Recruiting/Roster Update

Moving into full swing as Dead Period expires

Putting together a virtually brand-new roster for a coach in his first year at a program typically is an exceptional challenge. But for new Pacific Coach Dave Smart, this ‘challenge’ actually provides a unique opportunity to very early build a foundation of culture to his standards that, if Smart’s coaching history shows, will reap rewards for years to come. More on culture later in the post.

With the dead period for official visits ending tomorrow (Thursday, April 11th) at Noon ET, the program will host a number of prospective recruits/transfers beginning this coming weekend. To ensure a competitive recruiting advantage, details on which players are visiting will not be pre-released. That said, estimates are that 6-7 players will make official visits during the next week or so, ramping up to as many as 15-20 visits total over the next few weeks. Adding to the stealthiness of this process is that several of Pacific’s transfer targets are still in classes at their current schools through the end of May. As such, with these factors, the current view is to not expect the roster to be meaningfully filled out until early June.

Without mentioning any specifics, expect Coach Smart to target and potentially bring in as many as 5 to 6 Canadians for next season. As well, Tigers have not officially announced any high school recruits - expect Smart to consider at least one player from the Prep ranks for his ‘24-’25 roster. With Coach Myke Scholl’s recent addition to the staff from Long Beach State, some may speculate on the probability of recruiting Beach players in the portal from their ‘23-’24 roster: currently, only 6’5” lefty Jadon Jones, a rising senior, is considering a transfer. We have already shared that 6’11” Burke Smith, 6’0” walk-on Greydon Edwards and possibly 1-2 others may return from last season’s roster. All in all, there remains a considerable amount of hard work for Coach Smart and staff to accomplish over the next 6-8 weeks to finalize their roster.

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Back to “culture”: a long-time observer shares thoughts on how Coach Smart defines “culture” and what fans should look for day-to-day, game-to-game, possession-by-possession:

“Culture” is one of the more popular words/phrases tossed around NCAA basketball programs that can have different connotations depending upon the situation. My personal take on the foundation of Dave Smart-coached programs is that his teams are led by a room full of “culture guys” – student/athletes who are an extension of the staff and that perpetuate the basic tenants of winning as defined by the program: loyalty, hard work, punctuality, competitiveness and holding each other accountable, among other attributes.  Thirty-five-plus years of experience has taught Smart that “4-5 players, not the coaches, generally control the room” so Pacific fans can expect Smart to bring in players who are an extension of his approach to winning, physically and mentally. 

To that end, expect the 2024-25 version of Pacific men’s basketball team to reflect a culture that rewards defending, rebounding, taking charges, winning the loose ball/deflections battle, guarding the ball (note where that took UConn and to a lesser extent N.C. State in the tournament), following the scout, not taking bad fouls and sharing the ball - key “non-negotiable” program pillars.  Expect a group that treats every possession – offensively and defensively – almost as a single entity, putting whatever just happened – good or otherwise – behind them.  Expect a group that listens to coaches without emotion, only addresses referees with respect and one that is held accountable to every detail. 

With the big picture in mind, expect Smart’s inaugural team at Pacific to fit his definition of culture, even at the possible early expense of talent and potential. Coach talked to some of these points in a recent interview with a local Sacramento television station:

https://twitter.com/i/status/1775345471181164550

Looking forward to sharing more information as it becomes available.

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