Posted by timjmiller on 3/23/2016 9:16:00 PM (view original):
Posted by grimacedance on 3/22/2016 3:29:00 PM (view original):
I've done 10-11 guys for the cost of 6 several times. Here are a few keys to successfully recruiting a big class:
-- Your freshmen should be from nearby (~300 miles or fewer). You need to save money and recruit cost-effectively and the easiest way to do that is with nearby freshmen. Use FSS and find some good diamonds in the rough. When recruiting 6 freshmen, I always envision them as a starting five with one redshirt. Regardless of your immediate team needs, make sure those freshmen can be a cohesive starting unit when they are seniors.
-- Because JUCOs/transfers are so spread out, it is going to cost more to recruit them. You have a smaller group of recruits, geographically scattered across the country and more teams looking at them (i.e. if I have a team in Ohio, I'm probably not recruiting a freshman PG in California; but if I need a JUCO PG, I am more likely to pursue one that is not geographically nearby). Most of my recruiting battles have come over JUCOs/transfers.
Too often, coaches in this situation kind of throw their hands up about JUCOs/transfers and just take whoever they can get right away. This is a mistake. The difference between a fast rebuild and a slow one will be the quality of those JUCOs. If you nab good JUCO players, you can be a good team by your second season -- you'll have good ex-JUCOs starting and a talented group of sophomores as backups. If you get mediocre/bad JUCO players, it will take an extra 1-2 seasons, until your freshmen class gets really good, for your team to be successful.
One trick I've learned about transfers -- check out the quality of the coach who cut them. My best transfers have always come from a rookie coach who fetishized overall ratings (as opposed to key attribute ratings) or who focused on what a player couldn't do instead of what they could do. If the coach who cut them is an experienced HD coach with a track record of success, I generally stay away. Those guys know what they are doing and generally aren't cutting useful players.
Some transfers aren't cut though, they are transferring because of playing time. In that case, a player transferring away from a quality coach because of playing time could still be very good for your own team
And, many a time a 'crappy' senior transfer in a complete rebuild is nice- fills the open spots for the purpose of rollover, and next season you have an open spot to recruit.
Always keep an eye on the 3-5 year picture, sometimes you want to have spots to recruit a season or two down the road.