There was no time for celebration — or rest — for Bob Nash over the weekend.

Nash was named the new head coach of the University of Hawai'i men's basketball Friday.

He spent Saturday and yesterday in his office.

"The celebration came in the fact that we got the job," Nash said. "There's just too much work to do over the next few weeks, and I couldn't afford to miss a day."

Foremost, Nash wanted to address the recruiting situation for the 2007-08 season.

The signing period for basketball recruits started Wednesday, and Hawai'i has not received any commitments. The 'Bows will have at least three scholarships to offer for next season.

A lengthy and secretive search to replace Riley Wallace as head coach has already had an impact on recruiting.

"We may have missed on some kids because of the lateness of the appointment," Nash said. "But we've never had a 100-percent signing ratio on the first day anyway. We may be late, but we're not out of the running. There are still players out there."

Gary Wilkinson, a 6-foot-8 power forward at Salt Lake (Utah) Community College, signed a letter of intent with Utah State last week. He was being recruited by Hawai'i, but never made a visit because the 'Bows did not have a head coach.

Another potential recruit — 6-10 forward/center Brian Freeman of Clackamas (Ore.) Community College — has apparently dropped Hawai'i down on his list.

Clackamas head coach Cliff Wegner said Long Beach State and San Jose State have replaced Hawai'i atop Freeman's list of choices.

"I'll say this, if Bob Nash had been named head coach a lot earlier, Hawai'i would have had an excellent chance at Brian," Wegner said. "But it's been delayed so many times, other schools have had the time to come in and offer scholarships."

In an effort to make up for lost time, Nash said he will make trips to visit with potential recruits in the next few weeks.

"I think it's important to get myself out there to meet these kids and their families," Nash said. "I've been on the phone all weekend, talking to kids and trying to make arrangements for them to visit here or for me to visit them."

In addition to signing recruits for next season, Nash said he would like to get an early start on the 2008 recruits.

"The first priority is to get this recruiting class done," he said. "But we also have to look to the future. Our big summer project will be to get out and get a head-start on the recruiting for (2008)."

During Wallace's 20 seasons as head coach, the 'Bows recruited primarily out of the junior college system. Nash said he would like to start focusing more on recruiting high school players.

"We may not get the McDonald's All-American players, but there are still a lot of good ones out there," he said. "I want to create sustainability from year to year, and not have to constantly rebuild with junior college players. We're still going to go after junior college players, but the focus has to be on bringing in freshmen who can help us for four years."

Nash will have at least one vacancy on his coaching staff, and he said that the candidates will need to have recruiting experience.

"I want a guy who has strong recruiting ties, but also a guy who can teach the game," he said. "I don't want a specialist. I want a guy who can be involved in everything there is to be involved with in coaching."

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.