July 24, 2007

Each July, director of media relations Mike Sheridan sits down with members of the Villanova men's basketball coaching staff to catch up with them on their travels about the nation scouting prospects at a litany of sanctioned summer events. First up: associate head coach Brett Gunning.

While he is as partial to a nice summer beach vacation as any other hardworking professional, Brett Gunning offers no regrets as he treks from gym to gym during the two live recruiting periods permitted by the NCAA in July. These are the laboratories where the next generation of standouts incubate and like the rest of his peers, Gunning is eager to get a fresh look at youngsters he may have watched previously and perhaps gain an appreciation for others he has had little opportunity to evaluate in person.

It is a part of the basketball landscape most fans may be only vaguely familiar with.

But for 320 plus Division I programs, it is a most vital time frame.

"We do a lot of preparation as a staff so that we can make the best use of our time in July," Gunning says.

The process is more complicated this year than it has been in the recent past. For the better part of 15 years, Nike and addidas hosted concurrent camps in Indianapolis and Teaneck, N.J., respectively. Those two were must-stops for most Division I coaches and typically featured the most ballyhooed recruiting targets in America. In this decade, shifting alliances between camps and athletic footwear manufacturers created more events.

In 2007 the horizon has been altered. Nike, which owns the longest-running of these events, moved its camp from Indianapolis to Akron to partner with its most visible current spokesman, LeBron James. The Teaneck, N.J., event, sponsored by Reebok in recent summers, took up residence at Philadelphia University. And the long list of other camps continued to grow.

At Villanova, the planning for July is complex. Head coach Jay Wright, Gunning and assistant coaches Ed Pinckney and Patrick Chambers spend countless hours meticulously mapping their movements leading up to July. Three of the four coaches are allowed to be on the road at any one point during a live period so communication and preparation is essential. In 2007, there is also the fact of Wright's work as head coach of the United States entry in the Pan American Games to consider.

"Coach Wright was able to see quite a bit at the start of the month before he began his USA Basketball commitment," Gunning says. "Even now that he is in the middle of preparing for those games, we are in constant communication, reviewing where we are from a recruiting standpoint."

For his part, Gunning began the first live period on July 7 in Akron at the LeBron James Skills Showcase.

"One of the things that we really liked about the Nike camp was that each morning the campers did skill work," he says. "A lot of college coaches have been concerned that the players we are looking at play too many games and don't get enough work on fundamentals. By doing it this way, we all got a chance to look at things like footwork and how guys responded to teaching. I think it helped all of us."

One of the traditions that has developed at summer camps is that some leading current college players are asked to serve as counselors. The counselors generally wind up playing one another in spirited open gym sessions. This year those included James. As one of the 2007 Nike counselors, Villanova sophomore Scottie Reynolds found himself on the same floor as the King.

College coaches are not permitted to watch these sessions, but Gunning knows that it meant something to the 2007 BIG EAST Rookie of the Year.

"You could definitely sense that it helped his confidence when we spoke to him after he got back to campus," he says.

Given that many of the coaches were headed to Philadelphia after their stop in Akron, Gunning frequently found himself in the role of concierge. Many of the nation's top coaches, such as Texas coach Rick Barnes, wanted to know where to head to find an authentic cheesesteak.

"I usually gave them 2-3 choices," he says with a laugh.

Following three days in Akron, Gunning returned to Philadelphia. Having one of the leading events within the city limits helped soften the travel blow in the first live period. Gunning, like his fellow Villanova staffers, was able to see the athletes he needed to see while also spending time on campus.

"We definitely enjoyed that," he says. "It allowed us to be around our guys at Villanova more than we usually have been at this point in the summer."

Of course, upon arriving in the gym at Philadelphia University, Gunning couldn't resist giving the needle to a friend. Chambers ranks as the all-time assist leader at the school and when Gunning came upon legendary coach Herb Magee, he raised a question.

"Coach," he asked, "I have heard so much about Pat's career. Where does his retired jersey hang?"

Without missing a beat, Magee joins in the fun.

"We've got it hanging all right," he quips, nodding in the direction of a hallway restroom. "In there."

Over the course of the next few days, Gunning spent much of his time at the Reebok event. He sprinkled in a visit to smaller-sized sanctioned affairs at Rider and Seton Hall universities before the first live recruiting period came to an end. Now he is in Las Vegas, the hub of the second "live" period that began on July 22.

"The Vegas week is amazing," he says. "There are three different events and something like 800 teams. Games go from early in the morning to near midnight."

So who needs the beach?