Many coaches have argued that recruiting is the lifeblood of college basketball programs, but if you replaced recruiting with relationships it might be a more accurate assessment.
Relationships are the foundation upon which every team is built, and those relationships, when forged correctly, have a positive effect on recruiting.
Sometimes those relationships take a circuitous route until they form fully.
When Shelby Calhoun was a high-level recruit coming out of high school at Christian Academy Louisville, the 5-foot-11 guard gathered a lot of interest.
Xavier University's women's basketball team sent Calhoun her first Division I scholarship offer when she was in the seventh grade.