Mike Sullivan tries to keep his finger on the pulse of men’s college basketball recruiting.
His heart races when the basketball bluebloods are involved, so imagine how Sullivan a recruiting analyst with Insiders Report reacted to reports that Bill Guthridge had resigned as North Carolina’s coach and the premature report that Roy Williams was set to become Guthridge’s successor.
“It’s big,” Sullivan said Sunday. “As far as two big programs being effected to this magnitude at this time of year, it’s unprecedented.”
The outcome and possible effects on recruiting for both schools is not yet settled. Regardless, it comes at a bad time.
Williams said last week that he would make his final decision whether to return to KU for a 13th season or to return to his alma mater by Friday, the day before the start of the summer recruiting period.
A prolonged vacancy at either school, Sullivan said, could prove costly.
“If it’s just a couple of weeks, it wouldn’t be that bad,” Sullivan said. “In some ways, it’s better that it came now than after July, because after July, forget it. If it’s in August, that severely damages your chances for fall. In retrospect, it’s better the decision was made now than after the whole July period.”
If Williams heads back to Carolina, Sullivan said, the Jayhawks would suffer more than the Tar Heels.
“I don’t know that it would affect North Carolina as much as Kansas,” he said. “Guthridge’s recruiting, to be honest, has been mediocre. But if Williams leaves, it really could affect Kansas. The other side is, if Roy Williams decides to stay, he’s telling people that there’s no better job in the world than Kansas. If he decides to stay at Kansas, that shows recruits he’s there to stay and further strengthens Kansas’ recruiting.”
Coaches have used Williams’ Carolina ties against the Jayhawks in the past, Sullivan said.
“Definitely, yeah,” Sullivan said. “Coaches always say on the record they don’t resort to negative recruiting, but when you talk to kids, they say stuff is going on. Certainly it’s weighed against Kansas in the past. But you know what? Kansas is Kansas. Kansas will survive whether Roy Williams is there or not. Look at North Carolina. North Carolina survived with coach Guthridge.”
Still, several of the nation’s top high school players are keeping a close eye on Kansas and Carolina.
“I really don’t know what’s going on,” said Aaron Miles, a 6-footer from Portland, Ore., who considered KU among his front-runners before Guthridge’s retirement set off a domino effect. “Would I still be interested in Kansas if Mr. Williams leaves? It would depend on who Kansas brings in as coach. The new coach might not want me.”
Kansas’ tradition could keep Miles interested in the Jayhawks. Then again, Guthridge didn’t recruit Miles to UNC. If Williams heads east, he might try to get Miles in Carolina blue.
“Part of it was Mr. Williams, and part of it was the school and tradition of it at KU, going to the NCAA Tournament and producing NBA prospects,” said Miles, who considers Duke, UCLA, Arizona and Kansas as his four tentative finalists. “North Carolina wasn’t recruiting me, but if Mr. Williams goes to North Carolina and he happens to recruit me, I might follow. Basically, all I can do is sit and wait. I’d like to see what happens.”
