I just took over at Campbell in the Smith World. It's been a Simmy team for a long time, and the roster is awful. (I had more talent returning at D-2 Lynn than I have to work with here.) There are no seniors, but two of the 12 players are walk-ons, so I have those two spots to use. Here is my current roster. A couple of questions:

1. I've considered cutting one or two of my sub-600 guys, giving me 3-4 scholarships to use. My only concern with that is that if I don't fill that extra schollies, I'll be stuck with another walk-on (or two) for next season.
2. The areas of need are all so great with this roster, I'm not sure what positions to focus on. I'm thinking one post and one perimeter guy, plus a SF or an agile PF if I cut someone. Thoughts?

This is a daunting task, but I'm pretty excited about it. I took over a Lynn team that, while not in as awful a position as Campbell, had no history at all, and I was able to turn that around and leave the team in much better shape than when I found it. I think the rebuilding process at Campbell will be more difficult, but I'm looking forward to it nonetheless.     

which wildcats are you a fan of? always have a soft spot in my heart for a fellow wildcat fan :)

1) you should take at least 1, maybe 2 walkons a season. this is VERY important as a new coach, for a few reasons. first, the extra 15-30K you get in recruiting to explore for diamonds in the rough, and also, to battle for the few good players you might have a chance at, is invaluable!! you aren't going to lose early entries, so having 12 players is FAR less important than this 15-30K. also, trying to fill scholarships is an early goal of many new d1 coaches, and it causes them to get into this rut of signing sub-par players. the d1 players you can sign easily are a dime a dozen. you need to be reaching for players who can actually stand out, and help you to make the post season consistently.

so, that said, cut away! often in season 1, at a serious rebuild, ill cut 2-4 guys, and then work to instantly instill a minimum quality standard, in quantity. for example, my first class at south carolina (b-), i signed 5 guys, but none of them were really that hotly contested. i had to spend some money fending off lower end schools (like mine, not much lower, i just mean not the big boys). those 5 guys were all able to compete in their own way - one big was really solid defensively and was a good rebounder, my pg was great at running the point, that kind of thing - but i didn't have to reach and battle A prestige schools, like i did the following seasons. 

again, just to reiterate, dont aim too low! a walkon is a HELL of a lot better than having a ****** player who cant compete, for 4 seasons! anything up to 4 walkons can be taken in stride and in some cases will even benefit you (think about how much better players you could get if you signed 2 players on a 6 man budget each season - that is sustainable and gives you 45K per player, with no bonus money - compared to the traditional 15K. with lower end BCS bonus money, its even better - you might have 60K per player instead of 20K).

2) the key to successfully building non-elite d1 programs is recruiting players who specialize. DO NOT recruit a guy who is decent at everything. you need guys who bring strength to the table. for example, you are a million times better to have 2 bigs, one who has 1 lp and is strong reb/def wise and another who is moderate on def, and a strong scorer - than to have 2 bigs who are equally good at offense, defense, and rebounding. its even more important at guards, because guard offense is so important (i would recommend most lower end d1 teams to just focus on reb/def in bigs, try to get yourself some 60 ath/90 reb/80 def type guys, or better. even bigs like that, rated 550 and sucking in everything else, can compete).

that said, one of the most critical roles you have to fill is your primary scorer, who should be a guard. you don't want a god awful defender, but you have to be willing to have a couple weaker defenders to get a couple strong scorers - if your guard is only 75% as good on defense, but can score 20ppg at high efficiency, its really going to allow you to more than make up for his defensive weakness by finding defensive specialists who can just put up 5ppg or whatever. however, those high scoring guards are not that easy to find (probably the best place to spend the most money getting one), so always be on the look out. other than that, id split things up - try to get a guard and a big, something like that. small forwards always come far far after getting your guards/bigs in line, in d1. 

Thanks so much for all the advice! What do you think about redshirts at low-D1? My thought was, given your advice, to make no cuts this season, and try to find one really good guy with the 2-man budget. But after NEXT season, I've got four guys graduating, plus the walk-on scholly, for a total of 5 open scholarships (if I fill only one of my two this cycle). I was thinking I could recruit 3 guys with that 5-man budget, and redshirt one of them. It seems that guys at the low-D1 level would be more likely to accept the redshirt and stay all 5 years, which would be pretty valuable at a school like Campbell, I'd think.

