When recruiting shifted to the virtual world, UConn lost what it firmly believes is a basketball program strength.

The coronavirus lockdown temporarily wiped out official and unofficial campus visits.

Coach Dan Hurley and his staff like their odds of winning over a recruit if they can host him.

"The strength of our recruiting is when we get kids on campus with unofficial and official visits," Hurley said. "We're not the fastest talkers. We don't have the best sales pitch to kids. When we win is where when they step on campus and they meet us, they spend time around us, they get a feel for how our players feel about what we do together. So we're trying to do the best we can to get that across during these virtual meetings."

Judging from recent results, UConn has found a way to thrive in the new recruiting world.

Adama Sanogo, a four-star recruit out of The Patrick School in New Jersey, and Rhode Island transfer Tyrese Martin both committed to the Huskies in the last month despite neither player having visited the UConn campus.

Recruits are reacting favorably to UConn's virtual presentations. Hurley is a significant reason why, according to assistant coach Tom Moore.

"Coach (Hurley) is really good at that," Moore said. "He's very organized. He's just so smart about messaging and how we want it delivered. He's great on these Zoom and Webex calls. He's phenomenal on these because he's just so genuine and his personality comes across really well.

"He's not a salesman. He's not contrived. He's got a lot of personality, a lot of charisma. He's passionate about what he's selling. And he can relate. You watch mothers and fathers and high school kids, that's what's great about Zoom and the Webex calls, you can see them reacting to him. It's been great."

Hours of work go into roughly a 45-minute call.

Working from home, Hurley regularly speaks with his coaching staff to talk about the message that he wants to get across to recruits. Assistant coaches prepare by breaking down video and learning all they can about each prospect. They've already established relationships with some recruits.

Tripp Doherty, director of men's basketball recruiting and video, and assistant director of athletics/video services Dave Kaplan work with their staff behind the scenes to put the presentation together.

It's not a cookie-cutter approach. Each one is personalized.

"I work with each individual coach and talk about what that individual recruit values the most and what we need to focus on," Doherty said. "Who is the decision maker? Who do we need to get on board? What does the kid value? What does the mom value? What does the high school coach value?

"Coach Hurley is involved with every single one. He's got the message and knows what he wants to get across. ... Some of these Class of 2021 kids haven't been on campus. Coach says it all the time, where we thrive in recruiting is when we get a kid on campus because of the level of detail coach puts in on visits."

So UConn has to try to fit in what it would normally do over a 48-hour campus visit into a 45-minute video presentation. And make it creative and interesting enough to make a good impression on recruits as well as family and coaches that may also be watching.

So what happens during a virtual recruiting call?

It's a thorough and detailed presentation, which is usually broken up over a few calls, that features a variety of topics and tries to paint a picture of what the program is all about. In addition to Hurley being involved, Moore and fellow assistants Kimani Young and Kenya Hunter might also join.

There is a virtual tour of the Werth Family UConn Basketball Champions Center, showing off the practice court, weight room and training facilities, academic support rooms, locker rooms and impressive lobby display of the program's rich history.

Recruits also see videos highlighting memorable UConn wins and splash plays from last season. Another segment covers the game day environment at Gampel Pavilion and XL Center. The Big East is featured in another part.

The coaching staff also shows exactly how they envision using each player. Say they're talking to a guard, they might have a film session about plays run for James Bouknight, whose star is on the rise.

"We try to make it as interactive as possible with the kids and their families so it's not a lecture," Doherty said. "That's been really good for us. ... You can't come away from these calls not thinking there's not a well-thought out plan for each individual player."

Eric Jaklitsch, the Patrick School's director of basketball operations, gave some insight on Sanogo's Zoom call with UConn. He participated in the call. He's very familiar with the program from his coaching days at Our Savior New American on Long Island and has visited the Storrs campus several times.

"They spoke about how they would use him in their program," Jaklitsch said. "Danny spoke about what he had done at Rhode Island with some of the players. They spoke about different things that he needs to do and different clips of players that they think Adama could be like and what he needs to work on.

"I think all these Zoom calls are having a little bit of impact on kids. But it's not the same (as a visit)."

Getting high school kids to participate on calls is sometimes easier than holding their attention throughout the entire conversation.

They're watching numerous presentations from college basketball coaches. So there's a lot of competition for their time and focus.

"There's pretty much unlimited contact with the number of phone calls," Moore said. "It's just a question of how often do they want to get on with you. They're juggling a bunch of schools asking them.

"That's why you've got to be good at what you're doing when you have one of these kids and their families on one of these calls. If you're going to ask them for a half hour, 45 minutes or an hour of their time, your presentation better be good and they better get something out of it, or they're not going to probably want to get on it again with you."

There's one important thing a virtual presentation can't replace. And that's close interaction with UConn players during visits.

Hurley encourages recruits to talk to his players about him and the program. Now recruits can't get a feel for team chemistry and whether they're a good fit. They can't watch live workouts, see the intensity in practice or witness players putting in extra time.

"That's something we can't make up for, unfortunately," Moore said. "A big part of what makes the program and the turnaround exciting is when people spend 48 hours around the group. You notice things. You pick up things. You pick on the interaction between the players and the staff.

"Coach will always say that to the prospects and tell their parents, too, when they're on visits, ask the kids what it is like to play here and don't do it in front of us. Get them alone and get them on the side and ask them what they think of us and what it is like to play here.

"We miss that obviously. The family type of feel to it and the connection between the staff and the players, you lose that, but you hope the quality of your presentation can help make up for that."

College basketball will have to continue to adjust at least until the end of the month. The NCAA declared a dead period through May 31, barring any in-person recruiting.

Until something changes, UConn plans on making the best of it.

"Nothing can replace being on campus," Doherty said. "Our job now is to play the hand we've been dealt. Everybody is in the same boat. It's been interesting. We've tried to make it work."

g.keefe@theday.com