Recruiting Is An Art, Not A Science
Nick Manson transferred to Rhode Island College from Endicott. He wasn't recruited to play basketball. He walked into my office in the fall and said he wanted to walk on. He seemed like a good kid who played hard, and a couple of his high school teammates had played for me as well. We had room for a couple of walk ons, so he made the team. He used to come into my office all the time and tell me he was ready to play, he'd do whatever it took. I nodded and commended him on his work ethic. He was a solid walk on who could shoot a little bit, a nice practice player for us.
After a year and a half of not playing any meaningful minutes, I put Nick into the starting line up for a league game because I wasn't happy with the mental approach or compete level of our team. Nick played great defense and knocked in a couple of 3s to get us off to a great start. For the next year and a half he never came out of the starting lineup. He was a big time shooter for us and one of the best defenders I've ever coached. We went to back-to-back Sweet 16s with Nick in the staring lineup.
Darius Debnam was a long, 6-4 forward in high school who liked to hang out on the perimeter and shoot 3s. He was very interested in Rhode Island College, but my staff went and saw him play and wasn't very impressed. With the talent we had in the program, they didn't feel like he'd definitely make our team. I had a conversation with Darius where I told him if he wanted to play college basketball, he shouldn't come to Rhode Island College. We probably wouldn't have room for him, and I didn't want to mislead him.
Darius showed up anyway. During the first week of school, one of my assistants came into the office and said "I think I saw Darius Debnam on campus." He would show up at the recreation center when our guys played pick up and shoot by himself on the side court. I figured if he was here, we might as well let him play, so I told my point guard to get him in the pick up games. I asked him how he looked the next day, and he said "He's our best post player."
Darius was a captain and starter for us on those same back to back Sweet 16 teams, after I literally told him not to come to Rhode Island College.
Ethan Gaye was a local Providence kid who showed up at RIC and started to play with our guys in the fall. He had asked us to try out and we said we'd give him a look. Throughout the fall, a few of our returning players would stop in and ask if we were going to take Ethan on the team. They kept bringing him up because of how hard he played and how tough he was. I figured he had to be worth a look, and Ethan made the team as a walk on.
Ethan was far from our most skilled player, but the way he competed changed the level of our practices. He wasn't a great shooter, a great passer, or a great ball-handler. If you asked me what position he played, I'd probably say defensive back. He just changed possessions with the way he guarded and competed. In his last two years, Ethan started 45 of the 48 games he played on two NCAA Tournament teams that went 46-11.
Jacob Page was a quiet kid from Massachusetts who we didn't recruit to RIC, but he showed up and came out for the team. He was an undersized post player, no more than 6-4 wearing heels, who simply did his job well. He could guard multiple positions, and was one of those always-in-the-right-place-at-the-right-time kind of players. He made our defense better. He was a great practice player who earned the respect of his teammates.
Over his last two years at RIC, Jacob Page started 24 games for back-to-back league championship teams, and helped keep our streak of 8 straight NCAA Tournaments alive.
Recruiting is an art, not a science.