BYU basketball: July evaluation period critical for recruiting efforts

PROVO — It might not involve any actual instruction or coaching, but the work that lies ahead during the next few months for the BYU basketball staff will nonetheless have a major impact on the program's future.

July is a key evaluation month where, during two 10-day periods with a six-day dead time in between, three BYU coaches can be on the road to evaluate potential recruits. The coaches cannot contact any recruits, just observe them.

Most of the evaluation will take place at regional AAU camps, where many of the top prep players in the country gather to showcase their skills. Normally, the camps in Las Vegas and Orlando attract the most talent.

"July is a really busy month for us," associate head coach Dave Rice said. "It kind of sets up our recruiting plan for the rest of the year."

After spending most of July on the road, head coach Dave Rose and his staff will then update their recruiting plan for future years and for the fall, when they can begin contacting players.

Rose, like every coach, wants a team that has as many big, strong, fast, quick and athletic players as possible. Realistically, however, he will go after the most-talented players that he thinks will want to play for BYU, who he believes will fit in at BYU, and players that best fill the Cougars' future needs.

"There are a lot of different ways that we'd like to play, but obviously we don't spend a lot of time talking about that because we're not going to put a team out there like Kentucky put out there (last season)," Rose said during a postseason interview in April, referring to a Kentucky team that had five players picked in the first round of this year's NBA Draft.

"Our teams are going to be different, but we're going to have our strengths and we're going to coach toward those strengths.

"You realize that with the players that are in your recruiting pool, that you can get, that will actually fit here, those are the players that you try to mold your team and your game around," he said.

Rose is always looking for dominant post players. But even though such players are at the top of every coach's wish list, getting them to sign on is easier wished than accomplished — especially at BYU.

"People always want to know where is the 7-footer, and the 7-foot-1 and 7-foot-2 guys. I hope I can find one, and we're out there all the time looking for them. But our big guys have to be able to run," Rose said. "That's a factor in their ability to be able to play for us, because that's how we play.