ESPN Recruiting Nation Basketball

The marathon month of July is officially in the rearview mirror. No more airplanes, airport food and sleeping in hotels. The heavy lifting of the recruiting period is over as schools and players now set about the business of getting engaged.

1. The calls

Once the AAU Nationals conclude, everyone will return home and it'll be open season on all senior prospects. Coaches will be allowed two calls per week to recruits and believe me, they'll use them. Here's the trick: getting players to answer the telephone. The highest-rated players will pick up the phone for the schools they are interested in and hit the ignore button for the ones they aren't. It's really no different than high school -- you asked the girl you wanted to take to the prom and ducked the ones you didn't want to go with. Programs spent the last month chasing kids all over America and the next few days will determine if they are going to be rewarded for their efforts. Kids get so many phone calls that it all comes down to a simple concept: if they're interested, they'll return your call.

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