Illinois coach Ron Zook bristles at the notion that his team’s record (2-4, 0-3 Big Ten) may have adversely affected out-of-state recruiting when he sent out seven assistants last week.
“Recruiting is, first, player recruiting,” Zook said. “A kid won’t decide to go to a school entirely because of wins and losses.
“It’s what you have to sell. Recruiting is selling something that’s abstract. There are a lot of things that enter in. Young kids coming out of high school want the opportunity to play. Here they’re going to have the opportunity to play early. They’re going to come because this is their opportunity to get a degree and to feel good about being part of a program they feel is going in the right direction. People make a place.
“It’s easier to recruit here than other places I’ve been. We’ve got everything we need to recruit here. We’ll get ’em.”
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