Lindsay Whalen jumps into first July recruiting period with Gophers

She is mid-way through her WNBA season running point guard for the Minnesota Lynx. And July's evaluation period came with the recruiting that goes with being the new Gophers women's basketball coach.

How does she handle that? Delegation seems to be the key.

"Oh yeah, my recruiting coordinator is taking care of all of that, which is really nice," Lindsay Whalen said after Lynx practice Monday.

She was talking about assistand Carly Thibault-Dudonis -- whose father, Mike Thibault, just became the WNBA's first head coach with 300 wins.

Actually, Whalen's entire assistant coaching staff (Thibault-Dudonis, Danielle O'Banion and Kelly Roysland) are all hot on the recruiting trail this month, which included stops in Louisville, Indianapolis, Chicago and Washington DC. The most critical evaluation period to watch prospects during AAU tournaments for Division I women's basketball is July 6-12 this year.

"I was able to go (Sunday), but this is obviously a big month," Whalen said. "It's a lot of fun. I remember this month as a player. It's very fun, a lot of good competition, a lot of games. I pretty much just listen to my recruiting coordinator, Carly, and she tells everybody where to go and I'm listening to her.

Whalen is doing what she can to observe which players the U should prioritze moving forward.

"It started Thursday and now it's Monday, so there's been five days of this period," Whalen said. "A lot of players playing, a lot of good games and lots of feedback. A lot of everything. It's been really good."

The Gophers already have 2019 commitments from Stillwater guard Sara Scalia, Des Moines East forward Justice Ross and Roosevelt (IA) center Grace Cumming. Scalia (North Tartan) and Cumming (Kingdom Hoops) are playing in the Nike Nationals this week in Indianapolis. Ross is playing for Lady Pure Prep in the Adidas Guantlet in Kansas City.

Marcus Fuller contributed to this blog post.