules went into effect, we were going to sign these two mammoth classes. It made more sense for me to focus on the task at hand which was to sign two consecutive strong classes because if we didn’t do that I wouldn’t have a job anyway.
On how he expects to handle the first days under the new rules:Move in a deliberate manner. We’ve been so focused on these two classes and we’re careful not to get ahead of ourselves and worry too much about what’s down the line and yet I was aware the new legislation was coming in but at the end of it we haven’t set out a strategy of ‘let’s take advantage of these rules’ the first three weeks or the first month or two months or even the first year.
On the speed with which he’ll approach recruiting early on:Like a good poker player I want to sit back and kind of access what’s going on. This is where we have the advantage. Next year right now we’re only going to have one scholarship (…) unless someone goes pro early which we’re always prepared for or somebody eliminates themselves, there’s always a potential transfer, but we have the luxury now to move at a deliberate pace.
On the pros and cons of the new rules:I think it will help because there’s more opportunities to connect through texting, through the additional phone calls, through visits to campus earlier in their high school career. I think for coaches the best part of the new rules is you’re less likely to unintentionally stub your toe and commit secondary violations. Then having more access is something coaches have pushed for to communicate with the prospects and their families at an earlier stage and more frequently but I think it would be a mistake to assume that more access automatically will create better results in terms of recruiting. It can also expose you. If you’re not strong at communicating, that’s not strength of yours – I think it could expose certain coaches who aren’t comfortable interacting with young people or coaches who don’t have strong interpersonal skills with people could feel put out or be an awkward experience for them. It’s a mixed bag.
My own approach will be to move deliberately and at a tortoise pace and continue to focus on the quality of the communication and to drop in and try and build a relationship based on authentic connection. No matter how often you speak, either you can communicate in an authentic way and be effective at establishing relationships and report or you can’t, whether you get 10 calls a week or two calls a week.
On what he expects the first minutes after midnight on Friday to be like:It might be a bit of a disappointment like Y2K. You don’t want to go overboard for the kickoff of this because that will marginalize I think the credibility of your basketball program.
It always comes back to balance and showing the appropriate degree of enthusiasm but being mindful of not wanting to come across as a carnival barker or a used car salesman and being respectful of the people you’re recruiting and their families. To me there’s some land mines out there with the new legislation and that’s why I’m taking the conservative approach.
On where he’ll be at midnight Thursday night into Friday:I’ll probably be watching CNN, Anderson Cooper or who’s on in that 12 slot.
On one-and-done players being heavily recruited for two or three times as long as they’ll play in college:The ironies are deep. But because what motivates me to coach is relationships with young people and that goes for during the recruiting process, while they’re playing for me and then beyond. (…) There’s not a player that I’m not in communication with. To me that’s the best part and that would be one of the things with the new rules being in play that is a positive. It does start the ability to connecting with a young person at an earlier age and also more frequently and as long as you’re mindful of having a balanced approach in your communication I think that’s something that’s good. There are some ironies there in terms of your point, you may be recruiting someone for longer than they actually play for you. I’m close with almost as many players who didn’t come to play for UCLA or St. John’s.
On recognizing while he may not be as aggressive early on, other coaches will be:I think that’s why for me, it sounds like Kung Fu or something, to me right now quiet waters and less is more and no move is the best move. I think, and again I have faith in the more enduring dimensions of St. John’s in terms of what we present. That those will be the more important elements as opposed to the frequency of texts or calls or twitter.
http://www.newsday.com/sports/high-school/boys-basketball/high-school-boys-basketball-1.1470264/more-on-new-recruiting-rules-from-lavin-and-cassara-1.3790516?p=