Is there an off season?

There are no games remaining on the schedules for any of the state's community colleges but does that mean it's now a steady diet of tee times and fun in the sun until next November for the coaches?

Hardly.

Try:

* staying on top of the existing student-athletes to finish strong academically

* getting many of those same players to four-year destinations (DI, DII, NAIA)

* generating and landing new prospects for next season

* putting together individual and teams plans for the summer -- court workouts, weightlifting and participation in summer events

* working on existing donors to re-up their contributions and locating new benefactors

"This is the transition part," according to Merritt College Coach Keenan McMiller, who, like so many, has players coming and going. "You have to focus on taking care of the kids this year while at the same time preparing for next season."

Regarding the Thunderbirds of 2014-14 for McMiller, it's soon-to-be a process of "getting kids to apply, having assessment tests taken and visiting with academic counselors."

After that, enrollment into summer classes takes place.

So focused has McMiller been on the immediate tasks at hand that he chose not to attend the recent community college coach get-together held at last weekend's Final Four event.

As he explained, "is it important to fraternize? Absolutely. But I really need to get my program better. I have to focus on what's most important."

Another aspect McMiller touched on in a recent conversation is the determination by a player regarding staying local, staying in-state or heading to a national junior college.

"It does make sense to leave if it's a kid who needs to get away from the area because of certain influences. But a national junior college [coach] may see a guy once and like him but does he really know the kid? National JCs need you to play right away."

What mystifies McMiller even more is a prospect heading elsewhere when he wants to return and play near or close to home.

"If you want to play [at the four-year level] on the West Coast, it makes much more sense to play at a junior college on the West Coast."

But sometimes sense is unfortunately not necessarily a factor highly considered.

All in all, community college coaches have a greater roster turnover than those at four-year institutions and are without the benefit of a three or four person cadre of compensated assistants. Maybe the job announcements should detail such positions as 24/7/365.