1.  A phone call to him will usually tell if you have a chance to get him.  Don't waste the $$ on visits if he's not interested.

2.  Only use them to learn information that you need:  is he interested?  what style of O/D does he know best?  First cycle (for non pull-downs), I will usually call 5-7 times the coach and recruit, and send 2 info packets.  After that, usually no more than 2 calls per cycle.  I don't think it's much of a *recruiting* tool.  Since I don't believe calls are a great recruiting tool, I don't send them to people I'm not going after, certainly at D3.

3.  Like in question 1, don't offer a potential pull down too much until you know he can be pulled down.  Once he shows interest, then it's up to you how hard you go after him.  Remember, other schools could be targeting the same guy and have better resources (prestige, cash, location) than you do.  If you think you have a good shot to land him, go after him.  Human coaches generally don't like recruiting battles at D3 so if you can get him to consider you, it might scare other coaches away.

Posted by ryanderson on 4/25/2012 5:05:00 AM (view original):
Feel free to answer any or all questions. Thanks in advance. It would be most helpful if the answers were in reference to DIII, but anything would help. If any of these questions have already been asked, go ahead and send me in the right direction.

1. Is there any way, big or small, to pull down a player - other than scouting trips?

2. How often should I/do you send letters or phone calls? I understand a bulk of the $$ should be CV/HV (or ST if necessary), but how often do you send letters or phone calls? Do they count as a significant recruiting tool? Do you periodically call backups or interested players to keep them interested?

3. If pulling down a player or just talking to a player, waiting for him to drop, how early do you like to send a schollie? If you love the player, do you send it with your first recruiting effort, or since $100 is valuable at DIII, do you wait until he has dropped, or somewhere in between?

Posted by brianxavier on 4/25/2012 6:35:00 PM (view original):
I have seen that the cutoff for Campus Visits to pull down is under 70 miles from home.  I had a guy recently who gave me the back up message for my D3 school and he was under 70 away.  I kept offering campus visits and he never accepted.  However, he said something in one campus visit message that made it sound like he would accept me recruiting normally, so I offered Home visit and he accepted.  I recruited normally from there and landed him.  Ironically, he never actually accepted my campus visit (and I saw no reason to spend more money on one after that). 

I realize it may have just been coincidence and he could have been a drop down.  But I never actually got a letter saying he was 'still on the board - we might have a shot at him' type of message, so I think I pulled him down.

Posted by rednu on 4/25/2012 11:31:00 AM (view original):

Posted by ryanderson on 4/25/2012 5:05:00 AM (view original):
Feel free to answer any or all questions. Thanks in advance. It would be most helpful if the answers were in reference to DIII, but anything would help. If any of these questions have already been asked, go ahead and send me in the right direction.

1. Is there any way, big or small, to pull down a player - other than scouting trips?

2. How often should I/do you send letters or phone calls? I understand a bulk of the $$ should be CV/HV (or ST if necessary), but how often do you send letters or phone calls? Do they count as a significant recruiting tool? Do you periodically call backups or interested players to keep them interested?

3. If pulling down a player or just talking to a player, waiting for him to drop, how early do you like to send a schollie? If you love the player, do you send it with your first recruiting effort, or since $100 is valuable at DIII, do you wait until he has dropped, or somewhere in between?

1. You can try to pull down with HV's but unless the player is extremely close to dropping already, these will be rejected and you might lose the money without getting any consideration credit for the action. The reason guys use SV's is because its an action the recruit cannot refuse and you get credit for the expenditure.

2. One phone call first cycle to see if you can get the player now, are a backup, or have no chance. One letter once I know I can get them. After that, probably never again other than the one call I make the cycle right before signing to remind them to ink their name on the dotted line. Backups will call you when they're ready to sign after you've made the initial contact, no need to phone them again.

3. The best answer here is I'll send the scholarship offer as soon as I'm convinced I WANT the player in my program. For some, that might be first or second cycle. For others, it might be only after some SV's to determine high vs. high-high in a category or two. In the grand scheme, $100 isn't a huge expense, so even if I find someone better down the line, I'm not out that much money.