How South Carolina’s ace recruiter, Staley get the job done during coronavirus
Recruiting never stops. Even as the coronavirus pandemic has forced people all over to change their normal routines, college coaches have continued to sell recruits on their programs, and recruits have continued to commit, all while the NCAA has prohibited all campus visits for nearly two months now.
And South Carolina women’s basketball is no different. In fact, assistant coach Jolette Law, the Gamecocks’ ace recruiter and an integral part in pulling together 2019’s No. 1 ranked class, has more time on her hands than ever.
Speaking with The State recently during a recruiting shutdown, Law said she’s been keeping busy with daily exercise, regular check-ins with coach Dawn Staley and the rest of the staff and a coaching symposium she typically goes to every year after the season ends. With the pandemic moving that symposium online, Law said she’s been on plenty of Zoom calls as of late.
But beyond that, Zoom calls have been an increasingly frequent part of Law’s day, especially on the virtual recruiting trail
“It is different, it’s a lot more Zoom calls,” Law said of the current state of recruiting. “We’re just trying to have different, creative ways that we can reach out to the recruits. We’re using it over here as a team approach. Coach Staley came up with a committee, a recruiting committee, a committee just so that all of us can now pause and think about how we can be creative and use different creative ways to reach out to our recruits.”
South Carolina’s personalized approach got plenty of attention after that 2019 class — ESPN detailed how official visits to Columbia were full of small touches that made a difference with future Gamecocks.
With no official visits allowed, Law said the staff has been working to adjust.
“We even considered doing a drone virtual tour of the campuses and utilizing everything that’s already there and actually trying to personalize it to fit us,” Law said. “Trying to implement things that we hear, kids, what they’re looking for, what they like.”
That approach paid dividends late May 11, when Staley took to Twitter to announce a pair of commitments with her customary “birdie in the nest” message that’s become familiar to fans.
Twice more in the the 10 days that have followed, Staley’s tweeted the same message, putting the total number of commits at four.
No recruit has publicly announced their commitment, and Staley can’t publicly comment on a recruit until she signs a National Letter of Intent. But assuming they are members of the class of 2021, they’ve likely already visited South Carolina’s campus before the pandemic hit. Law is a proponent of establishing relationships with players early, and some 2021 recruits received scholarship offers two or three years ago.
So right now, while the hunt for the class of 2021 hits the homestretch, Law is also putting in work on 2022, 2023 and even 2024 graduates.
“That’s the name of the game, just trying to get ahead. And that’s one of the things that we’re trying to do is cultivate relationships develop those relationships with these young kids,” Law said.
“ ... They’re calling me because of our season. Our season, I mean, we were so visible, and a lot of the players had an opportunity to catch us and they love what we’re all about. So they’re reaching out.”
In that regard, “For The Culture,” the recent SEC Network documentary on South Carolina’s 32-1 season in 2019-20, could make a difference, Law said. With practice footage, highlight reels and praise from national analysts, the film recapped the Gamecocks’ rise to No. 1 in the polls — and likely left recruits stuck at home with a positive image of Staley’s program.
Because the documentary aired on May 4, the beginning of the shutdown period, Law said she hasn’t been able to talk fully with recruits about their thoughts on it. But monitoring social media, she said she saw “a lot of positive feedback.”
Beyond just one documentary, South Carolina’s enormously successful year, which included two top-10 WNBA draft picks, three freshmen in the starting lineup and several program records, has helped Law’s cause in recruiting.
“It’s already made a huge impact. I mean, the culture is rich. Dawn has done a phenomenal job of getting the culture. The kids are talking about our FAMs, the atmosphere. You know, it’s good for women’s basketball as a whole. So we’re excited, we’re excited about the direction that it’s going.”
This story was originally published May 13, 2020 at 10:15 AM.
