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College basketball coach reveals he only signs players who like Waffle House
By Paul Harvey
Published:
College basketball prospects are asked many questions throughout their recruitment, but many do not expect one restaurant to be the deciding factor in where they play ball.
Well, that’s not the case for Scott Cross, the head coach at Troy since the 2019-20 season. Cross is getting his Trojans ready for a March Madness showdown with Kentucky, and he recently revealed most of his players express a love for Waffle House.
Surprisingly, that is actually by design. Located in the small town of Troy, Alabama, Cross admitted his community has a surprisingly adequate distribution of Waffle Houses.
In an interview with KSR+, Cross revealed 2 of the first recruits he ever brought to Troy scoffed emphatically at the idea of eating there. The Trojans ultimately didn’t sign either player.
“It started off (with) the first 2 recruits I brought onto campus, we’re driving down Main Street. I point out Waffle House and ask them if they want to eat there for breakfast,” said Cross. “They were like ‘Hell nah, I don’t want to go to Waffle House.’ I was like okay, my bad, you know we’ll try and eat somewhere else.”
Cross then went on to describe the reaction of Nick Stampley, a player he would sign and coach for 3 seasons with the Trojans. Instead of complaining, Stampley jumped at the chance to eat at Waffle House, and it has since become a staple of Cross’s recruiting.
“We don’t even say anything about Waffle House. He sees it and goes ‘Oh coach, y’all got a Waffle House here? Can we go there tomorrow?’” explained Cross of Stampley’s reaction.
“… He was our first signee, he was one of our toughest guys we ever coached. From that point forward we just kind of offhand ask (recruits): Do you like Waffle House? If the answer is yes, we sign them. If it’s no, we never get them.”
That formula has worked out okay so far with the Trojans riding 4 straight seasons of 20+ wins, including 23 this season, into March Madness. Now, Troy will try to play the role of giant slayer against Mark Pope and the Wildcats.
Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.
