If you spent any time in a high school gym this winter, chances have it you may have run into Ole head basketball coach Dan Kosmoski.

Though the NCAA basketball season is typically around five months long, the season never ends for Kosmoski. Along with the many other coaches at St. Olaf, the seventh year head coach spends a great deal of his time recruiting.

Recruiting is becoming more and more competitive each season as more coaches around the nation enter the arena. Ole head baseball coach Matt McDonald has seen the evolution from his days as an athlete. "When I graduated from St. Olaf, there were probably three schools in the MIAC that were committed to recruiting baseball players," said McDonald, who played both football and baseball for the Oles from `85 to `89. "By next year, all eleven schools will be recruiting year round."

Finding athletes is the first step in the recruiting game. Some students contact head coaches, but a majority of athletes are discovered. Kosmoski sees as many as twelve high school games in a week during the season. This season, Kosmoski has seen aproximately 100 high school games, not including practices and home visits.

Not all sports have the luxury of seeing as many games as Kosmoski. "You have to identify a number of ways to see if a kid can play," said McDonald. McDonald finds many of his athletes by watching American Legion games during the summer and through a few area professional scouts. Some sports have even fewer opportunities to see kids play. These sports must rely on recommendations from a number of sources including online recruiting services, questionnaires and networks of area coaches. Recruiting, especially at St. Olaf, is much more than finding great athletes. "The first thing you have to look at is if they can fit academically here," said Kosmoski. Admission standards have been traditionally more difficult at St. Olaf than at most other colleges and universities. These standards have been getting tougher around the nation in the last few years, and schools in the MIAC are no exception. These standards create another hurdle for coaches. Though they provide great academic opportunities, they also eliminate many prospective students, some of them athletes. "Academics is number one at the Division III level," added Kosmoski. "Not everybody fits real well here. You try not to put anyone in position to fail."

Each athletic program has a constant need for student athletes, but some sports have different necessities. The Ole football team has to recruit many more athletes to fill their roster than other sports. "We have to get 25 to 30 kids to stay competitive," said Miller. He added that competing with other MIAC schools can be difficult due to financial differences between other schools and St. Olaf. Many times, students who want to be an Ole can't make it work with financial aid. "We have kids on campus that have St. Olaf as their number one choice, and we just can't get them," said Miller, who will enter his fifth season next fall.

Miller's recruiting classes have declined in numbers the past three seasons, due in part to ever changing financial constraints. "It's an awfully good school," said Miller. "It's so critical for us to be in the hunt with kids in regards to admissions and financial aid. It's essential for us in competing for a conference title." Miller's Oles finished 7-3 this fall, which was good for third in the MIAC. That was St. Olaf's best finish since the 1991 season.

Recruiting student athletes has become essential at the Division III level, and coaches at St. Olaf are well aware of this. Selling St. Olaf athletics to high school student athletes can be a lot of work. Through letters, calls and home visits, coaches must bring attention to their programs. If they can not do that, another coach at another school will. "If you're not in a gym on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, there will be another coach in the league there," said Kosmoski.

Not only do students need to find a fit, but coaches do as well. "If we are really strong and young at a position, we are not going to recruit as strongly at a position," said Miller. The fit is not limited to the athletic program that the prospect will be involved in. "You may have to have the liberal arts values," said Bill Thorton, in his 31st year as the track coach at St. Olaf. "You have to be honest with them, this is not the place for everybody."

Most coaches agree that the most important piece to recruiting is the current players. The players ordinarily show recruits around campus and give the high school athletes the feel of college life on the hill. Whether it is eating lunch with a recruit and his family or hosting one for an overnight stay, Ole athletes are key influences for prospective teammates.

Miller boasted, "Our players are the best thing we have going for us. The sacrifices they make is a huge difference in getting kids to St. Olaf."

Kosmoski is not the only St. Olaf basketball coach in high school gyms. Pat Buresh, the women's head coach, sees her fair share of prospects. In her 13th year, Buresh has seen the recruiting scene change dramatically. "[Recruiting] has changed drastically," said Buresh. "Everybody in the MIAC recruiting now. I don't think that I would have said that six or seven years ago."

Because there is no quiet period in Division III (a time when coaches are restricted from contacting prospects), there is more emphasis on recruiting. "It's like a runaway train," said Buresh referring to the booming trend. "Because there aren't any scholarships, everybody thinks that it's not important," added Buresh. "I think that fact makes recruiting even more important."