I just read the other thread about failing kids, how many minutes to give, etc., and in it courtmagic explained his theory on SH minutes, which I found to be overly complicated and overly conservative, thought I'd offer my 2 cents here and see what other folks do/think.

In ~150 seasons of HD i've lost 2 players to ineligibility, both ages ago. I do think they've made a recent (8-10 seasons ago) tweak that has made it slightly more random, and has me adding SH minutes on to more upperclassmen than I used to... but here's my system.

10 minutes for all frosh unless they are extra stupid (ineligibles, usually get 10 their SO season, or 2.1 HS kids, might give em 12). Adjust at midterms, but only rarely downward as I want them to have decent GPAs at the end of the season, where: 

SO: 0 minutes unless GPA is below 2.5, in which case I go 2-5, depending on growth/potential
JR: 0 min
SR: 0 min

If I have a maxed out (or nearly so) JR/SR who is having grade issues which require SH adjustments at midterms, I'll often leave them on 2 or 5, and never have trouble.

Also, I often give SFs (or whoever I'm going to have playing SF) less SH minutes as Frosh because I want to put minutes across lots of categories, and don't have the luxury of 0 PER for bigs or 0 REB for PGs. This will depend on my need for the player to remain eligible and his HS GPA.

sounds like a pretty good system to me. my system is driven by laziness - 0 minutes for everybody. adjust at midterms for failing players if i remember, if not, just deal with it. i often go 0 for entire periods and usually you lose 1 player, sometimes 2, sometimes 0. probably like 1.2 on average. and mostly young players, which rarely matter too much.

for someone who cares, i would still go with the 0 minutes for everybody scheme, just i would always adjust as soon as midterms come out. when midterms come out, for guys in the 2.2-2.4 ish range, i would usually give 4-6 minutes, but sometimes 0, depending on if i need them, and how much i want to use those minutes elsewhere. for guys in the 1.8-2.2ish range, i usually give 6-12 minutes, depending on where they are, and the previously mentioned factors. then for guys in the 1-1.8 range, i usually go in the 10-15 range, but if i really really need a guy, i will sometimes even go with 25. very rarely. but sometimes.

wronoj, how the heck do you compete in National Debate Tournaments if all your guys are carrying 2.5's?

apparently i am way over studying my players

I just got done sending a lengthy ticket back and forth with CS, and what came out of the discussion is that CS treats people like idiots and that GPA is very random.  The issue I wrote about was a RS Fr. with 5 minutes of SH and a 2.9 overall GPA all of a sudden showed up with a 1.9.  I thought this was absurd and asked how a coach can plan for such a thing.  No good answer came.  What really sent me over the edge was that I did not change SH minutes at all and this session the kid comes back with a 3.0.  CS's only response was there is a little randomness. 

10 minutes for all your freshmen?  I only give a guy 10 minutes once in a blue moon...  If I don't go with 0 I'll give guys 4-6 and that's almost always enough.

^same for me. Standard for me is 5 minutes for frosh and adjust from there. Usually down to 0-2 minutes by junior season

Posted by dahsdebater on 5/10/2011 2:21:00 PM (view original):
10 minutes for all your freshmen?  I only give a guy 10 minutes once in a blue moon...  If I don't go with 0 I'll give guys 4-6 and that's almost always enough.

yet on both your Clarkson and Rochester teams, the only 2 of your 4 teams whose seasons are underway, you have a guy missing time due to poor grades.

I've found that by using that "conservative" formula that's been thrown around the forums quite a bit, I hardly ever have to give a junior or senior any SH, and as a sophomore, it's usually pretty minimal.  Only for your freshmen who come in with GPA in the 2.0-2.8 range does SH really eat up a significant amount of practice minutes. 

Maybe it's b/c I run FCP on multiple teams that I find myself unwilling to walk the line each season and try to cut too many corners by going minimal on SH for everyone on my roster beyond what that formula says.  It's not real easy to modify the depth chart b/c a kid is suddenly no longer available and still be as competitive as when we're at full strength.  I will say, though, that based on many threads like this one that I've seen lately, I've trimmed 1 or 2 minutes for each kid (primarily fr/sophs) recently and gotten away with it, though I have had to adjust upwards at midterms on a few kids here and there.  But no way am I going with 0 minutes across the board and adjusting at midterms.  The rewards just aren't worth the risk imo.  If I'm building a team each season for post-season success, then the last thing I need is to wake up at the end of the regular season and find that 1 or 2 of my kids can't play the rest of the season.  Then I'm clutching at straws and trying to patch the dam (again, it's more of an issue for FCP).

I always give 10 to all freshmen. I've never once lost a player to grades. 

You all are too conservative.  I usually give negative SH minutes and put the surplus in conditioning and FT.  You have to remember that the effect is reversed, so it works best with low WE guys (those high WE guys really work hard at unlearning stuff and tend to fail).

