Scouting and recruiting is a big part of Chico State’s efforts to make the university one of the top schools in its conference. For coaches and their athletic staff, this is a never-ending struggle.

Athletic director Anita Barker deserves credit for building a staff of coaches and assistants who want to add to a winning organization, said Luke Reid, the sports information director at Chico State.

“Chico State is a very successful Division II school and this is a place where athletes can win a national championship,” Reid said.

Ali Mollet, the assistant women’s basketball coach, always look for good character when recruiting players and goes by the “OKG” motto, she said. The “OKG” motto stands for Our Kind of Gal, which is a player who is willing to contribute for the team’s success and not individual stats.

“In the summer, I go out to tournaments and scout players and see how they act on and off the court,” Mollet said. “After that I go and look at their transcripts and see which players are good students and try to focus on those players.”

Chris Cobb, the assistant men’s basketball coach, tries to find players who fit the ’Cats’ system. Chico State is big on team bonding between coaches and players, Cobbe said.

“We have a saying that we tell the players and it’s what can you add to our culture?” Cobb said. “Last year we had five players make the All-Conference academic team, one of which was our best player, senior guard Damario Sims. This goes to show we are setting a winning and scholarly program.”

Benjamin Marquez can be reached at [email protected] or @theorion_sports on Twitter.