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Dan
Wetzel has an article up about Herb Sendek swooping in to get Julius Hodge
out of Big East country. You'll recall that when Sendek was signed at State, one
of his selling points was that he was a killer recruiter (you may remember that
at Miami, he took a Mr. Basketball out of the state of Indiana - not an easy
task). He has consistently improved recruiting each season, though in
fairness it has to be said that he has also had a high turnover rate as
well. Wetzel asks the logical question: how does a guy like Sendek recruit
the way he does? Hodge's high school coach, Gary DeCesare, says it is
sincerity, and we don't doubt that, but we think they both miss a key part of
Sendek's appeal: we're sure he is just killing the moms.
Lefty Driesell said that in recruiting, what you have to do is recruit the
mom, and from our brief meeting with Herb, when he smiles, it's a face that
would make a mom melt. Plus he's smart, prepared, and, yes, sincere. He
has a charisma which is only obvious up close. There is truth to the
stereotype of Herb as a grind, and the ridiculous dancing with Mean Gene and
Slappy reinforced it rather than having the intended opposite effect, but in
person, he is very different than he appears on the stage.