A Season Inside by John Feinstein Read Free Book Online Page A

Why should I have to do that to a seventeen-year-old kid? Why should I answer his questions, many of which are totally ridiculous? When I think about coaching in the pros, the thing I think about most is that I would never have to recruit again.”
    Sometimes, coaches snap and say what they’re really thinking. American University Coach Ed Tapscott, winding down the nonstop three weeks of home visits, found himself in the house of an excellent athlete who was, to be polite, a shaky student.
    “In the middle of our talk, the kid said to me, ‘Hey Coach, how many seats are there in your new arena and how many times will you be on television next year?’ I just snapped. It was too many visits andtoo many questions like that. I said to him, ‘Look, you can’t even read and write and you’re asking me how many times you’re going to be on television? You’ve got some nerve.’
    “I thought there was an outside chance that maybe the family would like it, you know, the tough, honest approach. But my reaction was just instinctive and they didn’t go for the tough, honest approach.”
    Honesty is often not the best policy in recruiting. Jim Boeheim, the Syracuse coach, went into the home of Jerrod Mustaf, the highly sought 6–10 DeMatha High School senior, knowing that Mustaf thought of himself as a small forward. Boeheim hadn’t seen Mustaf play much but his assistants had.
    “When he asked me where I thought he would play, I said, ‘Inside.’ He said, ‘Have you seen me play?’ I said, ‘No, not really, not yet, but I’d be very surprised if you aren’t better off playing inside.’ I could tell by looking at him that we were done.”
    Mustaf, who is a Maryland freshman, confirms the story and Boeheim’s notion. “When he said that, I knew for sure I wouldn’t be going to Syracuse.”
    What makes coaches truly crazy are the often wacky reasons that players use to choose a school. Rarely does a player choose a school simply because he believes it will be the best place for him athletically and academically. Sometimes the weather on a particular visit decides. Sometimes a pretty date on that visit decides. Sometimes nice uniforms decide. Sometimes, it is even sillier than that.
    Tapscott, who needs all the breaks he can get coaching at a small school like American, lost a player last spring because of Kermit Washington, the best player in AU history.
    “We were recruiting a kid from Florida named Deron Hayes,” he explained. “The kid was about six-five, not a great player but a good one, the kind who could help us. He had a great visit to campus. He even told me when he was here that he’d like to settle in the Washington, D.C., area after college. Then, a few days later he calls me up and says he’s going to Penn State.”
    Tapscott said his question to Hayes was direct: “Why the hell are you going there?” From there, the conversation went like this:
    Hayes: “Well, coach, they have a lot of tradition.”
    Tapscott: “That’s in football, not basketball.”
    Hayes: “Well, coach, I think a degree from Penn State would mean more than a degree from American.”
    Tapscott: “Come on, Deron, that’s not it, you know our board scores are higher on the average than theirs are.”
    Hayes: “Well, coach, a lot of my friends from home are going to school up there.”
    Tapscott: “Deron, you told me you were ready to leave high school behind and move on to college. That’s not it either. Now come on, why Penn State?”
    Hayes (softly): “Coach, I can wear number twenty-four there.”
    Tapscott knew he had hit the real reason. Kermit Washington had worn No. 24 and American had retired it after his graduation. Hayes wore No. 24 in high school. He could not have worn it at American.
    “If I had been smart, I would have told him I could arrange for him to wear it and then after he signed, explain that I couldn’t work it out,” Tapscott said. “But I’m not that smart.”
    Or that dishonest. In