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In my fifth season, I took over a bad team and I'm slowly gettig better. I have got a P.I. invite following the last 2 seasons. What do I need to do to make the jump and get into the national. Is the problem my coaching or my talent. I have been getting better recruiting classes each year and I'm slowly gaining better and better recruits. any help would be much appreciated.

I know I need some bigs really bad. I lost a good center this year in recruiting when I took a verbal and went away for a couple days, came home to find he signed with someone else.

not sure how you scheduled the previous seasons, but this season you played only 2 real coaches in NC. You're playing way too many 200+ rpi type of teams. I see 4 humans slated for next season, get another 6, as you lose only 1 Sr. (albeit an important one) and should be even more competitive.

Getting a bit better rebounders on the frontline would help also.

Also, you may want to avoid so many low WE guys. Having 1 or 2 is understandable, but you have quite a few under 30. They develop slower during the season, and in the offseason they're apt to lose critical core skill points. It can be a tradeoff b/w guys who have better skills now vs. those with good WE who can develop, but I sense you're a bit too skewed to the low WE side.

I agree with jdno. Your scheduling is one of your problems. You need to schedule humans who are likely to have winning seasons (but that you have a chance to beat). You also need to schedule more road games. That will help but you also need to work on your recruiting.

As jdno pointed out, you have several guys with low WE. Their lack of growth will hurt long term. You need better big men as you said and also you need to find better rebounding SFs. Another major area for improvement is Speed. You have a couple of your PF/C that are faster than your PG. Speed and Athleticism are where it all starts.

Your success in making the PI shows the improvement to this point. Now you need to take it to the next level. Good Luck.

Quote: Originally Posted By Weena on 9/20/2009Speed and Athleticism are where it all starts.

I don't have the experience of a lot of these guys, and I am really just starting out compared to them, but I have built from nothing and maintained (under a different ID) a pretty decent D3 team in Wooden.

I have abided by exactly what Weena stated above. Speed for guards and ath for big men is where it starts. Of course cores are important, but if you are fast and athletic, you can win games at D3.

I also agree with the two above that rebounding is important. There just aren't a lot of great shooters at D3, but there are still a lot of teams that pump out a lot of 3s. If you can minimize their second chances, you can win games.

I may not be the best coach, but I have built a successful program doing that stuff, and it's really not too hard to just look for guys in those areas.

Scheduling is a problem this year, The last 2 years I had SOS in the top 40. That was unezpected, and I will schedule a much tougher schedule next season. I plan to focus on the biggs in recruiting as I need them in a bad way. I was unaware of the effect that W.E had on the developement of your players. That will be a factor in recruiting from now on for sure.

Are you familiar with D2 dropdowns? If not, you could search on the forums for it. Even with a C+ prestige, you'd really benefit from them vs. taking D3 kids. And getting guys with high potential in the important skills + decent/good WE is what you should be looking for, though I understand the difficulties of getting this with a C+.

Also, you may want to check out the pinned forum topics -- the ones started by zhawks and antonsirius -- at the top of the main forum page. They're a great reference guide.

Try recruiting more locally. Focus the most on players within 300 miles, especially the drop/pull downs. Don't go much beyond that, and if you do, limit yourself to as few recruits as possible at the farther distances to conserve your recruiting budget. Don't be afraid to battle once in a while if you have an edge with some combo of distance, prestige, open schollies.

Recruit guys that fit your system. You run a triangle. Triangles thrive with speed and passing. You have guards with 20-something P ratings. SFs with 25 and 12 for speed. That's not going to cut it.

Think about some of your practice time decisions. Why is Burns with his 33 Reb rating not getting minutes there, but Beach with his 20 is. SGs can rebound, too, and one that does is nice player to have. That said, Burns shouldn't be starting this year unless you promised him a start.

Good luck!

Btown, i see you got some good opponents for next season. Try to improve your schedule rpi wise, schedule as many low rpis as you can so when conference play starts if the conference your in is having a off year your rpi wont be effected too much, just keep working on getting good rebounding with some size and speed and athleticism upfront, get a ball handler for the back court, and get a guard who can score and split that time. Your doing good so far, 5 seasons two - pi appearances. the NT will come soon just keep at improve athleticism, rebounding, speed, and low post. Perimeter have a guy or two as your sharp shooters.

If you need more help find an experieced coach that willhelp mentor you. I have helped some noobs and there are alot of coaches that will do the same.

Recruit locally, start sifting through for players you might like now, during the season for next year and plan out who on the team is going to replace who when they graduate. Try to have your future starting lineups in mind. Also, if possible, try to get your classes at least reasonably close to balanced: Either 4/2/4/2 or 3/3/3/3. Make good use of the Redshirt for players you don't need yet - even if the player isn't going to improve allot more because of it, you can use it as a tool for defining your future starting lineups by essentially deferring a guy you want to next year.

What sort of Offense/defense do you run?

Also, my approach to Small forward is one of two things: Either the best player who isn't already in another position, or the player that has whatever the rest of the lineup lacks. If I don't have perimeter shooting in my guards, I try to get a small forward with perimeter. If I don't have Low post, or enough of it, in my frontcourt, try to get a small forward, or put someone at small forward, who has a good low post, etcetera.

Quote: Originally posted by a_in_the_b on 9/21/2009Also, if possible, try to get your classes at least reasonably close to balanced: Either 4/2/4/2 or 3/3/3/3. Make good use of the Redshirt for players you don't need yet - even if the player isn't going to improve allot more because of it, you can use it as a tool for defining your future starting lineups by essentially deferring a guy you want to next year.

My classes are 3/5/1/2. I have 3 centers in my junior class. I would like to redshirt one this year so he can start his senior year, but I do not want him to freak out and leave school or pout and drop work ethic. This is one of those times I wish I could actually talk with a kid ("Son, we see you as a starter and captain next season . . . .") Any thoughts from anyone who has redshirted a player in a year other than their freshman year?

Errata: my classes are 3/5/1/3. The redshirt would basically make me 3/4/2/3. Better, I think.