Name: COVID-19 disrupts recruiting process for numerous athletes, coaches
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COVID-19 disrupts recruiting process for numerous athletes, coaches

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You are the owner of this article.MORGANTOWN – University High senior guard Kadin “K.J.” McClurg has already been through the recruiting process once. Now, he’s weathering the storm for a second time.But despite his familiarity with the experience, the last two weeks have thrown a proverbial curveball at the Division 1 basketball prospect.McClurg committed to play for Niagara University last fall soon after Patrick Beilein, former WVU guard and West Virginia Wesleyan head coach, took the job. But within weeks, Beilein had resigned due to personal reasons, and McClurg decided to reopen his recruitment.Now, still unsigned with interest from Navy and New Hampshire, he is one of numerous athletes across the country now facing uncharted territory in recruiting, as the COVID-19 pandemic has halted all athletic events, as well as the ability for collegiate coaches to visit prospects, and prospects to visit campuses.“I think, like I said, it's different. A lot of previous years, well every previous year, I bet you every commit went on a visit before and got to see how it was, what it feels like, how’s the team, and I feel like this year for a lot of unsigned seniors it's going to be different with recruiting. And there’s going to be a lot of kids making choices, and it may even be me, to go to a place I haven’t even seen. I think there are a lot of sticky situations where it's just going to hurt.” – &nbsp;University High senior Kadin "K.J." McClurgThat’s quite a twist added to the process, as now many high school seniors will have to decide where they want to spend the next four years of their lives and athletic careers without getting to meet coaches or future teammates in-person, or visiting campuses and getting to see their future home.Even more, some athletes who still had competitions or even full seasons remaining are missing crucial opportunities to perform for collegiate coaches and prove their worth.“Well, the state tournament attracts a lot of coaches, so I was definitely looking forward to playing in that. So definitely, in the recruiting, it has held up recruiting for at least a month, it’s probably going to be a little more. For a player like me, an unsigned senior, everybody is at kind of a stand still. Coaches have never done this, never seen this, everyone is just kind of shocked by it,” McClurg said.Just down the interstate, roughly 25-30 miles away from the University High campus that McClurg attended before schools shut down in West Virginia along with sports nationwide, Fairmont State men’s basketball head coach Tim Koenig sits at home with his children.Normally, he’d be on the road, hitting the recruiting trail like in previous seasons. But that process has changed.“I’ve been on the phone a lot. It’s nothing in person. I’m at home more – I’d be in the car driving a lot, driving who knows where, lining up visits, bringing guys on campus. Everything is remote – Facetime, phone calls, sending virtual tours of campus, things like that. The phone calls, that doesn’t change. That’s still the same,” Koenig said.McClurg can still recall the role of visiting Niagara’s campus in New York, meeting the full team and coaching staff, and experiencing the atmosphere of the school. That’s an experience that plays a huge role for athletes across the country – across all levels of both the NCAA and NAIA – in helping athletes figure out just where they feel most comfortable attending college.“It’s hard. There might be a time I might have to pick a school without even really visiting it in person, and that’s hard – the internet can only do so much. It might probably come down to that if this keeps going on, so at this moment, I’m just hoping for the best,” McClurg said.“I actually took an official [visit to Niagara] before I committed, and all the players and the coaching staff and the campus, I just felt really at home with it. Like I said, these next few weeks and stuff, I don’t know if I’ll be able to make a decision by going on a campus visit, and that’s different for me, for coaches, for everyone that’s involved.”Meanwhile, Koenig, who has spent the past season inheriting a team with a dedicated fan base and strong program culture at the Division 2 level, has proven himself as the type of coach who can lead a program to success.He was named Mountain East Conference Coach of the Year in 2018-19 for leading Notre Dame College in Ohio to an MEC Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance. At Fairmont State, he captured the school’s record for winningest first season as a head coach, which was previously held by current Boston Celtics assistant Joe Mazzula and all-time winningest college basketball coach Joe Retton.But that type of culture and success can be tough to convey via text messages, video chats, and phone calls, which is a problem Koenig has run into during his first full off-season leading the program. Now, it proves to be another challenge for an already established coach to attempt to handle.“A lot of these guys I already know, I already have a relationship with. The biggest thing is not seeing the area, not seeing how great the campus, the community is, how passionate everybody is about basketball. Just the overall experience on campus, I mean Fairmont State is a great place, I mean it’s a pretty special place. From that standpoint, it’s hard to convey that,” Koenig said.“And then there’s no substitute for having the guys meet the players. That’s very important, and that piece is tough. So we talk about different principles and values, we have a little basketball video that we send, and we do the best we can.”Now, numerous seniors still unsigned in multiple sports – not just basketball – have to also do the best they can in judging just how well a program and a college fits them without getting that experience. And McClurg, who is, of course, dealing with it personally, predicts that it’ll create some uncomfortable situations in the long run.“I think, like I said, it’s different. A lot of previous years, well every previous year, I bet you every commit went on a visit before and got to see how it was, what it feels like, how’s the team, and I feel like this year for a lot of unsigned seniors it’s going to be different with recruiting,” he said.“And there’s going to be a lot of kids making choices, and it may even be me, to go to a place I haven’t even seen. I think there are a lot of sticky situations where it’s just going to hurt.”Follow Joe Smith on Twitter @joesmithwritesStay up to date on COVID-19Get Breaking NewsSign up now to get our FREE breaking news coverage delivered right to your inbox.© Copyright 2020 , 300 Quincy Street, P O Box 2530 Fairmont, WV&nbsp;| &nbsp;|Powered by from .

You are the owner of this article.MORGANTOWN – University High senior guard Kadin “K.J.” McClurg has already been through the recruiting process once. Now, he’s weathering the storm for a second time.But despite his familiarity with the experience, the last two weeks have thrown a proverbial curveball at the Division 1 basketball prospect.McClurg committed to play for Niagara University last fall soon after Patrick Beilein, former WVU guard and West Virginia Wesleyan head coach, took the job. But within weeks, Beilein had resigned due to personal reasons, and McClurg decided to reopen his...

COVID-19 disrupts recruiting process for numerous athletes, coaches

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