Yes, Will Bailey is from Chicago and most recently coaches at St. Louis, two basketball recruiting hot beds, but don’t tell him he’s an area recruiter.

“I don’t consider myself locked in to one area even though I’m from there,” Bailey said. “I’ve been a lot of different places. I consider myself a national recruiter.”

Over his career he’s had stops at La Salle, East Tennessee State, Maine and then St. Louis and is quick when asked about recruiting to rattle off the areas he’s had experience recruiting: New England prep schools, Virginia, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Philadelphia, New York, New Jersey, Washington D.C.

Bailey said he still maintains relationships with the coaches he’s met over all his stops and it’s those he’s bringing to South Carolina now.

“Just over the years I’ve kept in contact with those guys,” he said. “The relationships are strong; those guys trust me. I care about the players and they know I’m committed to them being successful on and off the court.”

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Bailey is the Gamecocks’ newest assistant coach, taking over for Perry Clark who retired this offseason.

During the hiring process, Frank Martin wasn’t shy about wanting to bring in another recruiter to his staff that can put the Gamecocks back in areas they hadn’t recruited often in his time at South Carolina.

Bailey does give the Gamecocks that but isn’t limited to just Chicago and the Midwest.

“I know he wants to get back into the Chicago area a little bit and the Midwest from his days at K-state he has some contacts there as well and great players out of those areas. Definitely I’ll go there. We’re pretty open. We’re not pigeonholing someone into some specific area,” he said. “I’ve spent a lot of time in the south and the Midwest and trying to tap into that some as well.”

Bailey’s only been on the job for a few weeks but he’s already making a concerted effort to reach out to recruits and their families pitching South Carolina and building relationships with guys on the Gamecocks’ recruiting board.

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“Once I took the job and got hired, I was able to call kids and do Zoom calls. Our graphics department is great here. They can get us graphics and do videos,” he said. “That allows us to communicate with parents. As I learn more about the program, I’m learning right now, I’m sharing that information with parents.”

He did admit, though, it’s been slower with Coronavirus shutting down any in-person recruiting, but once he is allowed back on the road the Gamecocks will get a recruiter who wants to get South Carolina back into the Midwest.

“We would have had an opportunity to watch a lot of kids we’ve been talking to and get a feel and see some. Some players you may see in April and think they’re not good enough but they’ve been in the lab working then all of a sudden you look up in July and he’s a different player. Then you see guys in April and they may be big time and you see them in July and he’s not the same player. That makes it a lot different and more challenging.”