Ok, time for a report.......

No huge news that I heard. Gillin's, Satt's and Tracy's presentations were, of course, very similar to what was reported from Charlotte. Matt Ginipro gave a good presentation about volleyball's improvement, but more about how successful the outgoing senior class has been both athletically and academically. The SA speaker was also a volleyball player - I missed her introduction, but from the photos on the website I believe it was Kati Stammen.

I got a chance to speak a bit with Gillin, Fox and Satt personally, and also with MSOC coach Jason O'Keefe at more length (nice guy, said he was really looking forward to recruiting, and mentioned how important it was to focus in-state since his scholarship money is limited).

I asked Fox if he was planning to catch the Warriors game last night, and he said yes - said he couldn't understand why anyone would watch Kobe's finale instead of a team making history. Guess he missed out. As for App, he seemed pretty high on not only the incoming recruits but also this past year's freshmen and Kinney. Looking forward to the European trip this summer. Said they can't really go for a quick fix because they usually can't get jucos admitted.

I'm not sure why they don't have Fox speak publicly at these events - I guess because they want to focus on coaches whose teams were successful. He'd be terrific in this environment, though.

As far as the event itself, I didn't go last year, but it was definitely scaled back compared to a couple years ago. Smaller room, scaled back food selection, fewer coaches - two years ago nearly the entire football staff was there, whereas I didn't see any assistants last night. And of course the cost has increased from $10 to $25. On the other hand, at least our AD managed to show up for this one (Cobb wasn't there two years ago).

I won't comment on whether it's a "good deal," as that's really a matter of personal opinion. But it's definitely less for more than it used to be. Which I'm sure makes sense from the department's perspective. Still an enjoyable evening - I'd say it was worth the cost for me personally. Satt was signing schedule posters they had available, and I got him to sign a Camellia Bowl Champions poster and make it out to my son, so that alone made it worthwhile.

If I could make one change, it would be to have the FB and MBB assistants there - everyone wants to talk to Satt, Fox and Gillin of course, so you kind of have to wait your turn if you're a rank-and-file donor. I missed being able to just talk some sports with the position coaches.

I was unable to attend the Raleigh event this year due to recovering from foot surgery. Last year's event Coach Fox did speak at length. He seems to have a dynamic personality.


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Don't know about the MBB assistants but the FB assistants probably have a pretty good reason. They start visiting recruits all over tomorrow. Many are finishing up final preps and schedules or have already started trips. Can't visit until tomorrow but doesn't mean they can't already be heading to or in their areas to get a bright and early start Friday. I know the original plan was to blanket NC and surrounding first, expanding outward as the evaluation period went on, but that was before the camps were stopped. With those camps shut down, for now, our coaches are going to have to travel more to see less recruits in the same time period, since one camp could involve recruits from dozens of high schools and now, if we want contact with many of those it means a trip to the school/home, even if they aren't a top target. No way to really know since we can't work them one on one like we were. We'll know soon enough if plans have been changed. Just one possible reason.

That would make sense, Moose. Maybe they just had the Spring Tour events a couple days earlier on the calendar before.

EastHallApp wrote:That would make sense, Moose. Maybe they just had the Spring Tour events a couple days earlier on the calendar before.

I've been covered up but I was thinking that was the case last year. I may be completely wrong and haven't had time to check but it just seems it was that way. Plus, as mentioned, last year's plan was the same as this year's was, blanket NC before heading to the regular assigned areas. We did that and even if the dates were closer, then most of the coaches would have still been in state. We'll see on this year's plan in a few days but with tour stops being only a couple of days, and in the case of Greensboro, one day out from the start then I wouldn't expect to see any assistants unless they are already in the Triad area to recruit tomorrow.

EDIT: Just went back and checked. Dates were pretty much the same last year, only a day or two apart. But the plan for this year could have changed and the staff is having to adapt and reschedule. We'll see what happens tonight. But no doubts that the coaches are getting ready for the long grind.