The final piece: SWIC’s Harrington closing in on final recruit
In his 35 years as the head basketball coach at Southwestern Illinois College, it is probably safe to say that Jay Harrington has never gone through a tougher, longer and more grueling recruiting season than this one.
But what began following a 27-win season and berth in the NJCAA Region 24 title game in early March, may finally be coming to an end. With 14 new players on his roster — including 10 freshmen — Harrington may be within days of signing his 15th and final player for the 2016-17 season.
“Right now we’re looking for one more big kid,’’ Harrington said. “We’re in on a 6-foot-7 kid from Chicago and 6-8 kid from California and possibly a 7-0 kid. We’d really like another big kid up front. We feel very good about what we have at guards and at the forwards.
“If it gets to August and we’re still looking, we’ll take the best available player. Right now we’re looking more by position.’’
Growing pains
While the Fall semester at SWIC doesn’t begin until August, Harrington said that 10 of the players have been in Belleville all summer and have gotten a jump start on their academics by taking summer school classes. But being away from home for the first time and learning what it takes to be a college student-athlete does some taking used too.
Harrington said that it the adjustment can be a tough wake up call for the players who some aren’t used to doing a lot of things for themselves.
“First all, these are great kids. Academically, they’ve probably been one of the best groups in five or six years in terms of doing the work in the classroom and going to class during summer school,’’ Harrington said. “We have had no major problems with any of them. It’s the little things like seeing about transcripts, going to the teachers when they have a question or going to the help academic center to study. Things that were done for them before, they are starting to learn to do for themselves. It’s an adjustment. It’s called growing up and becoming a responsible young adult. That’s what we’re here to help them do that.’’
The free time
On this Monday morning, there were a couple of players in the gymnasium shooting baskets. Players meet on their own for pickup games and earn little extra money by working the clock or scoreboard during the Southwestern Illinois College High School League which takes place a couple of nights a week.
The players also lift weights a few times a week.
“If you saw them when they got here a few weeks ago and what they are now, there is a difference. They’ve really bulked up and gotten stronger with our weights and conditioning program,’’ Harrington said. “Talent wise from what I’ve seen in open gyms, is that there is no doubt that we have more athletic talent with this group then we had a year ago when we were ranked in the top 20 in the nation and won 27 games
“And the thing about it is that we’ve got three very good players who aren’t even here yet. One of the things lacking in some of the young players today is learning how to work hard and learning to work hard the right way. If we do then I think we’ve got a chance to be a very good basketball team this year..’’
Dean Criddle: 618-239-2661, @CriddleDean
This story was originally published July 18, 2016 at 8:12 PM with the headline "The final piece: SWIC’s Harrington closing in on final recruit."