It's 10 o'clock at night in early August, but Carol Simon '85, coach of the Brandeis University women's basketball team, is still in her office. She's in the thick of the year-and-a-half process of recruiting student athletes to play for the Judges, a top Division III team.     "It's a lot of work, but for me it's not a job, it's a love," Simon said. "You have to find these players to make the team." She says she learned about selling, marketing and promotion, all key aspects of recruiting and coaching, in her administrative science major at Colby.     Named assistant coach at Brandeis in 1986-87, Simon became head coach a year later. Winner of 11 Colby varsity letters and captain of the soccer, softball and basketball teams, she'd logged extensive playing time in college, and her sound knowledge of the game helped offset her limited coaching experience. In 1992 her team finished 21-7 and earned an ECAC tournament bid, and Simon was the New England Eight league's coach of the year. The Judges have since joined the University Athletic Association, a league that includes such schools as Division III national title-winner Washington University. Her 11-year record stands at 145-136.     At a sports forum last March at Wayland (Mass.) High School, Simon teamed up with other college coaches to offer insights into the recruiting process and the realities of college athletics. Because Division III rules do not permit scholarships, the competition among basketball coaches for the New England pool of talent is keen, she says, especially when top schools like Brandeis also are looking for 1350 SAT scores. She thinks the toughest test for athletes comes when coaches don't pursue them as top recruits.     During summer scouting, Simon attends tournaments to look at potential players and also is co-owner and co-director of two summer camps, one a basketball camp for girls in grades four-12. In the fall she reviews questionnaires returned to Brandeis, calls interested athletes and is host to visitors on campus. By mid-winter, on top of the Judges' tough schedule, she tracks the school games of some 40 or 50 players. Following a post-season break, Simon meets in April with accepted players to sell them on the university.     Admittedly "very competitive," Simon says that coaches tend to recruit kids with personalities similar to their own because they know they can work with them. "There's no trickery here," she said. "We're like surrogate parents. We deal with them more than any professor."     After a bookend season in 1997-98--the 9-14 team started and finished strong--Simon says she has a good returning corps, but the season depends on the freshmen, those new recruits winnowed out of the 500-600 she contacted initially. A top-tier finish in the tough UAA conference is the goal.     Although she's taking a couple of summer classes a year at Brandeis to get a master's in management of nonprofit organizations, Simon anticipates coaching the Judges' well down the road. "I have the ideal situation here--the best Division III conference, fantastic facilities and gender equity," she said. "I still have basketball in my heart."