Recruiting rule change could benefit Peach Jam

The final game of the Peach Jam is supposed to be the apex of the competition. The week's two best teams duke it out for the championship of one of the strongest AAU fields of the season.

The most important game is sometimes played in front of few college coaches, most of whom have already left unless they have a key prospect in the final. That might change this year, thanks to a new NCAA rule that could keep most coaches around.

July is the only month coaches are allowed to evaluate talent in person during the off-season. They had previously been allowed to also do that in April.

"I would think you would see them here longer," said Rick Meyer, the North Augusta parks and recreation superintendent who has been with the tournament since its inception. "You'll probably see a more concentrated effort, (such as) more than one coach per staff."

That new rule has placed an even bigger importance on tournaments such as the Peach Jam, which has been played in North Augusta since 1996, when future NBA stars Dirk Nowitzki, Elton Brand and Ron Artest played.

In addition to July, coaches can evaluate players during their high school seasons, from Oct. 6 through the end of March with the exception of three dead periods that add up to 14 days. It can be hectic for coaches to evaluate players during this time period, because it coincides with their season.

With the April evaluation period gone, "a lot of teams are behind the 8-ball," said Justin Young, a national recruiting expert and former analyst for rivals.com.

Young said many teams will be using the first part of July to identify players they want to recruit, then focus on earning commitments in the later part of the month at tournaments in Las Vegas and Orlando, Fla.

Because they are still identifying talent, Young said teams could be concentrating their efforts with a coach and multiple assistants at games.

"You're probably not going to see the head coach sitting there all by his lonesome, playing on his BlackBerry," Young said. "He's probably going to have his top assistants there beside him."

The Peach Jam has evolved into a premier summer stop for coaches and teams, because it is the first multiday event in the live recruiting period organized within the team concept. Many players will come to the Peach Jam after attending individual, specialized Nike camps such as the LeBron James Skills Academy in Ohio.

"The players are fresh," said Clint Bryant, the Augusta State athletic director and former Clemson assistant who helped bring the Peach Jam to the area. "Three weeks from now (at the next tournament), they won't be as fresh. That's why there's a certain prestige to it. The kids are at their best, and the coaches coming here know that."

More than half of the nation's top 10 players are in North Augusta this year, according to the recruiting Web site scout.com, and that doesn't include any talent on defending champion Boo Williams Summer League. The team from the Hampton Roads region of Virginia is armed with players headed to Duke (shooting guard Andre Dawkins), North Carolina (point guard Kendall Marshall) and Wake Forest (wing Travis McKie).

No local team or players are entered. Meyer said Friday he doesn't anticipate a repeat of last year, when area AAU coach Chon Mathews organized a 16-and-under team at the 11th hour to replace a group that couldn't make the tournament.

Reach Matt Middleton at (706) 823-3425 or matt.middleton@augustachronicle.com.