“Believing a player can easily bulk up after he arrives on campus, theSooners will embrace a rangy schoolboy who has exceptional quickness and agility,as long as he has the frame that can hold the added muscle supplied with the help ofthe team’s weight program.When scoping talent, Oklahoma coaches have little use for the complexstatistical analyses devised by recruiting services. They’d rather know whether aprospect excels at multiple positions or in multiple sports, evidence of wider athleticability. “We recruit athletes…”“The Pillage People,” Sports Illustrated, August 12, 2002. Page 65
Years ago, I was standing next to my college track coach, Ralph Maughan, and hemade a very simple statement about recruiting college athletes…something he was verysuccessful at doing. “Always recruit speed and smarts because you can’t coach either ofthem.” You just heard a line of genius…speed and smarts. Under a year round coachingsituation at a four-year university, an athlete born with speed and blessed with brains cantransform him/herself into a solid conference performer by their senior year.