By Eric Trent
Winning it’s first ever Northwest Athletic Conference championship last month, has opened some doors, recruiting-wise, for the team this spring. Increased attention from recruits will prove vital, as Crumb has some big shoes to fill this off-season with the departures of NWAC Tournament MVP, Madison Pilster, and All-Tournament second team post, Gabi Fenumiai.
“I think its piqued peoples interest.” Head coach Alison Crumb said. “We definitely have more players contacting us who are just very interested in the program. It helps get those top-level recruits to take our program a little more seriously.
“It hasn’t been any easier but it’s definitely been more fun to tell recruits we won a championship than to tell recruits we’re trying to win a championship. That definitely helps.” Crumb added.
“We’re going after better kids, so we’re going to see what we can get.” Crumb said. We’ve definitely got more personalized interest, where people are seeking out, specifically, Peninsula College and not just any college. That’s been a nice change.”.
“We’re looking for more forward type players, kind of fast players that can play the pace that we have. Hopefully we’ll land a couple of those and then we want to continue to keep our guard position deep.” Crumb said.
Crumb and her assistants will travel the length of the West Coast in the upcoming weeks to scout and evaluate talent. “We sent Anika to Idaho; I’ve gone to Las Vegas. Going to Alaska this weekend, back to Vegas the following weekend and then I’ll head down to California here sometime.” Crumb said.
“Obviously, they have to be talented enough, but I just want to see what their love of the game level is.” Crumb said. “What we have with this team, this year, is they just love basketball more than they loved pretty much anything else. The competitive spirit is the #1 thing we’re looking for. That’s what our team values.”