The meetings provided a chance to make some headway there.
“Because I didn’t get to recruit them, and we’re new to them and they’re new to us, I wasn’t in their homes with their families, I don’t really know their backgrounds,” Riley said. “So I asked them to give me a brief history about who they are, and talk about their families.”
Riley had all the reports in front of him on each player showing how they were doing academically, in the weight room and with their position coaches.
“I asked them how they were doing to see if it meshed,” the coach said to more laughter. “You know how that goes.”
And then Riley asked them something else: How did they get here? More specifically, why did they come here?
The question gave the coach a chance to learn something not just about his current players, but also obtain some useful kernels when it comes to courting future recruits as well.
“That’s all helpful information as you recruit, when one of the big issues, one of the big factors for all of them, was when they got to visit here,” Riley said. “Because no matter where the guys are from, it’s interesting … everybody’s friendly here, it’s that kind of place. There’s an atmosphere here I think that is unique to (players), no matter if they’re from Louisiana or Texas or California or Georgia.
