“You remember the ones you don’t get more than you remember when the kid is going to come,” said Dayton assistant coach Kevin Kuwik earlier this fall, long before Morsell made his choice.
The Flyers recruited the Baltimore native Morsell and had him on campus last summer, but he cancelled a visit to UD in October, so it was no surprise he didn’t pick the Flyers.
Dayton landed three verbal commitments earlier this fall — guards Jordan Davis, of Irmo, S.C., and McKinley Wright, of Champlin Park, Minn., and forward Jordan Pierce, of Scotch Plains, N.J. — and still has two scholarships open for 2017.
Of course, it could fill those with another incoming freshman, a transfer who would have to sit out next season or a graduate transfer who could play immediately. Dayton rarely fills all its scholarships, so it could leave one open for the following year.
Here is some background on how Dayton recruits from Kuwik and fellow assistant coach Allen Griffin:
Kuwik on getting help from current players: "No question, we always say the best recruiters are the players themselves. As a coaching staff, you get the kids to come visit, but the guys on the team are the ones who actually get the guys to come. It's not perfect like that, but there's a lot of truth to that."
Griffin on using the mail, not just email and text messages: "It's not as much now, but even when we got the job six years ago, we were sending out mail-outs like crazy. They would make the mail-outs and as assistant coaches we would sign them and write notes on them and send them to the guys we were recruiting at the time. I don't think I sent Scoochie (Smith) as many mail-outs because I was calling him every second of the day."
Kuwik on how they pick what coach is in charge of a certain recruit: "It's not as specialized as football. We all have different contacts. You talk to different people. You go to different tournaments. You see different kids."
Griffin on one problem with recruiting in the winter: "You always get weather delays and cancellations. That's the one thing I remember about Scooch's visit. When he was leaving, Scooch's flight got cancelled. His connecting flight was from D.C. to New York City. It was a big ordeal. Once I hung up with him and his family, I'm like, 'Oh my god, we're not getting this kid.'"
Kuwik on finding a player who fits: "We thought (Charles Cooke) had really good potential and had done good things at a James Madison at a pretty high level. He was a pretty good fit of what we were looking for when Jordan (Sibert) was going to leave. That part of it was really exciting. Probably the biggest thing is when a kid is excited that excites you. We always preach fit. 'This is a great fit for you.' You can always tell yourself why a kid is a great fit, but you like it when they kind of see it the way you do."
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