Also, I'm a fan of the K-State version of the "Wildcats." I graduated from there in 1998, but have been a fan all of my life.

I won't try to add to coach_billyg's comments, but I think that he's suggesting rescinding 2 schollies and taking 2 walkons instead.  That will give you 6 schollies worth of cash for next season and, if chosen correctly, won't hurt you this upcoming season.

There is no advantage to cutting seniors, so they're safe.   Looking at the 2 freshmen, assuming you're going to continue to play man defense, I like both Loy & Coletti as bench players (Loy may even develop into a starter).  So that leaves the 4 sophomores to consider.  Raymond & Courtney are just going to get abused any time they get on the court.  Raymond is just not athletic enough to play the front court at D1 (even though he is a good rebounder) & Courtney would only be worth keeping if his defense were still blue (which I doubt).   Johnson & Jackson aren't great, but they are both useful and may still have upside.

If you cut Raymond & Courtney, then you'll want to sign a strong perimeter guard & an athletic center (at least by potential).  The following season you'll, hopefully, have a better prestige along w/6 schollies worth of cash with which to work.  That would be your target class.  I may try to get you on my NC schedule for next season.  Good luck!

Posted by rogelio on 7/31/2012 1:24:00 PM (view original):
I won't try to add to coach_billyg's comments, but I think that he's suggesting rescinding 2 schollies and taking 2 walkons instead.  That will give you 6 schollies worth of cash for next season and, if chosen correctly, won't hurt you this upcoming season.

There is no advantage to cutting seniors, so they're safe.   Looking at the 2 freshmen, assuming you're going to continue to play man defense, I like both Loy & Coletti as bench players (Loy may even develop into a starter).  So that leaves the 4 sophomores to consider.  Raymond & Courtney are just going to get abused any time they get on the court.  Raymond is just not athletic enough to play the front court at D1 (even though he is a good rebounder) & Courtney would only be worth keeping if his defense were still blue (which I doubt).   Johnson & Jackson aren't great, but they are both useful and may still have upside.

If you cut Raymond & Courtney, then you'll want to sign a strong perimeter guard & an athletic center (at least by potential).  The following season you'll, hopefully, have a better prestige along w/6 schollies worth of cash with which to work.  That would be your target class.  I may try to get you on my NC schedule for next season.  Good luck!

this is exactly what i was suggesting to go through :)

you definitely want to cut bad players now, not next season - otherwise you won't get the money until TWO seasons from now. much better to get the money next year, and i doubt you will really miss those 2 players you cut!

Redshirting at low D1 is smart.  You can find some high-D2 player types that work at low D1.

Thanks for the tips, Rogelio! Here are the ratings/colors for Courtney and Raymond:

Courtney
Blue = BH (79)
Black = Ath (47), Reb (15), Def (30), WE (31), Dur (53)
Red = Speed (82), Shot Blocking (2), LP (12), PE (63), Passing (63), Stamina (70), FT Shooting (B)

Raymond
Blue = BH (10)
Black = Reb (91), WE (63), Stamina (68)
Red = Everything else

The only problem I see with making two cuts this season is that it leaves me needing to recruit two guys on only a 2-man budget, since I don't think you get extra scholarship money when you rescind schollies. If I cut one, on the other hand, I can recruit one player (using a 2-man budget) to get back to 9 scholarship players. That would leave me with the money to fill 7 schollies after next season, which I could use to go after 3 guys. This would leave me with a roster breakdown of 4 sim recruits/4 self-recruits/4 walk-ons after next season.

Then, the following year I would have a 5-6 scholly budget, with which to recruit 3 guys, and would be all the way up to 7 self-recruits/2 simmy/3 walk-ons. My only fear in making too many cuts is that I'll end up with only 6-7 scholarship guys, and will go 0-27. I don't mind taking lumps, but that'd be pretty rough.

Posted by gillispie1 on 7/31/2012 3:31:00 PM (view original):

Posted by rogelio on 7/31/2012 1:24:00 PM (view original):
I won't try to add to coach_billyg's comments, but I think that he's suggesting rescinding 2 schollies and taking 2 walkons instead.  That will give you 6 schollies worth of cash for next season and, if chosen correctly, won't hurt you this upcoming season.

