Anyone successfully run this?  I know my team can't as it stands with no speed and not so good stamina, but was looking into it as an option in the seasons ahead.

I like the starters minutes you can get by playing zone, but I keep failing to pull the trigger on getting bigger recruits and taking walkons which I read is the main advantage of using zone.  Keep winding up afraid to swing bigger and miss, so just keep getting a full team of so-so recruits despite improving my prestige last couple years.

So I've either got to get out of my comfort zone and reach for a recruit once in a while or mix it up and try a different set that will match my current philosophy - either MTM or HCP/Z.

You can do it but it is sub optimal. The biggest issue is you never have enough practice minutes to get to A+ IQ, which is a HUGE benefit in low D1.

D1 is a tough spot to learn the game. If you aren't married to it, I recommend going back to D2 to perfect your craft.

you should absolutely not be running half court press of any kind at your level. you can run straight zone, but you really need to work hard to get some offensive studs which you can then ride all the way to the bank. you can do that at the expense of walkons - that is the advantage of zone - but you need the higher quality starters to make it work. a zone starter might play 30mpg in a tight game where as a press guy might play 24m, thats 25% more - thats a lot more you can get out of a guy, running zone. a team full of players that aren't that great, plus walkons, doesn't really work for any system.

For what it is worth, I play HCP/Z in Smith world with Florida St. My theory behind it is that it gives me a little bit of flexibility against superior teams. I took over an awful roster and my prestige dropped to C-, so I knew my recruits would be far below the level of my conference mates. I play Full court press against teams with 2 or more walk ons (with the exception of Duke, UNC and Maryland) and weaker teams on my OOC schedule. I play zone against teams that have a significant talent advantage over me and I play a combo of HCP/Z most times when the match up is pretty even and I don't think I can't get an advantage by playing full court press.