By Kiley O’Donnell
Sports Assignment Editor
For the St. Bonaventure University men’s and women’s basketball programs, the regular season isn’t the only time the coaches are in full swing. Recruiting during the offseason is a part of their jobs, which requires strategic planning, observation and times at length away from home.
Steve Curran, who will be entering his seventh season next year as an assistant coach for the men’s team, discussed the importance of keeping up with recruiting and the impact it has during the offseason.
“Recruiting is the most important part of my job,” said Curran. “It is 365 day-a-year process that requires constant attention. A famous coach, Al McGuire, once said, ‘recruiting is like shaving, you take a day off from it and you will look bad.’”
It is a process that takes up a lot of time on the road within the season and during the offseason. There are certain times during the year where the coaches can be more proactive with their efforts, said Curran.
“I enjoy being on the road and seeing potential Bonaventure student athletes. I have spent close to 60 nights on the road recruiting this year since Sept. 9,” said Curran. “The recruiting is broken up during the year based on the NCAA, [it] tells us when and what events we are allowed to recruit at.”
Once the season ends for the Bonnies, recruiting is the main focus. The coaches immediately move their sights on to traveling and what places they are going to, Curran said.
“The offseason tends to be busy. This is because the head coach now has time to see and evaluate talent, so we try to direct him where to go and who to see,” said Curran. “As soon as the season ends in March until the end of April, we spend a lot of time on the road. May, June and August are very quiet in terms of recruiting. We can have prospects visit the campus, but are not allowed to be out and evaluate players.”
The NCAA allows coaches a total of 130 days between September and April to evaluate talent. Some shoe companies will host two tournaments during weekends in April for coaches to attend and recruit.
“During the month of July, there are three five-day periods where we can go and evaluate talent (AAU tournaments, exposure camps, etc.). This is where we identify who we want to be more aggressive with in the fall,” said Curran.
Andrea Mulcahy, an assistant coach for the women’s team, talked about the different seasons recruiting falls under.
“For us, it depends on what recruiting season we’re talking about,” said Mulcahy. “The busiest time of year is in July. We’re gone for a week at a time, three weeks during the month. It’s travel and AAU season, so that’s when we’re on the road and a different city, different day kind of stretch. Once we get to the fall it’s more high school practices, tournaments, and games and it stays that way mostly throughout the regular season.”
Mulcahy is a new mother to her infant daughter, Harper. While recruiting, she said she sometimes brings Harper on the road too and sees the acceptance of juggling a job and being a mom.
“I brought her on the road a couple of times this year. She’s at a great age where she can do it because she’s not walking or running around,” said Mulcahy. “Everyone is really accepting, and I think everyone can understand it’s hard to balance being a mom and a Division I basketball coach, whether you’re a head coach or assistant.”
Being a basketball coach at the Division I level can be hectic at times, according to Mulcahy.
She said how the regular season and offseason have their own seperate definitions of busy. During the regular season, the team is in full swing with practices, scouting and games. In the offseason, the focus is on recruiting. It’s not a typical job where the hours are always exact and everything is expected.
“With the travel schedule and craziness, it’s not an eight to five job,” said Mulcahy. “I think people like seeing women being able to do both, being a good mom and being able to recruit. I’m lucky that coach let’s me, because some coaches wouldn’t. There’s an accepting atmosphere on the women’s side on balancing both.”
odonneke16@bonaventure.edu
