By BOB THOMPSON
of the Tribune's staff

The box of stuff Susan Kreklow brought for her first day on the job as Missouri volleyball coach still sits unpacked in the corner of her office.

Kreklow and her assistant coach/husband Wayne know there will come a time when they will be able to take a moment to relax and get organized. But, in the six months since moving down the street from Columbia College, their lives have been on full throttle with a perpetual green light.

"I would say hectic would be a major understatement," Wayne Kreklow said.

Whether coaching spring exhibition games, hitting the road to visit recruits, running one of their summer camps or parenting their three children - there hasn't been much time for themselves.

And with the regular season less than a month away, straightening up the office will have to wait.

"We will eventually have an opportunity to settle in, but right now there's a lot of things that need our attention," said Susan Kreklow, who was hired on Feb. 4 to succeed Disa Johnson. "We're trying to make sure we're doing everything in recruiting, plus getting ready for the season. Things like unpacking boxes we'll get to maybe next year."

Sure, maybe the Tiger coaches could make it a little easier on themselves by delegating more of their duties. Eventually former-player-turned-assistant Deng Yang will carry out some of the tasks, but she too is learning on the fly.

While other volleyball coaches may assign assistants or graduate students to take care of the grunt work, the Kreklows are driving kids back and forth on the shuttle bus at their summer camp. The duo maintains the reason they've been successful so far is by staying involved with every aspect of their program.

"We've always done it that way and sometimes it's a lot more work and makes things really difficult for us," said Wayne. "I've always compared it to starting your own business. When you're doing something for the first time, we're not in a position where we can afford to have other people doing things for us."

The Kreklows' hands-on approach has already paid off in recruiting. Washington State outside hitter Kristen Johnson was looking to transfer in the spring and arranged visits to a number of schools. Usually, an assistant coach or other athletic department employees picked up Johnson. But, when she came to Missouri, Susan Kreklow greeted her at the airport. Johnson later signed with the Tigers.

"That really made an impression on her," Wayne said. "Other people may say, ŒThat's a waste of your time, you could be doing other things,' but those are the types of things we feel like we have to do."

Said Susan: "For the home visits, we've always made a point to go together. Certainly one of us could go, but we feel like when both of us go we can give the student-athlete and her parents an idea of who we are and what we want to do as a program."

While the fundamentals of recruiting stay the same everywhere, jumping from NAIA to Division I allows the Kreklows to search a much broader area of the country for potential recruits. They are also finding it is easier to sell the top girls on the Missouri experience.

"A big difference here, which has been a nice change, is our pool of potential recruits has gotten a lot bigger," Wayne said. "The thing we fought at Columbia College is at an NAIA school it was difficult to get the high-level student-athlete. That kind of a player is also being recruited by mid-level Division I schools and high Division II schools. So, it was extremely difficult for us to sell kids on the NAIA because nobody knows about it outside of our little community.

"What makes the job difficult also makes it a little bit easier in another sense. We're competing in a big-time conference with big-time programs, but because we're doing that you also peak the interest of a higher-caliber student athlete because that's the type of challenge they want."

The Kreklows have also enjoyed the use of MU's facilities for their summer camps. At Columbia College they had limited court space so they spent much of their time shuttling kids between local gyms in rented vans.

This year, all the campers competed at the Hearnes Center or Student Recreational Center, resulting in more of a camp-like atmosphere. The Kreklows say they had an outstanding turnout during their summer sessions and will conclude the first-year of skills camps this week.

"We've had close to 1,000 kids and that's manageable when you're familiar with your surroundings," Susan said. "But, when you're setting up the Hearnes Center for the first time and looking in closets to try and find things it's tough. Next year, it'll be a lot easier."

Wayne Kreklow said there have been many changes in the six years since he last roamed the halls of the MU athletic department. He served as the Tigers' assistant coach from 1989-94.

"When we came over and interviewed, I told Susan the whole atmosphere was a difference of night and day," Wayne said. "The thing that struck me is the morale, the energy, and the excitement was noticeably improved. I tell people all the time this is not the same place as when I left."

The couple will be glad to get the upcoming season underway and get back to their favorite part of the job - actually coaching volleyball. MU players report on Aug. 7 and begin practicing two days later. The Tigers debut Sept. 1 against Wichita State in Tulsa at the Oral Roberts Hilton-adidas Tournament.

Reach Bob Thompson at 815-1781 or bthompson@tribmail.com.