Jeff Mittie is focused on what needs to get done right now.
Two weeks ago, the head women's basketball coach at K-State was standing on the practice court at the Big 12 Championship in Kansas City, preparing his team to face Iowa State the next day.
Then, after a conversation with K-State Director of Athletics Gene Taylor, followed by a few tears and hugs from his players, the 2019-20 season was over. Just like that.
"At first, it was just shock that they canceled the tournament. Anytime the season ends, I'm a little bit depressed anyway," Mittie said. "You're in such a grind, but you love it and that's why you do it. And then all of a sudden everything just stops."
Since that day in Kansas City, Mittie and his staff have faced new challenges, as the impact of COVID-19 on the world of college sports has gone far beyond the loss of games.
"The recruiting unknown is probably the biggest thing," he said. "There's new information coming out and new things that we need to try and stay ahead of. I think the unknown has kept the energy going."
For Mittie, a March without college basketball isn't just different. It's almost unheard of. Since 1999, his teams at TCU and K-State have missed the postseason only three times.
However unexpectedly K-State's season ended, Mittie and his staff had to immediately begin the most important time of year for women's college basketball recruiting, with a catch.
"We're setting up a lot of phone calls, but the real challenge is that these would normally be conversations about visits and coming to campus," he said. "The rules keep changing."
As Mittie and his staff look to put together their next recruiting class, there's no playbook for an offseason in college basketball quite like this one.
The Wildcats have already signed two recruits to the 2020 class. Last summer, K-State added Jada Moore (Denver, CO) and Taylor Lauterbach (Appleton, WI) to next season's team.
A pair of McDonald's All-American nominees, Moore and Lauterbach give K-State an impressive 2020 recruiting class, but Mittie and his staff might not be done. The Wildcats didn't add the final member of their 2019 class until June, when Mittie signed freshman guard Emilee Ebert.
The summer months are also crunch time for recruits who won't arrive on campus until 2021.
"I talked with eight recruits yesterday. I've talked to two families today and I'll talk with another one tonight," Mittie said. "Now of course, the rules keep changing."
As a result of COVID-19, rule changes around college basketball include a temporary pause on allowing student-athletes looking to transfer from signing with new schools.
Mittie said this means he won't be able to officially sign any graduate transfers who can play immediately, one of the ways K-State could potentially round out their recruiting class this year.
"There are challenges all over the place," he said. "But I think everybody is dealing with the same challenges, so it's just how you can work your way through them and navigate these kinds of changing scenarios."
One way that Mittie is trying to keep K-State ahead of the recruiting curve? Communication.
After a FaceTime meeting with his coaching staff every afternoon, Mittie said he has an idea of how recruiting calls are going each day. That's important without the ability to host recruits.
"They update me on their calls and give me a list of calls that I need to make," he said. "When student-athletes visit Manhattan, they're impressed with the facilities, they're impressed with the campus and the feeling they get in the community. Those things are hard to feel if you haven't been to campus."
As March draws to a close, Mittie and his staff are preparing for a summer when they could pick up verbal commitments from the majority of their next recruiting class.
Of the freshmen on the Wildcats this season, Jada Thorpe and Emma Chapman committed last summer, while Ebert became the final member of the 2019 class when she signed in June.
"Those recruits who are weighing their decision were going to be coming to campus in April," Mittie said. "Now all of a sudden, they're realizing they may have to make decisions without coming back to campus or visiting campus for the first time."
Fortunately for K-State basketball fans, the Wildcats are nothing if not prepared.
Along with his staff, Mittie said that he has tried to get as many recruits to campus as possible throughout the season.
That preparation has given K-State an advantage with campus visits no longer a possibility and allowed Mittie do the only thing he can during an offseason like this one: focus on right now.
"There's a good group of recruits that have already been to Manhattan, they've already felt the family atmosphere and the community support," Mittie said. "We've built pretty good relationships with that group [of recruits]. Hopefully, we're going to see those relationships carry the day."
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