To a certain extent, you really have to wonder about assistant coaches, or at least the ones who work the camps and follow the kids: what drives people to such an awful, lonely, unhealthy existence? Read this article about George Mason assistant Chris Caputo and you'll get some idea of what we mean. The competitive nature of recruiting forces them to put in 16-hour days watching what is, for the most part, god-awful basketball.
As you may have read recently, a lot of coaches took Skip Prosser's death as a warning sign. Caputo appears to be listening: he is eating carefully and doing what he can to take care of himself in an environment which forces you on the one hand, to rush, rush, rush, and on the other, to sit on your butt for hours at a time.
An enterprising sociologist with an interest in basketball could do an interesting study on family life and coaching.