"I Want Tough Players"

(Get me Danny Trejo from central casting)

"I want tough players" is a universal utterance emanating from college coaches. They desire guys with grit and a won't-back-down demeanor (hat tip to Tom Petty) regardless of any difficulty or circumstance.

Yet peruse some of the rosters and it's questionable if more than a handful at most of a team's talents actually fit into such a category.

So why the gap between what is wanted and who actually gets signed?

After talking with some coaches, let's look at some factors that came up. There is no hypocrisy involved in all this, simply recruiting realities

* A limited supply of tough kids. Enjoying physical contact combined with a sense of unbreakable competitiveness plus a willingness to out-effort the competition is a rare find.

* An even more limited supply is of tough kids in possession of solid basketball skills. Mid majors and those below that line of demarcation don't often have the luxury of picking or choosing at each playing position. If a shooting guard is needed, having to settle for someone who can be convinced to come aboard is a not uncommon occurrence. Hey, let's film one of those "settlers" commercials but this time featuring college coaches.

* Yes, some tough players who are skills limited can be coached up and improved to a degree but it's not advised that a roster full of them be signed if a lengthy job tenure is desired.

* A hoarding of toughies was also mentioned. Top tier teams have a larger field of recruits available to them and can over-sign without the worry of losing players because next year brings yet another large pool of signable prospects.

* It was universally agreed that toughness cannot be taught. A kid has it or he doesn't. You can't coach toughness.