New here and trying to read up on recruiting then ran into pulldowns? Would I be looking to do this with just the lowest rated D2 players in my local area? Don't want to mess up my first recruiting even though it's just 2 players.

Yes, the higher ranked players aren't interested.  And the ones that are too far away are too expensive.  Place one phone call to the ones you're interested in. They'll let you know if you're a 'backup choice', etc.   No response is the same as 'No'.

Thanks al, much appreciated!!!

Don't forget about drop downs. Yes they require patience, but can save you A LOT of money.

May I ask what a dropdown is?

A D2 that indicated you were a back up - instead of recruiting immediately (pulldown), you wait; if the recruit does not get the attention they think they deserve, they will then send a message they are interested in playing for you - you can then recruit them as if they were on same level as your school.

Posted by headpirate on 8/20/2011 9:26:00 PM (view original):
A D2 that indicated you were a back up - instead of recruiting immediately (pulldown), you wait; if the recruit does not get the attention they think they deserve, they will then send a message they are interested in playing for you - you can then recruit them as if they were on same level as your school.

This. Basically you play a waiting game. One thing to note is that players drop to schools in order of prestige. So he'll drop to an A prestige team first, then the next cycle to B prestiges, and so on. So you run the risk of a higher prestige D3 team (or even a D2 team) jumping on him before you can. But when it works, you save the money you would have spent on scouting visits.

Edit: I just saw your team has a B+ prestige, so you should have a pretty good shot at drop downs. Just make sure you send a phone call to any D2 player you're interested in, whether it's a pull down or drop down.

In D3, pulldowns can be just as important as they are in D2, but they remain very expensive and should be pursued with caution and smarts.

You can expect to pay anywhere from $1500 to $3000 or more for a pulldown if you don't get into a battle with another school (actual cost on a really good player might be double that).  If you make enough phone calls in the opening cycle and wait for drop downs, you may just get equivalent or better players for half of that price.

The name of the game is putting your name out there.  The more phone calls you make in cycle 1, the more drops you're going to see on the last day before signings begin.

FYI, here's a Google Doc on recruiting  that Dacj501 and I put together that might help you:  docs.google.com/document/d/19PzKVXrYTREYv4MPOAERBIZVOJPRyCLLINrO_EDj-o4/edit

If you are a new player I would recommend you skip pull downs the first time around.  Your best approach would be to wait for drop downs.

Thanks guys.  Yes, I'll be skipping pulldowns as I'm just testing the waters and see if I get a dropdown now that I know what that is.  Can only learn through experience right?  If if doesn't work, I'll just try to sign two D3 players that are still around to fill my roster spaces.  I'm assuming that you can get them fairly cheaply if they're not top prospects???

If they're showing as D3 recruits, you should be able to get them for a couple of home visits and a scholarship offer depending on your prestige.

2 home visits and a scholarship is usually a formula for success

Is it wise to use the scouting service for D3?  Seems like so little money for recruiting to begin with and then paying for scouting on top of that.  Maybe pare down to a state or two with prospects that you like and take it from there or skip scouting altogether?

With the amount of low potentials that D2 and D3 players have, I think it's imperative that you scout.  You don't want to get stuck with a guy for four years that has nearly all low potentials.  Just have to be a little cautious about how many and which states you scout.  Also, if you wait until after signings begin, the states become much cheaper to scout, thus allowing you to scout more states.  Of course, there will be fewer players available, but you may be able to find someone good that was overlooked.