Formal discussions with area high school boys basketball coaches and other groups have convinced Colorado athletic director Mike Bohn that the next CU men’s basketball coach must possess strong salesmanship skills.
Bohn and his assistant, Tom McGrath, chatted with about 20 area prep coaches last Thursday for about two hours. Similar meetings have been held with former CU players and faculty. Other outreach discussions are planned with donors and students.
“This clearly helps us fill the profile (of a coaching candidate),” Bohn said Tuesday. “Virtually every group has had the same message. This helps us bore down on a profile of a coach that meets those needs.”
Although McGrath, who is the point man for the search to replace Ricardo Patton, and Bohn did not present any names of potential candidates to the high school coaches, the CU administrators hoped to gain an understanding about local concerns and how the new coach can mend any perceived rifts.
“We want to be able to tell coaching candidates what the landscape is like,” McGrath said.
Patton and his staff have been criticized in the past, for not doing a good job recruiting local high school players or developing strong ties with area coaches.
Mullen coach Porter Cutrell believes the CU staff has been reluctant to nurture relationships with local prep coaches.
“They were afraid we would try to sell our players,” Cutrell said. “Hey, we understand not many are good enough to play in the Big 12. We want CU to know that it’s OK to talk with us and we’re not going to have an uprising if you don’t take every (in-state) player. CU coaches might be able to help us put players in small colleges or somewhere. They might know other people who could be interested. That’s all we want.”
Said Aurora Central coach Bob Caton: “Colorado coaches have not been seen a lot or made a very good effort to get the top players in the state. (CU coaches) need to be more visible and friendlier with the local high school coaches and players.”
Some of the talented in-state players who have succeeded elsewhere include Nick Fazekas (Nevada), Matt Bouldin (Gonzaga), Jason Smith (Colorado State), Sean Ogirri (Wichita State), Hector Hernandez (Fresno State) and Patrick Simpson (SMU).
“How hard would it be for the CU coaching staff to write a personal letter to the top 25 players in the state?” Caton said. “They could say: ‘We wish you luck this year. We don’t know if we’re going to recruit you. But we hope you have a great season and we’ll be watching your progress.’
“CU may not end up recruiting that player. But at least the kid knows you know who he is. Maybe that kid has a younger brother or friends who become good enough to play there.”
Among the suggestions offered by the high school coaches were that the new CU coach promote summer camps and clinics, and perhaps make the Coors Events Center available to high school teams for games apart from the state tournaments that the facility hosts.
“It’s a matter of building relationships,” Cherry Creek coach Mike Brookhart said.
Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
