In the world of collegiate athletic recruiting, there's no shortage of stories describing wild parties, rampant misadventures and other forms of debauchery when recruits visit campuses.
It's not that way at the University of Louisiana. At least, as far as Rickey Bustle knows.
The Ragin' Cajun head coach, in fact, makes a point to keep visiting recruits busy, not leaving much time for tomfoolery.
"It's pretty busy," Bustle said. "We only have 48 hours with them and you can never answer all the questions in 48 hours. It's an intense weekend."
It's also the lifeblood of any college athletic team. Successful recruiting turns good coaches into great ones, turns bad programs into good and boosts good teams to exceptional status.
Poor recruiting can lead to diminished success and staff unemployment.
That's why the Cajun football staff puts so much emphasis on its recruiting weekends, especially those that fall just prior to the signing period for national letters of intent. UL wraps up its final full-scale recruiting weekend today, one that brought a dozen or more prospective student-athletes to the campus.
Between Friday afternoon and Sunday morning, the UL staff has to provide an enjoyable visit and a comfort zone for the recruits and a significant number of parents.
"I always tell them you're not picking a school, you're picking a home for the next five years," said UL tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator Troy Wingerter. "We try to impress on them that intangible that all of us feel here, what makes this place special and makes it feel like home."
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Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com