James Saltzman (Hamline) has just finished the regular season of his junior year. This past season, he improved 42 points overall, including 6 in defense, 5 in shotblocking, 10 in low-post, and 5 in ball-handling. The assistant coach has not indicated to me that he has capped in any categories yet. Saltzman is set to be the only senior next season, and Hamline is graduating only one senior this season.

I tried to redshirt him about 10x prior to this season before giving up on it. Each time his WE dropped down to 1. Because he is the only senior next season (with 4 junior-to-be), I think it would help my NT chances if I could have him as a senior at the same time the 4 juniors-to-be become seniors.

Here is what I am considering (assuming he won't happily take a red-shirt as a senior) -

Do not red-shirt anyone at the start of next season, bue leave Saltzman off the depth chart entirely. Throughout the year, his WE will drop from not playing, and I will get angry e-mails from him. I haven't promised him anything though, so (I think) that will not impact my reputation any. Come the end of the season, after gaining some (hopefully) benefit from his (starting-at) 80 WE, drop the resdhirt on him and acccept the WE drop to 1.

So, the questions -

1) Would I get comparable development (total) from my plan - having him practice with a high(er) WE but not play at all, then lose a few points during rollover because of a 1 WE - than I would get from just having him practice and play as usual?

2) Would the plan risk having Saltzman transfer out (this is D3) because he is unhappy with the playing time and subsequent late-season redshirt?

3) Is there some other drawback to the plan I am missing, or is there another option I should consider?

you may not be able to go all the way to the end of the season before RS'ing, there may be a drop dead date much earlier that would complicate the growth

If you are going for the leave him off the depth chart, RS at end of season strat, make sure you schedule a soft OOC. It's possible for a player to come in even though you have him off the depth chart when your team is in severe foul trouble, such as the starting and backup C both fouling out.

Posted by tianyi7886 on 3/25/2011 6:46:00 PM (view original):
If you are going for the leave him off the depth chart, RS at end of season strat, make sure you schedule a soft OOC. It's possible for a player to come in even though you have him off the depth chart when your team is in severe foul trouble, such as the starting and backup C both fouling out.

Good point. If I did that, I'd also toss my best rebounding guards at 3rd/4th string PF and have 4-deep at C (even if some were also at PF) so that for it to be a problem there would have to be more than 3 players foul out.

I've never tried that, but I'd be worried that he would transfer if his WE drops to 1.

Players don't transfer if they're RS'd, no matter what.  I RS'd a guy I promised minutes to and he still didn't leave (what an idiot).  Also, I tried the senior thing and my senior was put in a game (the game was against seble no less) for the last 5 seconds because of foul trouble with 4 games left to go in the season.  In his season totals he didn't even have 1 minutes played, but he still wasn't eligible for RS.  I say you should try it, but beware of him coming into the game and you losing a half season from a very good player.

Posted by tkimble on 3/25/2011 8:54:00 PM (view original):
Players don't transfer if they're RS'd, no matter what.  I RS'd a guy I promised minutes to and he still didn't leave (what an idiot).  Also, I tried the senior thing and my senior was put in a game (the game was against seble no less) for the last 5 seconds because of foul trouble with 4 games left to go in the season.  In his season totals he didn't even have 1 minutes played, but he still wasn't eligible for RS.  I say you should try it, but beware of him coming into the game and you losing a half season from a very good player.

Oh wow that's crazy. Didn't know you could do that. And seble plays? That seems like an unfair advantage haha

If you are sort of throwing away this season anyway (or at least your title chances), then try and get minutes to your underclassmen. You might want to use target minutes, which may be out of your comfort zone, but it would make me feel better if I was in your situation. I would just put my minimum minutes at like 190, therefore you would have a range of like 190-230. And put Saltzman on mopup.

Posted by car_crazy_v2 on 3/25/2011 10:35:00 PM (view original):
If you are sort of throwing away this season anyway (or at least your title chances), then try and get minutes to your underclassmen. You might want to use target minutes, which may be out of your comfort zone, but it would make me feel better if I was in your situation. I would just put my minimum minutes at like 190, therefore you would have a range of like 190-230. And put Saltzman on mopup.

