College Basketball: Top 10 Assistant Coaches on the Recruiting Trail

Recruiting is a huge part of success in college basketball.

Evaluating talent and "getting in early" are keys to locking up the players that will shape the program for years to come.

As much as head coaches are an essential part of this process, assistant coaches are nearly as important in getting recruits to commit.

Here is a list of the Top 10 assistant coaches who kick butt on the recruiting trail:

10. Emmanuel "Book" Richardson (Arizona)

Sean Miller has done an unbelievable job of pulling in one top level recruiting class after another since he arrived at Arizona in April of 2009.

Book Richardson, a five-year member of Miller's staff (dating back to Xavier), has had an enormous influence on the recruiting classes that just keep getting better. Currently, the Wildcats Class of 2012 is rated No. 1 on ESPN.com.

Before joining Miller's staff at Xavier, Richardson was the Director of Basketball for the New York Gauchos/Teamwork Foundation in the Bronx, N.Y., from 2005-07, an assistant at Marist University and Monroe College.

Book gradauated from University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown.

9. Glynn Cyprien (Texas A&M)

When Billy Kennedy was hired to be the Texas A&M head coach last spring, his first recruiting coup was hiring Glynn Cyprien.

Before coming to A&M, Cyprien was instrumental in helping recruit the amazing collection talent at Memphis. He also served on Billy Gillispie's staff at Kentucky. 

Before that, Cyprien was an assistant coach at the Arkansas, New Mexico State, Oklahoma State, UNLV, Western Kentucky and Jacksonville University.

Cyprien played at Southern University.

8. Russ Springmann (Texas)

If you are the main reason why Kevin Durant, D.J. Augustin, Damion James and Jordan Hamilton come to campus, does that make you an outstanding? I'd say so.

That's what Russ Springmann's recruiting resume looks like at Texas.

Springmann has been at Texas for 14 years.

Before he came to Texas, Springmann spent two seasons (1996-97 and 1997-98) at the University of Florida.

Springmann began his coaching career at Salisbury State, his alma mater.

7. Dwayne Stephens (Michigan State)

It's no coincidence that Michigan State makes it to the NCAA Tournament almost every year.

They have one of the best coaches in college basketball in Tom Izzo; and they recruit as well as anyone.

Dwayne Stephens, has been a Spartan assistant coach for nine seasons. He is one of the top right-hand men in the business.

Stephens played at MSU. Before coming back to his alma mater to work on Izzo's staff, Stephens spent four years (1999-2003) as an assistant at Marquette under former Spartan assistant Tom Crean.

6. Joe Dooley (Kansas)

As he enters his ninth season at Kansas, Joe Dooley is one of the longest tenured assistant coaches.

Dooley has helped bring in the elite-level talent that has kept the Jayhawks consistently challenging for the Big 12 and NCAA Championships.

Prior to coming to Lawrence, Dooley served on staffs at Wyoming and New Mexico, and was the head coach at East Carolina for four years.

5. Jeff Boals (Ohio State)

Thad Matta has no shortage of talent on his current Buckeyes team in Columbus. One of the big reasons is Jeff Boals is on the job.

Boals, has only been on staff at Ohio State for a little over two years, but he has been instrumental in reeling in several big time recruits.

Before coming to Ohio State, Boals served as an assistant at Akron, Robert Morris, Marshall and Ohio (his alma mater where he played for the Bobcats).

Wherever Boals has been, he has made a massive impact on recruiting.

4. George Blaney (UConn)

George Blaney is a long-term contributor to the huge success of UConn basketball.

Blaney has worked on Jim Calhoun's staff for eleven years.

Blaney coached at Stonehill, Dartmouth and then 22 years at his alma mater, Holy Cross.

He was also the head coach at Seton Hall and an assistant at Rhode Island before coming to Storrs.

In 30 seasons as a collegiate head coach, Blaney posted an impressive overall record of 459-382.

3. Chris Collins (Duke)

How does a program like Duke stay at the top of the college basketball world for so long?

It starts with Coach K, but you don't win the number of games that the Blue Devils have won on coaching alone.

Chris Collins and the rest of the Duke staff make sure that the shelves are well stocked.

Collins is the associate head coach and works primarily with Duke's back-court players.

Collins played ball in Durham. Before he came back to work on Krzyzewski's staff, Collins played professionally overseas, and then was an assistant coach for Tommy Amaker at Seton Hall.

2. Jerod Haase (North Carolina

Some schools recruit; others just seem to select players.

North Carolina, year in and year out, has some of the best recruiting classes in the nation, partly because of the work Jerod Haase does for Roy Williams.

Jerod Haase has been around Williams for a long time.

He played college ball at Kansas for Williams, coached on Williams' KU staff for four years, and now has been with Roy for nine more years in Chapel Hill.

1. Orlando Antigua (Kentucky)

Everyone gives John Calipari props (as they should) for his insane ability to recruit elite-level players by the truck load.

Orlando Antigua is Calipari's right hand man in this unbelievable process. He worked for Coach Cal at Memphis, and came with him to Kentucky.

After playing for Pitt, Antigua played seven years for the world-renowned Harlem Globetrotters, becoming the first player of Latin American descent to play for the squad.

Following his playing days, Antigua coached on the staff at his alma mater (Pitt) for five years.