Hi guys,  I've tried recruiting and getting back into HD twice and failed miserably because I didnt use scouting services , I think thats why anyways. 

How much does scouting a state cost when recruiting begins on average for say an average amount of recruits in a state?   Is it worth it at D 3 or is that too expensive and  should I wait until some signings happen to lower the cost?

I just hate using my evals of my assistant coach for potential...  both times recruiting he's giving me false info on defensive potential which has lead to some pretty pathetic recruiting.

I usually scout a few states in D3.    As a general rule, I try to spend less than 25% of my overall budget on FSS before signings.

1. Yes, FSS is vital, in my opinion.

2. Each state costs about $6.50 per recruit in that state, with a minimum cost of $200.  I'm on board with TJ - 20% or so usually keeps things manageable.

3. Double check that.  The scouting trips return information that might seem open to interpretation, but if you know the key phrases for each type (low, average, high) they're never wrong.

My general plan at D3 is to look through all of the recruits within the 360 mile range of my school, find players that could fit what I'm looking for if they have good potential, buy FSS for the states those recruits are in, and then reevaluate my list based on the potentials. If you're not buying FSS then you're likely spending even more money on evals.

thanks guys, thats helped a lot.   I dont know why I assumed FSS was really expensive.  

If I only have 1 open scholarship, then I might wait until after signings start or skip FSS altogether and try to pick exactly for my team needs and use Asst Scouting trips only (at DI & DII, I'll start looking abroad too).  However, once you have more than 3 open schollies, it seems insane not to use FSS early (excepting teams in Puerto Rico).  

Most of my teams have been east of the Mississippi.  My method has been to search within 100 & 200 miles noting the states that show up in the search.  Those are the states I want to FSS.  You can either: (A) click through the states without looking at the available recruits in the state until you get to a good price and cover all the states within the 100 search; or (B) actually search recruits with some category and level limitations to find particular recruits that interest you and make sure those states get FSS'd.  When I had a team around DC, I would skip PA in many seasons since it was just too damn expensive (even though Philly was within the 100).