Coach Ceal Barry, in the New York Times, on what recruiting has become:

A slow, steady parade of college coaches winds its way from rental cars to the double-door entrance of an icy gym in Chicago. Dressed in crisp Nike shirts complete with tricolor college logo, cellphones strapped efficiently to waistbands, coaches acknowledge one another guardedly before dashing off quick text messages to who knows whom.

Inside, an argument ensues. A middle-aged man in charge of the event loudly explains: "It's still $350 for a tournament packet. It doesn't matter if your school has already purchased our scouting service." A young assistant coach slowly pulls out his checkbook, unsure whether he has been taken. He has been. He looks down, and slowly writes out a check to XYZ Girls' Hoops, pleading for a receipt before wading into a sea of folding chairs in the end zone of the third court. As he pages through his $350 program, he notices there are no jersey numbers or graduation years listed next to the players' names.

His stress level climbs as he realizes he has missed his home state's all-star team play in another gym 30 minutes away. He looks around, hoping no one else has realized his blunder. He is resigned to watching, with the rest of his colleagues, one of the few games in this tournament that has any prospective Division I players on the rosters. Two hundred Division I coaches crowd around one court, all pursuing the same seven players.