First, stop thinking like a middle-aged white male. We probably don't need middle-aged males on the OU women's basketball team. The idea of recruiting is that you have to think like a recruit. If I'm a gymnastics prospect, my parents are probably fairly wealthy (cost of training), and I probably live in a somewhat upscale neighborhood. It's amazing how many come out of Plano or Park Ridge, IL. That is a different mindset from the typical basketball recruit.
Just as a reminder, Sheldon Williams and Richa Jackson were from Midwest City. Why didn't they stay in Oklahoma? We lose a lot of basketball players, African-American and caucasian.
If I am a top, minority recruit, which many are, do I think like a middle-aged white male? Let's not make this in any way political, but let's recognize that the white male tends to vote about 75% the opposite way from the minority who votes 95% the other way. That is a huge, huge difference in perspective. The politics isn't important. But, what gives rise to that difference in perspective is.
As a young person, I look at what is important to me and my entire future. The white male fan is looking at a basketball team. I'm looking at my entire life. What are my job prospects in the area in which I want to go to school? Will I feel comfortable in my surroundings? For these reasons, you just don't see a lot of top national recruits going anywhere in the Big Twelve. Baylor gets some with a little different approach, an "us against the world approach" of Kim Mulkey that appears to get some who are anxious to go to war. Austin, once a dead end, has become recognized as a modern city, one with a vision. It is almost like it wasn't a part of Texas. I can see Texas. But, how many want to go to Manhattan, KS, Ames, IA, Lincoln, NE, Laramie, WY, or Salt Lake City?
Louisville and South Carolina may not be excellent academic schools, but both have the support of a solid minority community. It would be more surprising to see a top prospect go to Alabama, Mississippi, Mississippi State, or Auburn, as one did this past year.
You have to think like the prospect. What does the State of Oklahoma offer? Are they like me? I have to compare that along the side of Palo Alto, or Austin, or Louisville, or Durham, NC as I compare the programs.
Just as a reminder, Sheldon Williams and Richa Jackson were from Midwest City. Why didn't they stay in Oklahoma? We lose a lot of basketball players, African-American and caucasian.
If I am a top, minority recruit, which many are, do I think like a middle-aged white male? Let's not make this in any way political, but let's recognize that the white male tends to vote about 75% the opposite way from the minority who votes 95% the other way. That is a huge, huge difference in perspective. The politics isn't important. But, what gives rise to that difference in perspective is.
As a young person, I look at what is important to me and my entire future. The white male fan is looking at a basketball team. I'm looking at my entire life. What are my job prospects in the area in which I want to go to school? Will I feel comfortable in my surroundings? For these reasons, you just don't see a lot of top national recruits going anywhere in the Big Twelve. Baylor gets some with a little different approach, an "us against the world approach" of Kim Mulkey that appears to get some who are anxious to go to war. Austin, once a dead end, has become recognized as a modern city, one with a vision. It is almost like it wasn't a part of Texas. I can see Texas. But, how many want to go to Manhattan, KS, Ames, IA, Lincoln, NE, Laramie, WY, or Salt Lake City?
Louisville and South Carolina may not be excellent academic schools, but both have the support of a solid minority community. It would be more surprising to see a top prospect go to Alabama, Mississippi, Mississippi State, or Auburn, as one did this past year.
You have to think like the prospect. What does the State of Oklahoma offer? Are they like me? I have to compare that along the side of Palo Alto, or Austin, or Louisville, or Durham, NC as I compare the programs.
