Very nicely done, Bill Koch. Lots of good insight into the recruiting process.
Quote:UC used patience, persistence to land Lawrence
Apr. 20, 2013 3:14 PM
Written by Bill Koch
University of Cincinnati assistant coach Darren Savino first saw Jermaine Lawrence during a New York City playoff game at St. John’s University two years ago near the end of Lawrence’s sophomore year at Bayside Cardozo High School in Queens.
“He had great length and athleticism for a young kid but he also showed an ability with the ball,” Savino said. “He had a decent touch. And even though he was skinny and young, he competed.”
Savino knew right away that Lawrence, a 6-foot-9, 200-pound forward who signed a letter-of-intent with UC on Wednesday, had the skills to make a major impact on the UC program. The bigger question was whether the Bearcats would have a chance to land such a talented player, who would surely be recruited by all the major schools.
That’s what UC head coach Mick Cronin wanted to know the first time he saw Lawrence play.
“My first words out of my mouth to Darren were, are we going to be able to beat Syracuse?” Cronin said. “He’s a typical Syracuse player. He looks like a praying mantis. I’m watching him run up and down the court three or four times and I’m looking for Jim Boeheim over my shoulder.”
Savino did his homework. He talked to Lawrence’s high school coach, Ron Naclerio, who was a friend of both Savino and Cronin, and who, both believed, would tell them the truth about their chances. He talked to AAU coaches and eventually to Lawrence’s parents.
Both UC coaches decided this was a battle for a major recruit that they could win and went all-out to land Lawrence, who was ranked No. 18 in his recruiting class by Scout.com and is the second-highest ranked recruit to sign with UC since Cronin took over as the Bearcats’ head coach in 2006.
Guard Lance Stephenson was ranked No. 11 nationally when he signed with UC in the summer of 2009 but Stephenson was a different case. He came with legal and perceived attitude issues that made some schools back away from him. But UC was willing take chance on him as a way to open the door for other elite recruits in a program that was struggling to get involved with such players during its rebuilding process.
The gamble paid off. Stephenson played for one year for the Bearcats before leaving for the NBA, where he now plays for the Indiana Pacers, but Cronin said his brief stay at UC helped land Lawrence, who cited the success of New York area players such as Stephenson, Sean Kilpatrick and Jermaine Sanders as factors that contributed to his decision to sign with UC.
“Ultimately, Lance did great things for our program from a profile standpoint for New York players who have followed him,” Cronin said. “Lance made it cool to come here.”
What helped even more in UC’s pursuit of Lawrence was the involvement of his parents in the process.
“For them, it was going to be about a relationship with the coach and development of their son as a person,” Cronin said. “It was a perfect match for how we try to run our program. You’ve got to be able to figure out what’s really going on and what a decision is really going to be based on. That’s the entire key to recruiting.
“They were not looking for the team that’s on television the most or the so-called most popular coach in the country. We saw right away that here’s a top 20 player that’s not going to get caught up in the top three or four schools that are usually mentioned with those kids. They were more concerned with who was recruiting him the hardest, who they were going to have the best relationship with.”
Cronin’s concern about which other schools might be involved with Lawrence was understandable because the UC coach narrowly missed out on elite guards Kemba Walker, who led Connecticut to the national championship in 2011; and Trey Burke, who led Michigan to the national championship game this past season.
That last-minute disappointment didn’t happen with Lawrence, Cronin said, because of the work Savino did in building a relationship with Lawrence and his family and because UC’s recent success – with three straight NCAA Tournament appearances - has made the program more attractive to top-flight recruits.
“If I feel there’s a mutual connection, if there’s a relationship there and a connection and positive vibes on both sides, then you go with it,” Savino said. “You put your nose in there and build a relationship with the people and the family and the kid. My concern is us and what we do, what’s best for the kid and how he fits in. What I tried to sell to him is what we do best he needs.”
