Over the next month, The Post will bring you into the world of St. Peter’s College men’s basketball assistant coach Marlon Guild as he travels from one location to another during the live recruiting period. This is entry No. 3 of 5 that will appear over the next four weeks. The final one is slated for Aug. 1.
Good day reader,
I hope all is well with everyone. I am currently writing this while in Florida, as the second half of the live period is winding down. The past couple of days have been hectic with travel, getting to games on time and having the right prospective student athletes see you at their games.
For me the second half of the live period began in Las Vegas last Thursday. Initially I hadn’t planned on going to Las Vegas, but an invite to the Villa 6 professional development conference had me booking a flight to “Sin City.” The Villa 6 was a great experience as I met a lot of interesting people and really learned a lot about coaching development.
I hope the organizers of the Villa 6 have me back for years to come. While I was out there, though, I couldn’t forget recruiting. There were two tournaments and one big-time showcase going on all at the same time. What made it even harder was trying to cover enough ground in the two days I was out there.
I thought I did a good job and evaluated a lot of prospective players with the time frame I had to work with. Getting to venues wasn’t easy as I trekked back and forth on I-15. I guess it was all worth it, because a few kids noticed that I was at their games. Hopefully they remember that when the signing period comes around.
Getting to Florida from Las Vegas was an experience within itself. I had to catch a red-eye flight via California to get to my destination on time. If you haven’t taken a red-eye flight before, I advise to never try it. I am slowly recovering from being cramped up from plane seats and dehydration. I am sure all coaches go through it and it comes with the job, so I can’t complain too much.
While here in Florida, there have been a lot of younger student athletes who have caught my attention. As we draw near to the beginning of the school year, a few of them will be visiting St. Peter’s, which has us excited.
From Florida, I am on to Washington, D.C. to close out the live period. For that trip there will be no red-eye fight, so I should be well prepared and rested for what the nation’s capital has to offer.
As always I would like to thank NYPost.com for giving myself and St. Peter’s College an opportunity to share this experience with you guys.