Southwestern College Collegian

Issue date: 1/23/08 Section: Sports

Xavier Henry is the No. 2 prospect in the class of 2009 college basketball recruits. Henry is a 6'6" guard out of Oklahoma City who is interested in three schools: Kansas, Memphis, and North Carolina. They are the top three schools in the nation right now with a combined record of 53-1. The kid has it made. It didn't take me long to find out about the fortune of Mr. Henry. With a few clicks of the mouse, I was able to find all that out, and even the stats of his latest game. He scored 30 points for Putnum City High School in a win over in-city rival Putnam City North High School. It's all just a few windows away. None of this does me any good really. I can browse for stats all I want. My only real investment is from a fan's perpective. This information can affect many others though, namely coaches. In the past decade, college recruiting has been shaken at its foundation because of our good friend technology. I'm not here to weigh in on the pros and cons of this, but the internet has forever changed how coaches will recruit college players. Take a look at the men's basketball team this year. It features players from Florida, California, and a strong core of Texas recruits. There are still Kansas and Oklahoma players, but the team definitely has influences outside of our area. Traditional recruiting, especially at a KCAC school, would be done basically in-state. Yes, Winfield is a close neighbor with the Oklahoma border so coaches might have pulled in a few from that area, but unless players had family ties to the college I doubt we are going to see many states represented in lineups during the 80s and prior. For the coaches, it becomes a better way of filling voids on the team. They can be more selective about what they look for in next season's batch of recruits. Thanks to the internet, there is no doubt coaches have far more information on far more players on the radar for the next few years. It's a names database for high school players. If a coach wants to know about a player he can search for any information he desires. That ability has always been there, but it took several calls and precious time. Now, it only depends on how good your internet service provider is. The stat sheet, however, doesn't always tell the player's role. Some prospects are uploading their highlights and game film to websites like YouTube. com. Coaches and spectators can take a look at what the player has to offer. This isn't something that will help KCAC schools immediately. So far, only the top recruits in the nation have uploaded film online. It's like name brands and off brands. The name brands develop the latest formulas or the latest fashions, and over time the off name brands will duplicate the recipe. Soon, there will most likely be a database that has game film for thousands of players in dozens of sports. There may already be such a site in its infancy, and if not I might want to develop the idea because it sounds like a cash cow to me. Recruiting begins earlier and earlier. If you notice I said that Henry is the No. 2 prospect for 2009. It's not a typo. He is still a junior this year. To give you an idea how early recruiting begins, let's look at the University of Texas football team. They often are 80 percent finished recruiting for the next season before the start of that year's football season. It is unreasonable to think that this could be done unless schools had been in contact with a player since his junior and possibly sophomore year. Xavier Henry is not going to be on Coach Doug Hall's wish list of players to recruit to Southwestern. He is a Division I recruit who might make a name at the pro level within five years. He simply has too much talent to play at this level. Henry does, however, represent the change in the recruiting landscape in all of college sports. The internet offers coaches the freedom and ability to look at players from anywhere in the United States and bring them to whatever corner of it they want to. Depending on your school of thought, recruiting may be the most important role a coach has. Thanks to such advancements, that role has just become a lot more simple.

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