I've noticed some coaches able to get over 10-20 players considering them after the first cycle, and I'm guessing they didn't spend for visits for each one, since this would likely take up a good deal of their budget. Can anyone tell me how you do this? Is it a matter of offering a scholarship along with promised start and minutes? Is there a cheap method that works generally, or does it depend on player, division, or something else. Thanks for your help, and if this has been answered somewhere else, please forgive me. I tried unsuccessfully to find such an answer.

I have not done this myself, but yes - they offer scholarships and I think promised start/minutes.  I am not sure of the exact formula - but something along those lines.  I have never understood the strategy myself.  Obviously you can't win all those battles, nor would you have the room on a team.  And even though it's only $120 it seems silly to me to waste that.  I have rarely seen good coaches employ this method (maybe never).  Of course, doing it strategically may be a good way to mark your territory and hope it scares others off while you decide on preferred players.  I have seen D2 coaches do this with D3 players (never understood the point of that).  But basically, it usually seems like you can win the battle if you want to go head to head depending on how far away you are, prestige, etc.  Usually if there is a battle the other coach has to decide if they want to spend the cash.  In that case, you may lose if going against a D2 school or higher prestige or if they are close to the player.

Thanks, Brian.

a couple of seasons ago, a really good coach with A+ prestige with 2 or 3 open spots had 6 recruits considering him, among them a stud that i wanted. i put in a huge effort to go after the stud with a B- prestige and about 120 mile handicap...i put in a huge push right before signing only to lose the recruit in the next cycle. after recruiting was over, the coach was a 'mench' and sitemailed me to explain that he was only targeting some of the recruits (a number equal to the number of schollies he had) and the remainder were considering him bc of recruiting efforts in the previous year.

i'm pointing this out for anyone that might read this thread and be caught unawares, like i was, since even though this not at all the same situation that you're describing, they can be easily confused. 

Can anyone personally confirm the technique? Thanks again.

I've done something like that, but never to the same extent.  Sometimes if I have a ton of scholarships open (5 or 6) (at D3) I'll send around N+2 or N+3 guys who are 4-year D3 recruits one or two HVs apiece and a scholarship offer.  Then I'll go to work on 2 or 3 pulldowns and hope that enough of my cheap guys don't get stolen so I can fill up my scholarships and not worry about spending whatever it takes to get the guys I really want.

I thought players wouldn't accept start/minutes promises before showing up as considering. I know you USED to be able to but there was a change. 

You only need $10 to get a player to consider you, sometimes $20. $10 is when a promised start does the trick, $20 is the start + minutes. Personally, I think it's a sound and a very viable strategy. 

tianyi, if you are doing it, maybe I should reconsider.  I just didn't like having to promise a start.  Do you honor the start promise?  Or remove it later as some have described in the past.  not sure if that loophole still exists...?

Posted by tianyi7886 on 11/1/2011 7:20:00 PM (view original):
You only need $10 to get a player to consider you, sometimes $20. $10 is when a promised start does the trick, $20 is the start + minutes. Personally, I think it's a sound and a very viable strategy. 

Are you saying you do not offer the scholarship and promised start?

if a kid I like shows considering early, I still check out the school he is considering. If that school has n+anything (but especially the ones that have like n+15) considering, I expect that this strategy is in play, and go ahead and recruit normally. To me it seems a good chance that the other school will just let the kid I take away go since they have so many considering...

Posted by dacj501 on 11/1/2011 11:34:00 PM (view original):
if a kid I like shows considering early, I still check out the school he is considering. If that school has n+anything (but especially the ones that have like n+15) considering, I expect that this strategy is in play, and go ahead and recruit normally. To me it seems a good chance that the other school will just let the kid I take away go since they have so many considering...

Really depends on how good the recruit is. If the recruit is very good, then more likely than not, this coach will battle for it since he still has a full budget. I have had coaches that tried to battle me with same logic in D3 for the past few cycles when I employed this strategy, they ended up on the losing side of 10k battles. 

Depending on the kid's ranking and your prestige, you can get kids to consider you cheaply.  I often get a bunch of kids considering us on the first cycle, but then drop off all but the ones I will pursue on the 2nd or 3rd cycle (redshirt is an easy way to drop off)

Maryland in Tark has been doing something similar to this, it usually scares me off them with my weak prestige.

Last recruiting time I had a recruit that a d2 team dropped in on, but didn't knock me off the considering list. . if a d2 team has more recruits considering them than slots open, is it worthwhile for a d3 team to spend enough money to try to stay on the considering list in hopes that the d2 team just has that player as a backup and when their slots are filled by the other players they have considering, the recruit will default to you, the other name still on their list?  Or actually, if they knock your name OFF the list, will it reappear if the other team stops having any open scholarships?