MUNCIE, Ind. — Before his official visit to Ball State, Tayler Person's dad was having dinner with Cardinals' coach James Whitford.
Doug was asking the then-third-year head coach why his son, who was filtering through suitors when he transferred from Northern Kentucky, should come to Muncie. They talked about a player development plan that would carry Tayler through his now-completed redshirt year and how badly Ball State needed a point guard.
But one question stood out: "Why didn't you recruit him the first time?"
Whitford remembers offering Doug, a no-nonsense, to-the-point kind of guy, the most honest answer he could.