\u201cAlways be recruiting\u201d is less a motto and more a way of life for Power Four college basketball programs. And, in the day and age of the transfer portal, that often means going above and beyond to scour the lower ranks for potential portal additions.<\/p>\n
For at least one SEC assistant coach, that apparently included buying a courtside seat at last week\u2019s Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament to allegedly recruit a player from the tournament champion Queens University. Royals head men\u2019s basketball coach Grant Leonard publicly accused an unnamed SEC assistant of purchasing a ticket to one of their ASUN Tournament games last week in an effort to \u201cget ahead\u201d of recruiting one of his players in a Wednesday morning post on X\/Twitter<\/a>. <\/p>\n Queens University of Charlotte punched the program\u2019s first-ever NCAA Tournament ticket after capturing its first ASUN Tournament championship on Sunday with a 98-93 overtime win over top-seeded Central Arkansas<\/a> in Jacksonville, Fla. Royals graduate senior guard Chris Ashby dropped a career-high 34 points on 10 3-pointers in the win, while fellow senior Nasir Mann contributed 14 points and nine rebounds to earn tournament MVP honors. <\/p>\n But while Leonard didn\u2019t care to share which player the unnamed SEC assistant was targeting, Queens star freshman guard Jordan Watford<\/a> was the Royals\u2019 second-leading scorer Sunday night with 19 points and a team-high six assists, while adding four rebounds to the effort.<\/p>\n In his Wednesday post, Leonard quote-tweeted a The Field of 68 video<\/a> featuring first-year USF<\/a> head coach Bryan Hodgson<\/a>, a former Alabama<\/a> assistant coach under Nate Oats<\/a>, issuing a clear warning to any coaches that attempt to tamper with his roster before the conclusion of the Bulls\u2019 2025-26 season.<\/p>\n