http://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wic...77184.html
AAC membership comes with perks for Wichita State coaches to sell
The rarest trick in recruiting is to out-perform conference affiliation.
Wichita State men’s basketball reached that level in recent seasons, piling up talent that outranks the Missouri Valley Conference. Now Shocker coaches are back on the recruiting trail selling membership in the American Athletic Conference.
“They did something that most can’t do,” Hutchinson Community College coach Steve Eck said. “They got kids to look past the conference.”
The immediate consensus from athletes and coaches: American membership makes a good situation better. While it might not dramatically change Wichita State’s recruiting — say into five-star, one-and-done territory — that edge won’t go to waste.
Conference affiliation matters. Opponents matter. ESPN matters. Big cities matter. The American offers more of all those things than the MVC.
Those things matter to players such as Denver East guard Daylen Kountz, a senior-to-be who liked WSU as an MVC member. He said the move to the American increases his interest in WSU’s scholarship offer for all those reasons.
“That’s a big move, a lot more competition,” he said. “That’s very important.”
His father agrees. Daryl Kountz grew up in Kansas City, Kan., and played basketball for Wyandotte High. Sending his son to Wichita State is appealing for the same reasons he wears his Chiefs gear in Broncos territory.
“We try to make sure to represent where we’re from,” he said.
Representing the American is also appealing.
Daylen Kountz (6-foot-4) also has offers from Colorado and Wyoming. When he looks at a schedule and sees Colorado vs. UCLA or Wyoming vs. San Diego State, Wichita State can compete with games against 2014 NCAA champion Connecticut, Cincinnati, SMU and Memphis.
“UConn, Memphis — those are big-time programs,” Daryl Kountz said. “For Wichita State to be one of those schools, it’s marking their name on the map.”
The Shockers will have six seniors on the 2017-18 roster, which makes this spring and summer crucial to fill those roster spots for the 2018-19 season. Coaches are busy in April with a recruiting period (during which coaches visit athletes and talk to them) and two three-day evaluation periods during which coaches cover the country to watch AAU tournaments. After this weekend, the next evaluation periods are in July.
Marshall and assistant coach Kyle Lindsted recently visited Grundy, Va., to recruit center Flo Thamba, a senior-to-be, of Mountain Mission School.
“The American is right there knocking on the door of the Power 5,” said Mountain Mission associate head coach Jared Miller. “It will draw the attention of probably a higher-level player. The kids we work with pay attention to that, because they become the best they can be by going against the best.”