College football may be just around the corner, but in the recruiting world college basketball has been a hotbed of activity during the past month. Performances at summer camps and AAU tournaments often determine scholarship offers as programs look to secure oral commitments well in advance of November’s signing week.
To the chagrin of area college programs, and their fans, the annual exodus of top-flight Colorado talent might continue. D’Evelyn’s Andrew Hooper, a 6-foot-9 high flyer who is rated the state’s top prospect among seniors-to-be, could be the next bluechipper to get away.
Although Hooper hasn’t selected a school, and he insists Colorado, Colorado State, Air Force and Denver are all in the running, he acknowledged Front Range schools may be longshots. The University of Nevada could be the school to beat.
“I didn’t grow up a CU fan, I didn’t grow up a CSU fan,” Hooper said. “I’m not meaning to rag on any in-state school, but kids are likely to go someplace where they can be in the NCAA Tournament every year or almost every year. Who wouldn’t want to play in March Madness?”
During the same week this past March that Nevada junior Nick Fazekas (Ralston Valley) was talking about testing the waters for the NBA draft, Wichita State sophomore Sean Ogirri (Denver East) made the cover of Sports Illustrated. Earlier, the state’s top player this past season, 6-5 guard Matt Bouldin from ThunderRidge, signed with Gonzaga.
Why can’t the local schools do a better job of keeping the top in-state athletes home? The reasons are varied, but players and coaches most often talk about status. Or the lack of it.
Some players feel it is cool to be wooed by an out-of-state school.
“Kids are enamored with what they see on TV, and that’s big-name programs,” Kent Denver coach Todd Schayes said.
He recalled working a local basketball camp for 10- and 11-year-olds where he spotted youngsters wearing replica UConn, Duke or North Carolina jerseys. Not one kid donned the colors of a local college team.
Hooper said nobody his age talks about a school that reached the NCAA Tournament 10 years ago. Or even five years ago.
“It’s all about what is happening now,” Hooper said. “That’s what hurts the local colleges. They’ve struggled lately.”
National recognition lures players
Rows of empty seats and lack of NCAA Tournament victories hurt the cause when it comes to attracting top in-state players. CU coaches prefer to bring in recruits for official visits during the offseason because a completely empty Coors Events Center presents a better appearance than an arena with 2,500 fans for a nonconference game in December.
“I think Terry Carroll has done a great job at DU,” ThunderRidge coach Joe Ortiz said. “But there are 500 fans at a DU game. Then kids see a program like Gonzaga on TV where they’re camping out for tickets.”
Regardless of the sport, coaches say recruiting the local athlete often can be more difficult than getting a blue-chipper from out of state.
“Sometimes kids just want to see another part of the country,” Aurora Central coach Bob Caton said. “That’s a tough thing to fight when you’re a college recruiter.”
Although every college coach will say recruiting home territory is a priority, area coaches have been criticized for not working hard enough to build loyalty. Former CU assistant Mike Frink agrees. Frink, who resigned from the CU staff this past spring, said several high school coaches told him that it had been years since they last saw a Buffaloes coach in their gym.
“Colorado kids need to be paid attention to and they need to be attended to,” Frink said. “Coaches of in-state schools need to go to high school games. They need to be visible.”
“Out-of-state programs are definitely more aggressive,” Pueblo Central coach Brad Ranson said. “I don’t know why it is, but coaches of Colorado schools don’t seem to go after the local kids as hard.”
Colorado State coach Dale Layer disagrees. He cited the fact that 140 high school teams participated in CSU’s team camp in June.
“And we follow the Colorado AAU teams all over the country,” Layer said. “We’re very thorough.”
It was Layer’s staff that spotted 7-foot forward Jason Smith, a player CU coach Ricardo Patton admitted he had never heard of when the former Platte Valley High School standout committed to the Rams. Now Smith is a top NBA prospect.
Ironically, a thorough evaluation sometimes can work against recruiting locally.
“Coaches see flaws in the local kids,” ThunderRidge’s Ortiz said. “When a recruiter comes in here from another state and sees a kid once, they see strengths. That’s just how it is.”
That was the case with Fazekas. A 6-11 forward, Fazekas is not particularly quick or strong and got almost no attention from CU when in high school. But Nevada coaches noticed his feel for the game and ability to score from all over the court.
Too much attention spoils batch
Newly hired Northern Colorado coach Tad Boyle said Colorado prospects tend to be either overrecruited or underrecruited.
“When this state produces a player like Matt Bouldin, he gets a lot of attention and everybody comes in to take a look,” Boyle said. “But that takes away from other talented kids in the state.”
Boyle earned 1981 Converse high school All-American honors at Greeley Central, then bolted to play college ball at Kansas. While Boyle said the quality of Colorado high school basketball has improved greatly since he played, there are still few blue-chip prospects. And those few blue-chippers are getting looks from programs nationwide.
“The good players that come out of this state are good enough,” CSU’s Layer said. “But there aren’t enough of them.”
CU fans may wonder why Patton did not spot Jason Smith, go hard after Fazekas, or even 6-9 Louis Amundson out of Monarch High School, who came on strong late in his UNLV career.
“I’m confident in my ability to evaluate talent,” Patton said. “And nobody knows my program better than I do and what we need.”
The biggest mistake a local college can make is to recruit an in-state player who ends up riding the bench, Boyle said.
“If the kid is not happy, his family isn’t happy and his high school coach isn’t happy,” Boyle said. “That causes all sorts of problems.”
Sometimes a local kid is simply not a good fit. Patton passed on Ogirri in the fall of 2003 because he already had an oral commitment from Richard Roby in that recruiting class. Another talented guard, Marcus Hall, was just beginning his freshman season at CU. Roby has developed into an all-Big 12 player.
Colorado does appear to be making a stronger push for recruits in next year’s class. The Buffs have an oral commitment from Stephen Franklin of Aurora Central and are in on D’Evelyn’s Hooper. CU also reportedly has extended offers to Mullen guard Devin Aguilar and Garrett Fiddler of Colorado Springs Doherty.
“I think it’s turning where our local schools are looking harder at in-state players,” D’Evelyn coach Troy Pachner said. “Nobody wants to miss on the next Nick Fazekas.”
Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-820-5456 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
This story has been corrected in this online archive. Because of an editor’s error, a story on page 17B Sunday incorrectly stated that Devon Manning, a point guard for Pueblo Central, had committed to New Mexico. He has not given an oral commitment.
