Evaluation period crucial for Gamecocks recruiting

While South Carolina coach Will Muschamp criss-crosses the state on his Spurs Up Tour, members of his staff are hitting the road as well.

The second half of April and month of May are key times for a program as members of the staff are allowed to visit the high schools of junior prospects. During the evaluation period, the coaches can’t directly speak to the players, but can evaluate them other ways.

“It’s important whether you’ve been here for multiple years or you’re a new staff,” Muschamp said. “So it’s a critical time for us. Recruiting is every day. So you’ve got to do it every single day.”

The staff gets 168 days where an assistant can visit a prospect’s school and evaluate him as an athlete and student. This might mean watching a practice or weight room session, chatting with a coach, guidance counselor or principal.

A visit can even be split, one trip to talk academics, another for athletics. And there’s also a factor of being seen, wearing the team logo so a player or anyone else knows whose program is coming through.

Muschamp can’t get into the fray, owing to the fervor and energy his former boss, Nick Saban, threw into this part of the year. The rules mandate head coaches can no longer hit the road in the spring, but no one on staff is dialing anything back.

“You’ve got to go back and watch more film, get more information to make sure you’re making the right decisions for the program,” Muschamp said. “There’s no doubt about that.”

This story was originally published May 8, 2016 at 5:17 PM with the headline "Evaluation period crucial for Gamecocks recruiting."