Lawrence is considered talented enough to make the jump to the NBA after a year or two of college basketball, so one of the things Savino emphasized was the UC program’s ability to prepare him for that next step by helping him to get stronger and teaching him to play a more physical style.
Savino also sold the benefits of playing for Cronin plus the university, the campus and the tradition of the program.
“Inner-city kids kind of like going to school here,” Savino said. “For the New York area kids, it’s not New York City, but it’s a city. There’s a lot of things going on. You’re not isolated on a campus in the middle of nowhere.”
There were plenty of twists and turns as the recruiting process unfolded. After his sophomore year, Lawrence transferred to Pope John XXIII High School in Sparta, N.J., costing Savino and Cronin their trusted contact with Bayside Cardozo coach Naclerio. And as the process unfolded, the Big East Conference fell apart, leaving the Bearcats to compete in the new American Athletic Conference next season and denying UC one of its top selling points to New York area recruits.
But Savino and Cronin both said the conference situation never came up and Lawrence said the conference that UC plays in was not an issue for him.
“Early on, I was petrified about it,” Cronin said. “But after his official visit I knew the whole process would be based off a trust level. Jermaine’s parents were looking for somebody to be a parental extension of them. That trumped everything.”
Patience also helped UC’s cause. According to Cronin, some of the other schools that were recruiting Lawrence wanted a quick answer. When they didn’t get one, they moved on to other high-profile recruits. Cronin and Savino told Lawrence and his family to take their time making their decision. They were willing to wait.
“Cincinnati was the most patient and consistent,” said Lawrence’s mother, Marcia. “There were other schools that were calling but they were the most patient. Nothing was ever forced.”
Everything that they had discussed during the previous two years, Marcia said, she got to see first-hand when she accompanied Jermaine on his visit. That helped her to see that the UC coaches were true to their word. She said she sensed that there was a sense of family, togetherness and support that helped her and Jermaine make her decision.
Syracuse did eventually recruit Lawrence, although Cronin said the Orange backed off after they landed another recruit last fall. Providence was also involved as were a host of other schools. The final three schools on Lawrence’s list were UC, St. John’s and UNLV, which Lawrence visited last November the same week UC was playing in a tournament in Las Vegas.
“We couldn’t have any type of interaction while he was there, but he was in the stands while we were playing Iowa State,” Cronin said. “I saw him back there.”
Lawrence made his official visit to UC the weekend of Dec. 21. That’s when Cronin felt he made the most progress. The Bearcats played Wright State at Fifth Third Arena on Saturday, Dec. 22 and Lawrence spent a lot of time with the UC players. He attended a film session before the game to get a sense of what it would be like on game day if he played there.
“It was a lot of fun,” Lawrence said of his visit. “I went out with the coaches, went to dinner, went to a game. The fans showed a lot of love. They had a big (cut-out) head of me. It was cool. (The players) told me that it was going to be hard there, that nothing was going to come easy, that I’ll have to work for what I want.”
The key to the visit, Cronin believes, was a one-on-one conversation he had with Lawrence’s mother.
“When I got a chance to sit down with her one-on-one, I could tell she was extremely sincere about the environment her son was going to be in and the people he was going to be with,” Cronin said. “It was the most genuine process as far as that that I’ve been through. She thanked me for really explaining to her that if Jermaine came to Cincinnati these are the things we were going to emphasize, this would be my plan for him, personally, academically and basketball-wise.”
In the end, Lawrence narrowed his choices to UC and St. John’s. On Feb. 3, he made an oral committed to UC on his 18th birthday. He signed his letter-of-intent on Wednesday, the first day of the spring signing period. It was a huge recruiting coup for UC.
For the low-key Savino, the celebration was subdued, just as it was after Lawrence made his oral commitment.
“I was happy, yes,” he said. “I’m going to be more excited and more thrilled when he’s got the uniform on and he’s leading our team to victories.”
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20130...ck_check=1