Recruiting buzz

• By RANDY ROSETTA
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Jul 17, 2008 - UPDATED: 6:30 a.m.

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Fresh off his first wave of on-the-road recruiting as LSU’s new coach, Trent Johnson spent a small portion of his day Wednesday on the SEC coaches summer teleconference.

The topics? For the most part, reporters from around the South focused on recruiting.

Makes sense. Because this spring and summer have been punctuated by a new wave of recruiting nuances, drawing a new official stance from the National Association of Basketball Coaches and a shift in recruiting philosophy from one of the game’s most visible coaches.

Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie drew attention this spring when he garnered a commitment from eighth grader Michael Avery.

Not that Gillispie is alone. Last summer, Southern Cal coach Tim Floyd offered scholarships to and accepted commitments from a pair of 14-year-olds — one who had yet to decide where he was going for high school.

Last month the NABC issued a recommendation that commitments not be accepted until after players have completed their sophomore year of high school. That is in line with NCAA rules which prohibit coaches from contacting athletes until the June after their second year of high school.

Despite the recommendation, Florida coach Billy Donovan accepted a commitment from Austin Rivers, who just completed the ninth grade in Winter Park, Fla. Rivers’ father is Doc Rivers, the coach of the Boston Celtics.

Most of the league’s 12 coaches were asked about the subject Wednesday, with a wide range of reactions.

“I agree with it, but when a kid is a recruitable athlete, I am going to evaluate him and look at him and do everything possible within the rules,” said Johnson, who is faced with the task of filling as many as nine scholarships in the next two recruiting cycles. “But it’s hard for me to get excited about a kid who is going into the ninth or 10th grade. A lot can change, and I’m not talking physically as much as I am talking mentally, between your ninth or 10th grade year in high school and your junior and senior year in high school.”

• Georgia coach Dennis Felton: “I don’t think you can do it. We can’t control the timeline. I wouldn’t be doing my job if I sat by idly and didn’t aggressively pursue players I think can help my program.”

• Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl: “I’m confused by it. I’d prefer the NABC to be spending time on issues that greater affect coaches, like our lack of job security and NCAA rules as it affects our ability to recruit.”

• Alabama coach Mark Gottfried: “I think it’s a good thing. As a coach I completely understand the dilemma that we’re sometimes faced with. You have a young player who maybe wants to come to your school. But I think generally when you look at the big picture, I think it’s healthy to wait. I think it’s the right thing to do.”

• Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury: “If a kid wants to commit and a school is committed to that kid, why not let him.”

Johnson pointed out that the culture of recruiting has changed to accommodate the earlier attention players receive and the subsequent chance to commit early.

“It used to be that you got a lot of mail and attention when you completed your junior year, and I am going back to when I was a player,” said Johnson, who played at Boise State in the late 1970s. “Guys were making decisions when you were going into your senior year, and all of a sudden it started when it was your junior year or your sophomore year. … Kids are recruitable athletes in the ninth grade, but kids are being targeted and watched when they are in the seventh grade and they are being written and talked about.”

While LSU basketball coaches have never made a habit of recruiting players as young as the eighth grade, it’s a trend that isn’t all that new.