July is fast approaching and Sacramento State is getting ready

It's not accurate but still it's easy to conjure up the Dukes, North Carolinas and Kentuckys of the college basketball world as selecting their vaunted recruits similar to a  pickup game having chosen sides -- 'we will have him, him and him.'

Or that in July, whether it be Las Vegas or southern California, bugles blare, trumpets blow and an English-accented public address announcer makes the royal announcement that Coach K, Roy Smith or John Calipari has 'entered the gym.'

However, that is not the experience for 99% of the college basketball coaches buzzing around, generally unrecognized, trying to discover, evaluate and land new blood.

Brandon Laird, associate head coach at Sacramento State, can certainly speak about such, having previously coached at UC Davis and Menlo, all where triple digit recruiting budgets -- tip money for the big boys --  is definitely not the norrn.

However, the task of replenishing must be fulfilled successfully regardless of constraints.

Or else.

So how does the Brian Katz-headed program, colloquially git r done?

Asked whether college coaches place more emphasis on seeing prospects in high school or AAU games, Laird said, "There is no differentiation. We want to see them as much as possible. If we watch a kid 100 times, we want to see him 101 times. You can never have enough evaluation."

But opportunity presents itself much more readily in spring and especially summer.

"In July, we can see a prospect up to 30 times," due to all the tournaments and the playing of multiple games per day.

"But high school basketball is in the midst of our season where there is a focus on recruiting but also one on planning and preparing for our next opponents. So contact and time is more limited."

"There is a lot of value and we like to see them in both situations. AAU is typically more open court and less structured with scores less relevant. "

What's also interesting is that the Hornet coaching staff is measuring both talent and character.

"We can't favor one over the other" as a better player but one with me-me-me issues could be the poison pill that destroys any opportunity for the degree of team chemistry needed to be successful. On the other hand, a certain level of skill capability is necessary in order to be competitive.

Laird and his associates know that individual roles and playing styles can change and adaptation to such is definitely appraised.

"The #1 option on a high school team may be #3 or #4 [on an AAU squad]. How does he handle not being the first option? We want to see reactions to all type of roles. Maybe a player is better in structure and doesn't show best in AAU."

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With the critical month of July just ahead and three periods of viewing time (July 10-14, 17-21, 24-28) where coaches are allowed to witness the talent on display, what is the Sacramento State coaching staff doing to prepare?

"I'm staring at the calendar right now. We need to map out how to maximize our resources. We're having multiple discussions prioritizing who to see, which teams and at which tournaments."

But even then it's with a dual focus.

"We want to go into this with enough prospects on our 'A' list because eventually we will have to decide who to bring in on visits and then who to offer. But we will also be watching younger kids, building an underclass list as well."

But in July, it's not only prep level tournaments taking place. There are a pair of California junior college team events, one in the Bay Area and the other in southern California, plus one in Las Vegas that brings together individual prospects.

Plus, there's the heretofore unknown talents sometimes playing their way into the attention of coaches who were there to watch someone else.

"We have to make sure that we aren't spreading ourselves too thin but that we cover our home base while looking at players elsewhere."

Laird also gave a shout out to the most important behind the scenes person: "Our best friend is the travel coordinator here at the school."

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But it's not as if witnessing basketball skills and athletic displays in gymnasiums is the only focus.

Because come July 15, it's a "Groundhog Day" of sorts.

The college coaching profession, Sacramento State in particular, allows no off-days as besides the large chunk of time spent on recruiting, incoming players begin two classes of summer school and take up residence in the dorms. Then there are the returnees. Workouts, team meetings and the like also will be happening.

"For some, it will be there first college experience and first time away from home so they can't be ignored because we are also performing other job duties or away from campus."

All the student-athletes can participate in basketball practice two hours a week in the off season.

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Jay Bilas has a new book out about toughness and the subject of the conversation turned to that direction.

Laird offered, "it's an intangible characteristic," adding, "Coach Katz asks this about a player: do you want to win or do you need to win?"

"There is physical toughness and mental toughness. From a physical standpoint, does a player have the ability to compete everyday? Will he block out, set screens and get through screens? Mentally, is he prepared to compete on a daily basis? Does he have the mindset to get better? Is there a deep inner confidence so he doesn't get rattled and doesn't show emotional swings?"

Laird added, "Does he take plays off? In the six games over a three-day period, is he playing to win?"

Overall, he put it best with "this is all an art more than a science."

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Talent analysis seems in some ways reminiscent of the late Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart commenting about the difficulty of putting into words what he constituted as obscenity: "I know it when I see it."

Then comes acquiring those new players, followed by keeping and developing them. Then doing it all over again and again and again...