Earlham College Basketball: Turnaround Strategy

Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, is in the heart of basketball country. Yet its record for the 2013/2014 basketball season was a dismal 5–20. The school recruited Jason Polykoff from the University of Pennsylvania’s coaching staff to reinvent the program. By summer, Polykoff learned that only three players would be returning. That left him with a major decision: scramble to recruit enough players to fill the roster and play the 2014/2015 season, or forfeit the season and devote time to building the 2015/2016 roster. Each option would have a major detrimental impact in his ability to recruit in the future.