The busy July in basketball recruiting isn’t just about the players -- it’s about the college coaches, too. Specifically, with three open evaluation periods (July 10-14, July 17-21 and July 24-28) and more than a dozen major events throughout the country, it’s about where those coaches are and which prospects they are watching.

Since the whereabouts of a coach in July can be a major indicator of his recruiting priorities, here’s a look at five head coaches -- plus a bonus recruiting rivalry -- whose travel plans the college basketball world will be glued to this month.

1. Mike Krzyzewski (Duke)

Coach K isn’t retiring from Team USA after all, so that means he’ll again have limited time to cover the recruiting period. The difference this year, however, is that the 2014 class is one of the most important for Duke in recent memory, as the Blue Devils could possibly be looking at as many as six scholarships to fill after the coming season (depending on the potential for Jabari Parker, Rodney Hood and Rasheed Sulaimon to leave early for the NBA draft). That makes the days Coach K does have to recruit especially valuable, which means we’ll be able to tell quite a bit about Duke’s priorities based on the prospects he’s following. ESPN 100 sharpshooter Grayson Allen is already on board and the Blue Devils would like to sign three prospects in November’s early signing period, but they’ll need a strong showing from the big boss to make that happen.

2. Jim Boeheim (Syracuse)

The Syracuse skipper is in a position not unlike Jim Calhoun from several years ago with UConn. With so many rumors flying around about his potential retirement in the near future, Boeheim’s travel schedule will be put under a magnifying glass this month. Conventional wisdom suggests that head coaches with enough gas in the tank to get through a long college season also have enough to get through a long recruiting period. If Boeheim isn’t front and center for his top recruits, you can bet his competition won’t hesitate to point it out and use his age against him. Similar to Duke, the 2014 class is also an important one for Syracuse. The Orange are off to a great start with top-10 forward Chris McCullough, but they’re in desperate need of some depth in the backcourt, especially at the point guard position.

3. Bill Self (Kansas)

Coming off the best recruiting class of his career in 2013, Self has a ton of momentum on his side. That said, he can’t afford to rest on his laurels now since the price of recruiting such a talented incoming class is the potential to lose more than one of them (Andrew Wiggins is a virtual given) after just one season. That’s why Self and his staff have come out swinging for the fences in the Class of 2014, targeting seven of the top 15 players in the ESPN 100. With the Jayhawks after three of the country’s best big men in No. 1 recruit Jahlil Okafor, No. 2 Cliff Alexander and No. 10 Myles Turner, Self’s whereabouts in July are going to be very revealing.

4. Steve Alford (UCLA)

All eyes are on Alford as he takes over one of the most prestigious programs in the history of college basketball. Coming from Iowa and New Mexico, this is the first time Alford has been at the helm of a marquee brand, and what people want to know is whether he is capable of landing top national talent. Making a splash in his first recruiting class will be critical, not just in terms of answering the naysayers but also because UCLA could be on the verge of losing several major contributors after the 2013-14 season with David Wear and Travis Wear set to graduate and Kyle Anderson and Jordan Adams potentially eyeing an early jump to the NBA.

5. Brad Stevens (Butler)

Success comes at a price, and for Butler that price has been not just increased expectations but also increased competition. When Stevens first led the Bulldogs to the Final Four in 2010, they were in the Horizon League. Now they’re playing in their third conference in as many years, having hopped over the Atlantic 10 in a single season and ending up in the new-look Big East for 2013-14. While Stevens’ teams have obviously had no problems knocking off high-major programs in recent years, the question now becomes whether he has to adjust his recruiting philosophy to account for his new league.

Honorable mention: John Calipari (Kentucky) vs. Tom Crean (Indiana)

This matchup could just as easily be about the most passionate fan base, but come evaluation periods, the Calipari/Crean rivalry is played out in the battle to use up their frequent-flier miles. Simply put, no two coaches make better use of their chartered planes than these two, and both have found themselves trending on Twitter due to their ability to hit multiple parts of the country in the same day. Which one will log more miles this summer? We’re just going to have to keep up with Twitter to find out.