Most coaches aren't losing a whole lot of sleep. If they haven't done their homework by now, they're likely to flunk this test. In fact, they should have started recruiting who they wanted years ago.

That's the new trend in college hoops — get in fast and don't let go.

Nick Calathes of Florida is a classic example of the growing trend of locking up prime recruits years in advance. Calathes was offered a scholarship by Gators coach Billy Donovan during his sophomore season of high school and accepted days later.

It was the fourth time Donovan offered a scholarship to a sophomore.

In Calathes' case, it appears getting in so early has paid off. He went on to become a McDonald's All-American and signed with Florida last November during his senior season — as promised. Now he's on campus and should play a huge role for the Gators this season.

Going into the fall, seven top high school freshmen had already committed to Division I schools. Southern Cal coach Tim Floyd even got a commitment from an eighth-grade point guard named Ryan Boatright.

Not everyone is thrilled with this growing trend. Georgia coach Dennis Felton said it is making him "a little queasy."

"Guys are in such a rush and it doesn't make a lot of sense," Felton said. "I just hope it doesn't go to where football has gone, where people commit and de-commit based on numbers."

Actually, that part of the recruiting game has already started. More and more underclassmen are pledging to a school then changing months later.

"It used to be 95 percent of the time if someone committed to a school, they would stop recruiting them," Felton said. "We're losing a little bit of that integrity. You're seeing more kids de-committing and what happens on the front end is the coach stops recruiting the position. And then when a player de-commits, instead of getting the top 10 at that position, you're down to the top 20 or top 30 at that position."

Opposing coaches can keep pushing because a verbal commitment like Boatright's isn't binding. It all becomes official starting tomorrow. But in between, it's years of waiting and watching.

Boatright, for example, still has three years to change his mind. And remember, we're talking about someone who isn't even old enough to drive a car yet.

But not everyone is worried about the wait. Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie accepted a verbal commitment over the summer from ninth-grader Dakotah Euton, a 6-8 forward.

"The younger the player, the greater the risk, for the player and the school," Gillispie said. "There's obviously the risk of injury, physical development, skill development."

It's also creating even more pressure on coaches to recruit earlier and earlier.

Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl knows how big egos can become — not just from players but from those around them.

"I've gotten calls from high schools coaches and AAU coaches that say, 'Hey, (Tennessee is) falling behind on the sophomores,' " Pearl said. "I really would prefer my focus as a college coach to be to encourage that sophomore to have a really good sophomore year and really work hard in that 10th-grade geometry class and do what he could to help the seniors win the state championship."

Many coaches are turned off by the idea of competing for recruits who are so young and often immature.

"It seemed like there were more players who applied early for the (NBA) draft this year and then most of them came back to college where they should have been all along," South Carolina coach Dave Odom said. "The second trend in college basketball is, 'If I don't commit before my junior year I'm not a very good player.' And nothing could be further from the truth than that.

"I think that it is simply a trend. I don't pay much attention to eighth-grade commitments, ninth-grade commitments or 10th-grade commitments for that matter. There's just so much basketball yet to be played."

Felton wonders just how good a player will be two or three years down the road and what would happen when a school suddenly doesn't want that recruit because they didn't develop, the coach quits or is fired or simply finds someone better to fill that scholarship.

Somewhere out there, undoubtedly, is a Boatright or a Euton about to have their heart broken. After all, the bottom line for coaches is winning.

Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings agrees today's recruiting is an inexact science but knows where he stands.

"I've got a daughter going into the eighth grade and I don't think I'd let her commit any place," he said. "I guess I don't have a line (of how young is too young). (But) If a college coach is silly enough to offer an eighth-grader or a ninth-grader a scholarship, then that eighth- or ninth-grader could be silly enough to accept it."