This is enlightening. Makes me think I might be able to get away with fewer minutes than I have been giving.  Here's how I have done it.  My sample size is smaller - only 7 seasons - but I haven't had a player declared ineligible yet.

Start all freshmen at 8 minutes. 
After each grade report, adjust up or down as follows:
below 2.0 - depends on how far below, but I try to play it safe in order to get them to qualify
2.0-2.5 - add one minute
2.6-2.9 - no change
3.0-3.3 - subtract one minute
3.4-4.0 - subtract two minutes

If I have to force them to cram, then I will probably put them back to 8 minutes after they make grades (or maybe less than 8 depending on their year).

At the end of the year, I note where they are set and I subract one minute.  That will be their beginning setting the next season.
The end result is that all my players pass. The good students tend to end up needing zero minutes by the time they are juniors or sophomores (if they are excellent).  The mediocre students end up needing a few minutes as juniors and need zero as seniors. The poor students might need a few minutes as seniors. Overall GPAs tend to range from 2.8 to 3.6.  I feel like this system is OK because I am not putting many minutes if any towards 3rd, 4th, or 5th year players. But, judging by the comments already posted, there are probably some students that don't need any study hall ever.  I may try starting the better students at a some mark lower than 8 minutes and cutting their minutes faster than I have been. Any thoughts on my semi-formal system?

p.s. the average GPA on my roster is 3.13 and the average years of experience is 2.42 (counting as freshman = 1 year, RS freshman = 2 year, etc)

start each year with 6 for frosh., 4 for sophs and upperclassmen unless there cumulative gpa is under a 3.0.  If so, then continue sophs and upperclassmen at 6 and adjust at mid-terms.  Adjustments are made with doubling minutes for any player under 2.0 at mid-term and anyone between 2.0 and 2.8 gets a 50%-75% increase depending on there current GPA.  Rinse and repeat.  Haven't lost a player in to long to remember.

Posted by ethan66 on 5/10/2011 1:33:00 PM (view original):
wronoj, how the heck do you compete in National Debate Tournaments if all your guys are carrying 2.5's?

debate?  is there a WIS debate league?  imaginary debaters on imaginary topics.......

Posted by gillispie on 5/10/2011 12:42:00 PM (view original):

sounds like a pretty good system to me. my system is driven by laziness - 0 minutes for everybody. adjust at midterms for failing players if i remember, if not, just deal with it. i often go 0 for entire periods and usually you lose 1 player, sometimes 2, sometimes 0. probably like 1.2 on average. and mostly young players, which rarely matter too much.

for someone who cares, i would still go with the 0 minutes for everybody scheme, just i would always adjust as soon as midterms come out. when midterms come out, for guys in the 2.2-2.4 ish range, i would usually give 4-6 minutes, but sometimes 0, depending on if i need them, and how much i want to use those minutes elsewhere. for guys in the 1.8-2.2ish range, i usually give 6-12 minutes, depending on where they are, and the previously mentioned factors. then for guys in the 1-1.8 range, i usually go in the 10-15 range, but if i really really need a guy, i will sometimes even go with 25. very rarely. but sometimes.

Do your players get free grade points without studying at Kentucky, just like in real life?

Posted by jdno on 5/10/2011 2:49:00 PM (view original):

Posted by dahsdebater on 5/10/2011 2:21:00 PM (view original):
10 minutes for all your freshmen?  I only give a guy 10 minutes once in a blue moon...  If I don't go with 0 I'll give guys 4-6 and that's almost always enough.

yet on both your Clarkson and Rochester teams, the only 2 of your 4 teams whose seasons are underway, you have a guy missing time due to poor grades.

I've found that by using that "conservative" formula that's been thrown around the forums quite a bit, I hardly ever have to give a junior or senior any SH, and as a sophomore, it's usually pretty minimal.  Only for your freshmen who come in with GPA in the 2.0-2.8 range does SH really eat up a significant amount of practice minutes. 

Maybe it's b/c I run FCP on multiple teams that I find myself unwilling to walk the line each season and try to cut too many corners by going minimal on SH for everyone on my roster beyond what that formula says.  It's not real easy to modify the depth chart b/c a kid is suddenly no longer available and still be as competitive as when we're at full strength.  I will say, though, that based on many threads like this one that I've seen lately, I've trimmed 1 or 2 minutes for each kid (primarily fr/sophs) recently and gotten away with it, though I have had to adjust upwards at midterms on a few kids here and there.  But no way am I going with 0 minutes across the board and adjusting at midterms.  The rewards just aren't worth the risk imo.  If I'm building a team each season for post-season success, then the last thing I need is to wake up at the end of the regular season and find that 1 or 2 of my kids can't play the rest of the season.  Then I'm clutching at straws and trying to patch the dam (again, it's more of an issue for FCP).

End of the semester caused me to get a little lazy the past few weeks.  Usually don't lose anybody.  And neither of the losses has hurt me.