Just throwing this out there. I already know what I'm planning to do, but curious about what others might think.

It's the last day of recruiting. You have one unfilled opening. You see a serviceable and attainable guy that you've unlocked out there. He'll probably be a decent guy coming off your bench for a couple of seasons, but never a key player.

Do you grab him, or do you take a walk on so that you get more recruiting resources next season?

It depends on the sets for me. If I'm running a press and my team is set up to run uptempo consistently, with good stamina, I take the player. I need bodies.

if I'm playing man or zone, and I can take the walk on, i'm definitely doing so. I want to be excited when I sign a player. Excited about his potential abilities. Not just getting a guy to make 12 in this case

One open spot? Walk on definitely. With 11 players, I’m assuming that you have depth at every position. There’s no need for a 12th unless your FB/Press or he has a ton of potential and would benefit from a redshirt.

This decision usually has a lot of variables for me. Speaking in general terms, if he’s “replacement level”, or just a bit above, I pass. If the guy does something well that might be useful to the team a few years down the road, I’ll consider it. I think I probably value scholarship resources a bit less than average, in part because I run press/zone combo defenses that benefit from lineup flexibility.

Having an extra scholarship is no guarantee that you’ll have a better time replacing it next year; and depending on what else is happening on the team, a guy who is better than a walkon for a couple years, and then a useful guy off the bench with upperclassman IQ can improve your chances to win games. I had 6 scholarships with OK St last year, and still swung and missed on 3 frontcourt players (and had a backup option poached late), and so I’m starting the center project I signed in this situation 2 seasons ago, as a redshirt freshman. Crazy things happen.

also depends on how many openings you'll have next season... the extra resources might not be as important as having a useful player when you're graduating 5-6 guys.

Agree with both the number of players graduating and what you run as the major factors. One other factor for me is whether I have a guy on my roster I want to redshirt to spread out a position.