Recruiting is an equation that's constantly evolving and never-ending. Its navigation is a full-time endeavor and its outcome has a direct impact on the success or failure of a college basketball program.
That's why Ryan Anderson's job is so critical.
Anderson's the new director of recruiting at Xavier.
He joined the Musketeers in May, reuniting with his former coach at Arizona, Sean Miller.
When Miller called Anderson it was an opportunity to progress from his role last season as a graduate assistant under Tommy Lloyd at Arizona.
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"When Sean called me it was a good opportunity to learn from a coach that I have really high respect for," said Anderson, who started his college career at Boston College before transferring to Arizona. "I think I have a unique perspective as a guy that's played for Sean and I know the type of player and the type of person and families that he would want to identify with here at Xavier."
It's a new job for Anderson, but he feels up for the challenge. The first step has been building relationships and that extends to the rest of the coaching staff, the current roster, and prospects in the upcoming recruiting classes.
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"My biggest thing right now is just building a network of people that I know, that I can connect with and build relationships," Anderson said. "If you don't have relationships with people it's gonna be really hard to be successful."
One of Anderson's primary responsibilities is to organize Xavier on the recruiting front. They have an online database to track players. He has pieces of paper with names, notes, schedules, and evaluation reports that detail his observations.
"It's a never-ending cycle of learning about a new player, trying to see where they're at in their process, where we're at in our process . . . every single day it's a new kid, it's a new opportunity," said Anderson, who's allowed to communicate with certain recruits depending on their class and the time of year when it's allowed.
Part of the organizational aspect means Anderson's responsible for helping coordinate with Miller and Xavier's other assistants who are out on the recruiting trail, making sure they're aware of events and managing their schedules so they can get eyes on as many players as possible.
When the assistants are on the road, Anderson's involvement changes slightly.
"I'm able to take the lead on some on-the-court development, which has been nice, being a younger guy that used to play . . . a guy that knows what Sean's looking for," said Anderson.
From tendencies to spacing to terminology, Anderson's seen it and done it already for Miller, so there's a comfort level in developing players the way Miller wants.
A big part of Anderson's job is looking to the future, but the most important part of his job revolves around the players who are already at Xavier.
"You can never lose sight of prioritizing the people that are here on your team right now," Anderson said. "Taking care of our players, making sure our players are getting better, making sure they have everything they need on campus to be their best. That's my daily number one thing."
Anderson's a former big man, who after college played professionally in Belgium, Germany, Ukraine, Lithuania and in the NBA's G League. He's one of only two players Miller's coached who averaged a double-double for him.
"(Ryan) developed skills in player development, specifically working with front-court players," Miller said. "He also has a great understanding of scouting, game preparation and the know-how to develop underclass recruiting. He will be a significant part of all these aspects of our program here at Xavier. I am excited about Ryan mentoring our Xavier players on an everyday basis."
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