Veteran College Basketball Coaches Who Must Learn to Recruit Like John Calipari

The Kentucky Wildcats' 2012 NCAA title and ensuing mass exodus of players to the NBA Draft has put a spotlight on John Calipari's recruiting style and program methodology. 

Coach Cal has reached the Final Four three times in the past five years, so his methods are something that other coaches would be wise to emulate. They might not be able to copy his entire recruiting playbook, but they can adopt his general philosophy and style.

Glenn Logan of SB Nation superbly sums up Calipari's recruiting recipe for success:

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"Calipari has developed, over the last eight or nine years, the reputation of being a man that players can trust to place their interests above his own, and by doing so, he serves his own interest.  The classic and undeniable win-win."

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Let's take a look at a few coaches who need to start recruiting more like John Calipari.

Jamie Dixon, Pittsburgh Panthers

Jamie Dixon has done a fine job since taking over at Pittsburgh in 2003. This past season was the first time the Panthers weren't in the Big East title conversation. 

Pittsburgh's move to the ACC will be an opportunity for Dixon to recruit both the north and south. It could be especially advantageous for him to recruit northern prospects who want to use the conference as an avenue to the professional ranks.

In order to get over the hump and finally reach the final four, Dixon would do well to tweak his recruiting style. He's charismatic enough to convince his recruits he'll do anything to help them get to the NBA.

Seth Greenberg, Virginia Tech Hokies

As one of the most intense coaches in college basketball, I'm sure Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg puts his heart and soul into recruiting.

Unfortunately for the Hokies, his tactics need improvement. In his 22 years of Division I coaching, he's only made it to the second round of the NCAA tournament once.

Greenberg has to find a way to make his school more attractive to prospects who want to play in the ACC but didn't get recruited to Duke or North Carolina.

If he doesn't reel in a couple of bigger fish sometime soon, he'll perpetually be on the outside looking in.

Steve Alford, New Mexico Lobos

New Mexico's Steve Alford has been a college basketball head coach for more than two decades, yet he's still relatively young at age 47.

He has the combination of experience and energy it takes to recruit like John Calipari.

There are only a few teams that can compete with the Lobos out west, and Alford just had his most successful season since 1999.

He needs to use this momentum to land some top-tier prospects who can help him reach the Elite Eight and beyond.

John Beilein, Michigan Wolverines

In order to compete with Tom Izzo, Thad Matta and Bo Ryan, Michigan Wolverines coach John Beilein needs to gain every edge he can in recruiting.

Ann Arbor has seen an upswing in basketball success since Beilein set foot on campus. He needs to translate this into increased success and lottery-worthy talent.

Let Michigan State, Ohio State and Wisconsin be the destinations for college veterans (Draymond Green, Jordan Taylor, William Buford).

He needs to sell Michigan as the place where dynamic athletes can build upon Tim Hardaway and Trey Burke's recent success.

Mike Montgomery, California Golden Bears

It's probably too late to ask California's Mike Montgomery to change his coaching style or recruiting methods, but he needs to take better advantage of the fact that he coached in the NBA recently.

After his long, successful tenure at Stanford, he coached the Golden State Warriors from 2004 to 2006.

Now that he's back in the Pac-12, his recruiting edge should be equal or better than it was at Stanford, but that's not the case.

He's not going to get a ton of blue-chip recruits even if he does an outstanding job, but he needs to be more aggressive in luring the great athletes away from Washington.

Bob Huggins, West Virginia Mountaineers

Bob Huggins is already an excellent recruiter, and his style is a bit similar to that of Calipari.

But it's worth noting that his potential is sky-high with West Virginia moving to the Big 12.

He has the unique opportunity to brand his program as one of the best stepping-stones to the NBA in the conference.

His past cases with Kenyon Martin at Cincinnati and Michael Beasley at Kansas State will be his best evidence to help him enlist future talent.

Bo Ryan, Wisconsin Badgers

In a recent radio chat with ESPN's Mike and Mike, Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan defended his position to block Jarrod Uthoff from transferring.

Although he was trying to put his side of the story in a good light, he ended up sounding petty, and he was trying too hard to be technical about giving the Badgers a fair chance to keep Uthoff.

This makes Wisconsin look like a program that will dissuade its players to transfer or leave early for the NBA.

Ryan should take a page out of Calipari's book and show willingness to let his athletes pursue what they want. This atmosphere of openness will only lead to favorable recruiting in the future.