There is no advantage to cutting seniors, so they're safe.   Looking at the 2 freshmen, assuming you're going to continue to play man defense, I like both Loy & Coletti as bench players (Loy may even develop into a starter).  So that leaves the 4 sophomores to consider.  Raymond & Courtney are just going to get abused any time they get on the court.  Raymond is just not athletic enough to play the front court at D1 (even though he is a good rebounder) & Courtney would only be worth keeping if his defense were still blue (which I doubt).   Johnson & Jackson aren't great, but they are both useful and may still have upside.

If you cut Raymond & Courtney, then you'll want to sign a strong perimeter guard & an athletic center (at least by potential).  The following season you'll, hopefully, have a better prestige along w/6 schollies worth of cash with which to work.  That would be your target class.  I may try to get you on my NC schedule for next season.  Good luck!

this is exactly what i was suggesting to go through :)

you definitely want to cut bad players now, not next season - otherwise you won't get the money until TWO seasons from now. much better to get the money next year, and i doubt you will really miss those 2 players you cut!

So are you guys saying if I rescind scholarships when I first take over, they add recruiting money to my budget? I've never had to do it before, so I'm not sure how that works.     

One other question I had was at what "Pos Rank" level should I not even bother pursuing a player? Right now, I have guys whose Pos Rank is anywhere from 13 to 102, and whose OA ratings are anywhere from 589 to 661. I just need to know if I'm "fishing in my depth", you might say.     

13 is way too high. I'd say about 40.

Does OA rating matter at all? The guy who's #13 at his position is only a mid-600-type.

Posted by wildcat98 on 7/31/2012 4:11:00 PM (view original):
Thanks for the tips, Rogelio! Here are the ratings/colors for Courtney and Raymond:

Courtney
Blue = BH (79)
Black = Ath (47), Reb (15), Def (30), WE (31), Dur (53)
Red = Speed (82), Shot Blocking (2), LP (12), PE (63), Passing (63), Stamina (70), FT Shooting (B)

Raymond
Blue = BH (10)
Black = Reb (91), WE (63), Stamina (68)
Red = Everything else

The only problem I see with making two cuts this season is that it leaves me needing to recruit two guys on only a 2-man budget, since I don't think you get extra scholarship money when you rescind schollies. If I cut one, on the other hand, I can recruit one player (using a 2-man budget) to get back to 9 scholarship players. That would leave me with the money to fill 7 schollies after next season, which I could use to go after 3 guys. This would leave me with a roster breakdown of 4 sim recruits/4 self-recruits/4 walk-ons after next season.

Then, the following year I would have a 5-6 scholly budget, with which to recruit 3 guys, and would be all the way up to 7 self-recruits/2 simmy/3 walk-ons. My only fear in making too many cuts is that I'll end up with only 6-7 scholarship guys, and will go 0-27. I don't mind taking lumps, but that'd be pretty rough.

you can be highly successful with 8 players. teams have recently won championships and gotten runner ups with 8-9 man rosters, in d1 tark where i play. you really are much better off in non top end d1, to have 8 slightly better players than 10 slightly worse ones. well, depends what you run, but you are not running press or fb, so you can run 8 with minimal impact and 9 with virtually no impact. so as long as u only cut two, even if you sign 0 players you will be ok.

you won't get money right away when you cut, but if you wait to cut till next season, you wont get the money till the season after that. better to cut now, and get the money next season. 

Posted by wildcat98 on 7/31/2012 5:21:00 PM (view original):
Does OA rating matter at all? The guy who's #13 at his position is only a mid-600-type.

it does not matter at all from the standpoint of how good the player is or who will talk to you.

it does matter in the sense that lower overall rated players are sometimes passed over by schools who could use them, and you can get a bargain. 

Posted by wildcat98 on 7/31/2012 4:23:00 PM (view original):
One other question I had was at what "Pos Rank" level should I not even bother pursuing a player? Right now, I have guys whose Pos Rank is anywhere from 13 to 102, and whose OA ratings are anywhere from 589 to 661. I just need to know if I'm "fishing in my depth", you might say.     

you should definitely look lower in overall rating too. you should really look at the whole d1 pool for every state you scout. i agree that 13 is too high, you are not going to be able to talk to people above 40-60 with that D- prestige you've got.