Boston College coaches have taken American Airlines Flight 11 from Logan International to Los Angeles International airports countless times in an effort to recruit players in the Southern California area.

Tuesday morning, Flight 11 out of Boston was one of four planes hijacked and then used in terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C.

	The shock of Tuesday's events were felt by airline travelers across the country, but hit especially close to home for Boston College basketball coaches.

No Boston College coach was on Tuesday's flight, but assistant Ed Cooley almost had a close call. He was originally scheduled to fly from Boston to L.A. on Monday's American Airlines Flight 11 (the day before the attacks), but L.A. recruit Brandon Bowman had committed to Georgetown and canceled the B.C. home visit.

Head coach Al Skinner and assistant Bill Coen were in Houston on Tuesday for a home recruiting visit, and are returning by car to Boston.

All three coaches were obviously thankful not to be on the hijacked 767 that crashed into the World Trade Center in likely the worst terrorist act against the United States and on its soil. But the shock of seeing the carnage in New York City sent quakes throughout the college basketball community during a time when B.C. coaches or any number of others could have easily been on board.

The reason: Sunday was the beginning of the NCAA's month-long contact period in college basketball recruiting, where coaches conduct in-home visits or visit with players and coaches at their high school or junior college.

Former Boston College assistant Tim O'Shea, now the head coach at Ohio University, was probably the most frequent traveler on previous Flight 11s the past few seasons. He was the Eagles' top recruiting assistant and recruited Southern California extensively.

"Do you know how many times I've flown that flight? At least seven or eight times in the past few years," O'Shea said. "I could have been on that flight. It's one of the few direct flights from Boston to L.A. This is incredible."

Coen and Skinner were stuck in Houston, unable to fly home like hundreds of other college basketball coaches who were on the road recruiting.

"I was on a 7:51 a.m. flight from Houston to Boston on Continental when they kept us out on the tarmac," Coen said. "They told us that there was a problem in New York, and then told us about the hijacking. Everyone left the airport, scrambled for a hotel and rental car. Two-thirds of the coaching community has to be on the road somewhere."

A number of coaches told ESPN.com they were calling around the country to see how their friends in the business were doing. Meanwhile, if coaches weren't stranded they were grounded. Two members of the Cal coaching staff were supposed to board a flight from the Bay Area to Alabama for a recruiting visit.

Assistants at East Carolina and Robert Morris were grounded in Virginia and Illinois. Other staffs were recruiting local players, like the Texas staff which went to a Dallas high school, or the Virginia staff which was at Oak Hill Academy late Monday night.

"New York and Boston are hubs for all the New England prep schools where a lot of players are this year," Virginia assistant Bill Herrion said. "It's unspeakable to think what happened in New York. And from a standpoint of college basketball, this is the worst time because of all the coaches bouncing around for home visits. There will be a terrible loss of life in so many professional communities."

A number of coaches scrambled to get home by any means. Notre Dame coach Mike Brey was in the Providence airport, planning on catching a flight from Providence to Montreal through New York to see recruit Bernard Cote. But the flight was canceled. Notre Dame women's coach Muffet McGraw and assistant Kevin McGuff were in the same airport after a recruiting visit in nearby Boston. The three coaches got a rental car and began driving from Providence to South Bend, Ind.

"We were lucky to get a car and we're driving home because that's the only way to get there right now," Brey said by cell phone as the three were in Erie, Pa.

Notre Dame men's assistant Anthony Solomon was en route from Providence to Chicago but his flight got diverted to Pittsburgh. Members of the Irish staff drove to Pittsburgh to pick him up because he couldn't get a rental car. Brey was planning on making a recruiting visit in nearby Chicago Wednesday but he's canceling that trip to stay home and be with his players.

"There was a huge mass on our campus Tuesday and I know there is going to be a lot of issues we'll need to address with our players Wednesday," Brey said. "We need to be with our guys instead of going on the road."

Recruiting visits to Iowa Western College were postponed for Tuesday and Wednesday, including a trip planned by Texas Tech coach Bob Knight, Iowa Western assistant Trent Lovewell told ESPN.com.

Once the aftermath of Tuesday's tragic events is known, the NCAA would likely be forced to extend the recruiting calendar to allow coaches to make other visits. But this seemingly trivial matter won't be addressed for days at the earliest.

Meanwhile, the U.S. gold-medal winning Goodwill Games men's basketball team arrived safely from Australia in Los Angeles on Monday morning. USA Basketball spokesperson Craig Miller said the players and coaches either stayed in Los Angeles Monday, or went home Monday night and all of the personnel on the trip have been accounted for and are safe.