EWC coaches recruiting more than just athletes

Erick Starkey
Posted 5/12/17

With sophomores graduating from Eastern Wyoming College, including several going on to play elsewhere, the Lancer coaches are in the midst of finishing up their rosters for the new school year.

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EWC coaches recruiting more than just athletes

Posted

TORRINGTON – With sophomores graduating from Eastern Wyoming College, including several going on to play elsewhere, the Lancer coaches are in the midst of finishing up their rosters for the new school year.
Although the coaches are firming up their last roster spots, it has not been a short process.
“Recruiting is 365 days a year,” rodeo coach Jake Clark said.
Men’s basketball coach Neal Sherbeyn echoed that idea, saying: “You’re looking at guys all year, you’re always taking a look. I get emails every day.”
During the recruiting process, the area coaches meet with the athletes and keep in contact, while trying to pitch the school, program and area.
“It takes a special person to fit this school and this community,” volleyball coach Julie Sherbeyn said. “If we get that special person, this will always be with them and this will always be a part of them, but you can’t force that.”
All of the Lancer coaches are looking for athletes that can fit in to the Lancer community and Goshen County as a whole. They continually compete with coaches around the area from bigger cities like Cheyenne, Casper and Scottsbluff, Neb. Despite not having the biggest town to offer perspective players, EWC’s coaches pitch what Torrington can offer.

“You bring up early that it’s a small community and it’s a small school. If that student-athlete is not interested in that kind of situation, you need to know that then rather than recruiting them for three months,” women’s basketball coach Tom Anderson said. “We lose kids because of where we’re at, but we probably gain some kids, too. You want kids that want to be in your program and in your school.”
As Anderson mentioned, some athletes are looking for the small-town life and Torrington is exactly what they’re looking for. Others are on the fence about a smaller school and community, and they just need an extra nudge from a coach, even though it may not be that hard of a sell.
“The good thing about EWC is that the campus is beautiful and it’s a good town and there’s good people in there,” Neal Sherbeyn said.
While looking at players and trying to build that mutual interest with an athlete, the five coaches are trying to get the full picture. Each of the five coaches said that they want not only an athlete, but they put emphasis on students as well.
“One of the first conversations we have as I start to talk to students, is we talk about that – how do you do (in school) and what is your major,” golf coach Zach Smith said. “You can see pretty early on how important academics are to somebody.”
If a recruit is not well rounded in both athletics and academics, they can find their way to the sidelines in more ways than one.
“If you have a kid that’s really good but can’t succeed in the classroom and stay eligible, then they’re not much help for you,” Anderson said.
On top of balancing athletics and academics, the coaches are attempting to judge the character of their recruits and how much effort they will bring.
“The thing that you can never measure is how much heart they have,” Anderson said. “When it really gets down to it, it’s that heart and desire that distinguishes the average player from the better player because they have the heart to work hard and get better.”
Even though all of the EWC coaches have several years of experience recruiting, there is no exact science. Each noted that it’s sometimes hard to figure out how a student-athlete will adjust to the college lifestyle and being a college athlete.
“There is no guarantee in the whole thing,” Anderson said. “What you have on paper and what actually develops – there is no guarantee in that.”
“You can do all the research in the world, but you just never know what is going to happen,” Neal Sherbeyn said.