Lol,horrible advice. This will guarantee him coming into the game.

Posted by bow2dacowz on 3/26/2011 1:38:00 AM (view original):
just my opinion but trying to redshirt a senior who is one of the best players in the country would never happen in real life and it shouldn't happen here. 

again, just my opinion.

In real life, I actually am pretty sure I could convince the guy given the chance. I mean, he's D3 (great D3, but still d3), so he's not going to the NBA. This is probably the peak of his basketball career.
 
I don't think it'd be a hard sell convincing him to sit a season (but be with the team), spend an extra year in college (who wouldn't love that), pick up a master's degree in physical education so he can coach HS when he's done playing, and maximize his chances to win a national title.

Posted by zbrent716 on 3/26/2011 4:09:00 AM (view original):

Posted by bow2dacowz on 3/26/2011 1:38:00 AM (view original):
just my opinion but trying to redshirt a senior who is one of the best players in the country would never happen in real life and it shouldn't happen here. 

again, just my opinion.

In real life, I actually am pretty sure I could convince the guy given the chance. I mean, he's D3 (great D3, but still d3), so he's not going to the NBA. This is probably the peak of his basketball career.
 
I don't think it'd be a hard sell convincing him to sit a season (but be with the team), spend an extra year in college (who wouldn't love that), pick up a master's degree in physical education so he can coach HS when he's done playing, and maximize his chances to win a national title.

+1

Posted by zbrent716 on 3/26/2011 4:09:00 AM (view original):

Posted by bow2dacowz on 3/26/2011 1:38:00 AM (view original):
just my opinion but trying to redshirt a senior who is one of the best players in the country would never happen in real life and it shouldn't happen here. 

again, just my opinion.

In real life, I actually am pretty sure I could convince the guy given the chance. I mean, he's D3 (great D3, but still d3), so he's not going to the NBA. This is probably the peak of his basketball career.
 
I don't think it'd be a hard sell convincing him to sit a season (but be with the team), spend an extra year in college (who wouldn't love that), pick up a master's degree in physical education so he can coach HS when he's done playing, and maximize his chances to win a national title.

having worked in college athletics, all i can say is good luck convincing a kid to shell out an extra 30,000+ of his parents money.  nevermind the fact that if i was one of the other kids on the team, i'd be a little ticked that you were trying to tank my junior or senior season (or any season for that matter given what i'm paying to be there) so you could have a shot at personal glory in your job that pays you $22,000 a year.

Posted by bow2dacowz on 3/26/2011 9:12:00 AM (view original):

Posted by zbrent716 on 3/26/2011 4:09:00 AM (view original):

Posted by bow2dacowz on 3/26/2011 1:38:00 AM (view original):
just my opinion but trying to redshirt a senior who is one of the best players in the country would never happen in real life and it shouldn't happen here. 

again, just my opinion.

In real life, I actually am pretty sure I could convince the guy given the chance. I mean, he's D3 (great D3, but still d3), so he's not going to the NBA. This is probably the peak of his basketball career.
 
I don't think it'd be a hard sell convincing him to sit a season (but be with the team), spend an extra year in college (who wouldn't love that), pick up a master's degree in physical education so he can coach HS when he's done playing, and maximize his chances to win a national title.

having worked in college athletics, all i can say is good luck convincing a kid to shell out an extra 30,000+ of his parents money.  nevermind the fact that if i was one of the other kids on the team, i'd be a little ticked that you were trying to tank my junior or senior season (or any season for that matter given what i'm paying to be there) so you could have a shot at personal glory in your job that pays you $22,000 a year.

1) He's on (non-athletic, since it's D 3) scholarship even if he's red-shirted, so if he ends up spending $30,000+ of his parents' money it's on something other than tuition and he's probably spending a year of college living a bit like a pimp. Besides, you really have trouble convincing a 21-year-old to spend his *any* of his parents' money? Your powers of persuasion are lacking.

You all realize these are not real people, right?   LOL      Arguing the pros and cons of whether his parents would shell out more money, non-athletic scholarships, etc.     Thanks for the entertainment.