When Roy Williams talks, those in college athletics listen.
And so Williams, Kansas University’s 12th-year coach and National Assn. of Basketball Coaches board member, wants it known he is an advocate of summer basketball recruiting.
“For somebody to just say, ‘Do away with summer recruiting’ … that’s ludicrous,” Williams said Wednesday.
The NCAA’s Board of Directors last month sliced the 2001 summer evaluation period when coaches can scout players from 24 days to 14. The board voted to eliminate summer recruiting entirely in 2002, unless a new plan can be devised to clean the current system.
“We are acting like we will change the culture of summer basketball by college coaches not going to the camps and tournaments,” Williams said. “That’s ridiculous. The kids are still going to play. What they are going to say is the college coaches can’t go.”
In July 2002, college coaches won’t be able to scout the Nike and adidas camps. Corrupt summer coaches, accused of paying players, will still be involved, with no college coaches on hand to observe the action.
That’s not a reasonable solution, says Williams, who spends most of July scouting prep players.
“If you are 16 years old and somebody says to you, ‘Do you want to go to Las Vegas, Los Angeles or Orlando to play basketball?’ you are going to say, ‘Yes,”‘ Williams said. “You are not going to ask, ‘Are any college coaches going to be there?’ If we think we are going to change it by just not having college coaches there, we are wrong.”
There is hope for advocates of summer recruiting. A committee of coaches, athletics directors, high school officials and shoe company officials soon will be formed. It’s believed that group will create a plan to present to the NCAA to save summer recruiting.
“I think that committee needs to have some representation of people who are actually doing it (recruiting),” Williams said. “Without that they’ll never hear that stories like Jeff Boschee’s (KU junior from Valley City, N.D.). Jeff Boschee is at Nike camp and I’d never heard of him my entire life. If it were not for Nike camp, he’d probably have ended up staying in North Dakota going to a Div. II school.
“I’ve got to believe Jeff Boschee has enjoyed what he’s done more here, playing on Big Monday and all the things we do,” Williams added. “My own son went to Five Star camp in the summer and loved it. It’s one of the great experiences he had in his life. The only thing the people out there talk about are the problems you have instead of looking at some of the great things going on, too.”
Williams says all schools benefit greatly from summer recruiting.
“It’s cost efficient for the university,” KU’s coach said. “I will go to a camp in Las Vegas this summer. There will be 312 teams in one tournament. Everybody must have 10 players on a roster. I’m not great in math, but that’s 3,120 kids. Rather than go to 3,120 different high schools to see 3,120 kids I can see them all in four days.
“Yes we need to change some things. We need to get the emphasis away from some of the things we have (like allegations of players being paid to play on certain teams). But I think intelligent people can solve some of the problems. We are never going to legislate honesty and morality so we should stop trying.”
Williams tires of those trying to restrict men’s basketball, especially when men’s basketball keeps the NCAA alive.
“Ninety two percent of the NCAA’s operating budget comes from the NCAA Div. I men’s tournament,” Williams said. “If you were to go to Kansas or the different institutions around the country, men’s basketball pays for a huge, huge, huge number of bills.
“I don’t think it’s wrong to look for something different for men’s basketball. I think it is the only sport that truly operates over both semesters of the college year. I don’t think rowing and men’s basketball should be looked on having the exact same rules.”
He’s not ready to give up on college basketball.
“There’s good and bad out there. A lot more good than bad,” he said.
