[Izulde]

"Let's be honest. Would -you- turn down a scholarship offer from Brown?"

That's getting a little too close to home, so I don't answer Cortez.

Malcolm rubs his temples, "Look, I gotta agree with Cortez. Both these schools are way more prestigious than we are for basketball and Brown? Shit, Hernandez could get any job he wanted with that degree. That said, we might, -might- be able to outrecruit them, but it'd take everything we have. I'd drop Odum right now, though. I was talking to some other scouts and we can't compete with Hartford in any area."

"Let's look at some of the other guys you broke down, Malcolm", I say.

"All right. Graham Song won't ever be able to pass the ball and he's more of a finesse center. I know you hate those, Iz, so I'd probably drop him. James Smith is raw as hell, but I feel like he can be a great get for us if we can develop him. Problem is, we're not on his Top 5 list. Carroll Griego is raw too. Could be a decent handler, but won't ever pass well or shoot free throws, but I think he could be a sick rebounder. Plus he's 7 foot and we're #5 on his radar right now. Matthew Chiles is a turnover machine, so we'll skip him, even though he's going to be a scoring beast inside and he has us at #3. Ray Williams is kinda like Chiles. Junior Dillard won't ever be too good a handler, but I still gotta plead the dude's case. He could be a great passer, he's got terrific stamina already, and I think he could be an off the hook scoring option, Plus he's Rhode Island All-State and think how huge that would be to be able to say we landed a local All-State kid. We're also #1 right now, with Harvard the only other team showing interest."

"Hell, what is it with all these Ivies up in our guys?" Cortez laughs.

I don't say anything, just motion Malcolm to continue.

"Thaddeus Valdez doesn't look like a great fit for what you're looking for, but we're the only school showing interest. And then you're starting to look at the 1 star guys."

"I say we go after Dillard for sure. You won't have everyone perfect, Iz", Cortez volunteers.

"And I think Hernandez is up to you. I also think you should hit Smith and/or Griego."

I lean back in my chair and think. $6,500. That'd be enough to go all-in on Hernandez, send Cortez for one of the other guys and scout somebody else. Seems like a risky play.

I take a look at the reports Malcolm compiled on our current squad. We've got a couple of really promising underclassmen at point guard, a redshirt freshman and a redshirt sophomore. I particularly like the looks of the sophomore, if he can develop into his potential. Given that, Dillard doesn't make much sense in spite of what my assistants are rapping.

Big man, though, we've got nothing. I mean nothing. There's also a few guys on the call list we haven't scouted yet, notably a 7', 318 lbs beast out of Illinois who has us at #5, just from the calling.

Damn, this is hard.

"We've also got two 3 star guys who are into us now. Undersized PF and a swingman, both from the New England area," Malcom says.

"...Let's go all in on Hernandez and check out the kid from Illinois. Send Dillard a scholarship letter and check out the swingman, too."

I hope I made the right choice. My assistants are looking a little uncertain, and I probably am too.

A month later
The less said about the conversation with Thomas Hernandez, the better. He was polite and listened to Cortez and I and everything, and he agreed to make a campus visit, but I saw a Brown hoodie in his closet and I think he's all but committed there. We're the only two schools fighting for him now, perhaps another sign he's going to be a Bear.

We jumped to the top of Junior Dillard's list with our scholarship offer. Both Cortez and Malcolm are pushing hard for me to go all in on him, especially with Harvard, Hartford, Fairleigh Dickinson, and Army all waiting in the wings. This time I listen to them, because we need all the pure talent on this team we can get.

Illinois guy was a bust. Carroll Griego still doesn't have any scholarship offers and neither does James Smith. You can't teach height, so I throw our remaining offer at Griego and have Cortez visit him.

Time passes
Coppin State jumped in with an offer to Carroll Griego and they zoom to #1. We're now sitting third behind them and conference foe Mount St. Mary's, who hasn't offered yet. Junior Dillard still only has the offer from us, and seemed to absolutely love his campus visit.

Junior's getting a visit from Cortez and I to try and seal the deal. We also make a last ditch effort, inviting Griego to campus and having Cortez go talk to Hernandez again.

Pre-Training Camp
Last ditch effort for Carroll Griego failed. He committed to Coppin State. Ditto for Thomas Hernandez, who signed to Brown as everyone expected.

The good news... PG Junior Dillard, the Rhode Island All-State player from Johnston Senior High in Johnston, committed to Bryant! I was so damned relieved when I got his call saying he was signing with us.

In the grand scheme of things, a 2 star recruit, even an All-State one, isn't a big deal. But on our sad little team, every little bit helps.

Our call list was pretty much wiped out by the early signing period. Cletus Toole, by the way, signed with UMass, spurning interest from Boston College, Providence, and Rhode Island, among others.

The recruiting board is looking -very- bleak now. The guys left who have interest in us either just barely miss our academic credentials (although there's a 2.34/1050 SAT PF with no offers who we're strongly considering, just to get a big man in... but is the SAT score enough over 1000 to justify the 2.34 GPA?), already have offers, or are point guards, which we will have more than enough of with the two underclassmen and Dillard.

Time to get some sleep while I argue with myself about the ethics of 2.34/1050 Ian Oswalt, a 6'10 North Carolinan PF with zero offers who as some interest in us.

Or maybe we should sit back and see what the transfer crop reveals. By the way PG Hollis Odum has not yet committed and is still waffling between us and Hartford.

In any case, I suppose I should feel good about bringing a 2 star All-State player to a school of Bryant's calibre.

And by Bryant's calibre, I mean a whopping 2 prestige.