Every year Keene State College’s athletic coaches recruit new athletes to join their teams, where each coach uses a similar approach to draw in potential athletes, but it’s the atmosphere and connection that ultimately brings these athletes to Keene.
“I think it was a perfect fit for me,” said Jovan Kingwood, a freshman on the women’s basketball team.
Keith Boucher has been the women’s basketball coach here at KSC for the last 25 years.
According to Coach Boucher, you must “recruit daily or perish.” For him the recruiting process never stops. He spends 24 hours a day, 365 days a year recruiting.
Zach Winn / Sports Editor:
Women’s basketball coach Keith Boucher is always working to recruit for his team.
“There is no week in the year where we don’t do something with recruiting,” said Coach Boucher.
Like most coaches, Coach Boucher starts watching and contacting potential recruits at the end of their junior year of high school.
Although Coach Boucher is not much of a texter, he remains in contact with his recruits until it comes down to decision time by calling them and checking in and also by inviting them up for an overnight stay here at KSC. When it comes to choosing a player that would be not only suitable for the team but KSC as well, Coach Boucher looks for “two non negotiables” in his student athletes which are attitude and effort.
He also looks for athletes who have a “we mentality.”
This year Coach Boucher has brought in seven new recruits to his team.
One of Coach Boucher’s new players, Jovan Kingwood, was also being recruited by Emanuel College in Boston, MA.
According to Kingwood, she ultimately decided to attend KSC and play basketball here because of the relationship she built with both the coaches and the team itself.
Kingwood said she felt like her coaches truly cared about her seeing as they would call and text her often.
According to Kingwood, the other school was not as welcoming as KSC was. When it comes to her teammates, “I already feel like I’ve known them forever,” said Kingwood.
Stephanie D’Annolfo, also a freshman on the women’s basketball team, was being recruited by a few other schools but ultimately chose Keene after her overnight stay.
“All the girls on the team were so friendly and everyone here is so down to earth,” said D’Annolfo. According to D’Annolfo, the people at Springfield College, which was another one of her options, were “snobby” and the coach did not have much contact with her.
“She did not seem like a coach that went out there and gets what she wants,” said D’Annolfo.
Robert Colbert, the head coach of the men’s basketball team here at KSC, uses similar techniques when it comes to recruiting players each year. Coach Colbert has been coaching at KSC for 15 years.
Like Coach Boucher, Coach Colbert is recruiting players all year round. Coach Colbert starts his recruitment process in March by looking at what he refers to as “rising seniors.”
When looking for potential players, Coach Colbert said
“Talent is the first thing that catches your eye, but it’s not the most important thing. We value and look for mental and physical toughness.”
Coach Colbert said he also looks to see if the recruits fit his “playing style.”
In order to keep in touch with his recruits, Coach Colbert no longer uses phone calls or hard mailings; instead he uses more texting and social media to keep in touch with his recruits.
Coach Colbert also has a lot of help from his Director of Recruitment, Steve Boudreau.
“He contacted me through the Assistant Coach, Coach Boudreau, and he had a relationship with my AAU coach, and it started before my senior year of high school,” said Lucas Hammel, a freshman on the men’s basketball team.
When it came down to choosing which school to play basketball for, Hammel found himself in an unusual situation.
Along with being recruited by Keene, Hammel was also being offered a spot on the Merrimack College basketball team where his father is the head coach.
In the end Hammel chose Keene because he felt it was a good distance away from home and he “enjoyed” the players.
Owen Murphy and Paul Emdin, also freshmen on the men’s basketball team, were both being recruited by other schools and chose to attend KSC and play here rather than their other options.
For Murphy, the choice to attend Keene was decided back in March 2013 when he committed himself to the school and team.
“I loved the environment. I did an overnight here and had a great time with the guy. I knew we had a great recruiting class coming in, and I was right about that because everyone around me is a great person and a great basketball player too,” said Murphy.
Emdin ultimately chose Keene because of the “winning tradition,” the coaches, and the location of Keene.
“It was a good fit for me,” said Emdin.
Peter Thomas, the men’s and women’s cross country coach, takes a similar approach to recruiting his athletes.
However, the one approach he takes that is different from the other coaches is recruiting runners that already show an interest in Keene.
“It’s easier if they’ve already identified Keene as a possible place they want to go,” said Coach Thomas. According to Thomas, he has used this type of recruitment throughout the years and never uses social media to recruit his athletes.
“He didn’t like to interfere with persuading people to go to Keene,” said Patrick Chabot, a freshman on the men’s cross country team. Chabot said he feels Coach Thomas’ “laidback” recruitment style if effective.
Without feeling any pressure from Coach Thomas, Chabot decided to attend KSC over four other schools because of the “best of both worlds” feeling he has toward Keene itself, and the bond he was about to share with both the men and women’s cross country teams.
“The teams are pretty close. We practice together. In the dining hall we combine tables,” said Chabot.
Robert Weiner has been the women’s volleyball coach for the last nine years here at KSC. Unlike other coaches, Coach Weiner seeks out players from all over the country.
There is currently one player out of the region on the volleyball team. Although Coach Weiner does not focus on this strategy as much as he used to, he said he is always looking at the national level and does not restrict himself to only the northeast.
This current season Coach Weiner has recruited four new players, one of which is freshman, Brooke Hatanaka.
Hatanaka pursued Coach Weiner by emailing him on her interest in the team.
“You need to be persistent,” said Hatanaka.
Prior to Keene State, Coach Weiner was coaching division I volleyball at another college where he was “buying friends.”
“At the division III level you can’t buy your friends. You have to make your friends love you,” said Coach Weiner.
Shannon can be contacted at
sflynn@keene-equinox.com
