KEOKUK — Jerry Jerome already knew he had his work cut out for him.
Jerome, who just completed his 12th season as head coach of the Southeastern Community College women's basketball team, already had a short roster, in more ways than one.
SCC put together a 19-13 season despite having just eight players on the roster, no true point guard and using 5-foot-8 freshman Emma Knipe as his post player.
Jerome now is looking at the possibility of perhaps just two returning players, meaning he is going to have to hit the recruiting trail hard this spring and summer.
That job was made exponentially tougher by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has restricted travel, shut down all games and forced Jerome to rely even more on the many contacts he has made in the game over the years.
That hasn't slowed Jerome one iota as he continues to put the pieces together of the puzzle that right now is the 2020-21 SCC women's basketball team.
"We've been in contact with numerous players and talking to them over the phone," Jerome said. "Obviously we can't visit them and we can't bring them on campus, so that makes it tougher, especially the kids who live a long ways away and want to make a visit to see the campus and Keokuk. We are having to sign them sight unseen. You really have to trust the people you have been working with, all the AAU and high school coaches. I am not big on film, but I have to rely on that more since we can't get them on campus and work them out. The good thing is the people you trust tell them that they are going to SCC and they trust them."
Jerome has put an emphasis on bringing in point guards and post players, two positions that were sorely lacking for SCC last season. Jerome hopes by filling those positions, the Blackhawks can better contend with Iowa Community College Athletic Conference front-runners Kirkwood and North Iowa Area Community College.
"We've got a couple point guard, one a sophomore transfer and the other a freshman," Jerome said. "We've got a line on a couple nice 6-foot, 6-1 post players. I am not worried about shooting guards. There are plenty of those. We went 19-13 last year with six shooting guards and two 5-8 post players. Teams nowadays are spreading the floor, attacking and kicking it out to the shooters."
Jerome said the abrupt end to the season and the academic school year left him unable to sit down with his current players to talk about the future. Instead, he has had to do that over the phone.
"I always let them go home for spring break and talk to their parents and decide whether or not they want to come back. I didn't get to have those evaluations this year, obviously," Jerome said. "There is always a lot of turnover at this level anyway. It just seems like I can never keep five or six freshmen, so I have to start over every year. But that's not a bad thing because I love coaching. We get to coach them up. It's like putting a puzzle together. You have to figure out who fits where."
Jerome said the restrictions imposed because of the COVID-19 pandemic have changed the landscape, but he and his staff are learning to adapt on the fly.
"We just have to work a little harder to get people committed and signed," Jerome said. "We are working on it. I am on the phone every day. Everything is such an unknown right now and I think that is affecting the kids, too. They aren't waiting around to commit. If there is a school out there that wants them, they want to sign. I've signed three kids in the last week and a half. We are staying on top of things they best we can."
