Normally, recruiting assignments on a coaching staff are divvied up based on a coach's ties to the area, some past success in the area, or other ties or familiarity. But with David Beaty and his staff Kansas, one coach may initially identify and contact the player, but soon afterwards Beaty and the rest of the assistants get in on the recruitment of the kid.
"We don't recruit individually," Beaty noted. "We recruit every one of those kids as a staff, as a family."
That approach is something that Beaty made clear when he filled out his staff soon after being hired on December 5th, 2015.
“Kenny Perry didn’t sign four guys. We signed 15 guys,” Beaty told KU Sports. “When we hired ’em, we talked to ’em about that. It’s not a premium on how many guys you sign or who signed who. We are about signing the right guys and we all do it together.”
Sure, recruiting sites may note that one assistant signed "X" number of guys, but that's not how things work at Kansas.
“Somebody’s name may go on it because he came from that (coach’s recruiting territory), but that’s not how it works. We recruit ’em together. So, from that standpoint, I really don’t see things changing.”
Beaty has lost a total of four assistant coaches so far this off season, and this approach may end up paying off big when it comes to the retention of the 2016 recruiting class. Instead of players developing a relationship with the primary recruiter, Beaty's approach ensures that they're connected with a number of coaches. So if another program swoops in with an offer an assistant can't refuse, the players that coach recruited aren't left completely in the dark because of the family style approach to their recruiting
It's an interesting approach in an era where assistants moving on is as prevalent as it has ever been.