For more than a dozen seasons, Julie Beck has been the SIUC women’s basketball team’s top salesperson.

Now in her 15th season, Beck has tirelessly served as associate coach and chief recruiter for SIUC, helping to produce seven 20-win seasons for the Salukis.

Beck, who joined the Salukis in 1981 following a stint as assistant coach at the University of Missouri, said there is no place she will not go to recruit a potential player for SIUC.

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We are going to go anywhere we can to recruit a kid, Beck said. We can draw from all over the United States.

This seasons Saluki squad is a prime example of the range of SIUC’s recruiting game. The 1995 squad features one player from nearby Okawville and one as far away as Eagle River, Alaska.

Success wise, it’s much easier to stay at home because parents want to see their kids on the floor, she said. As a recruiter, I’d like to sit at home and pick them out from nearby.

Beck said the diversity of SIUC plays a vital role in the recruiting process.

Once we get a kid on campus it becomes a very easy sell, she said. It’s a matter of getting a kid interested in us either athletically or academically.

Beck said SIUC is a very diverse and upbeat campus and the education process makes it easy to recruit here because SIUC offers so many academic majors to choose from.

Beck said establishing a personal relationship with the players also can be a very important tool as well.

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I think you’ve got to get to a certain point with them and get in on a personal level, she said. You need to find out their likes and dislikes, while selling them on academics first.

You have to get to know them and sell them on the program. You really try to be a super salesperson.

The small size of SIUC and more strict regulations from the NCAA can hamper the recruiting process in some ways, Beck said.

I think they are doing a good job, but the NCAA has gotten stricter over the last four or five years and that can hurt a school like SIUC, Beck said. We have to get our name in earlier than a lot of other schools and we have to work a lot closer with high school coaches and utilize other avenues of approach.

Beck said the NCAA limits the number of times a coach can speak to a potential recruit during the year, as well as how many times they can view them in practice, which makes the job of the recruiter much harder.

While the NCAA may make Beck’s job a bit harder, Saluki head coach Cindy Scott does not. Beck said Scott has not put any restrictions on her job as a recruiter.

She (Scott) has allowed me a lot of freedom to find kids to play for her, Beck said. She puts a lot of trust in my recruiting. It’s been a good working relationship and it has had a lot of success.

Scott said Beck has been a valuable asset to the Saluki program.

Julie Beck has been the key to our recruiting efforts the past 14 years, Scott said. She has a knowledge of the game that puts her on a level as one of the top assistants in the country.

As far as a future as a head coach is concerned, Beck said she is more than content with where she is at right now.

I love to put good kids on the floor, make it exciting and bring people back, she said. I love Southern Illinois it’s always been good to me I love the area and the ability to recruit here.

Beck said her role as associate coach allows her to be much closer with the players as well, which is something she enjoys very much.

I try to be closer with the players than a head coach, she said. I have to be able to relate to them. I say it like it is I’m honest with them and we’ve established a good relationship.