I am trying to gather some thought on JUCO recruits. Over the last several years O have been able to recruit some good JUCO recruits for my D-3 program

but I wanted to get some other opinion on the topic

also is there a limit on JUCO recruits each year?

Are you asking about the limit to Juco recruits in the database?

The limit to Jucos you can sign: if you have 6 sophomores and aren’t cutting any of them from your roster, you can’t sign a 2 year Juco because that would give you 7 players in the Junior class.

Okay but I guess my real question is what are peoples thoughts on consistently recruiting JUCOs

Okay but I guess my real question is what are peoples thoughts on consistently recruiting JUCOs

My thoughts... I like a Juco to come in and fill a role. However, watching a player grow from his redshirt freshman year all the way through 4 seasons... those players definitely impact me more.

If you can find a Juco (especially with good WE) to fit a specific piece of your puzzle, that’s a good feeling too.

I watched a guy in my conference recruit only Juco. Every season his roster was all Sr and Jr. I don’t recommend that.

I consistently recruit JUCOs at D2. They're generally a large part of my strategy. Some D1 coaches will drop down and poach the best ones which is pretty painful though.

Jucos are tough for me. I'm not very interested in them at all. But I will if the opportunity presents itself. My main issue is the IQ. If you can find one that plays BOTH your sets, then you're on to something. But that can be tough. Also, most jucos seem to have the Wants to Play preference, and only have two seasons to reach potentials. Most times they never do. If you can get a redshirt on him somehow, you're in better shape.

While some Jucos can be fantastic players, for ME I'd just rather have 4 year players. I think jucos aren't important enough to "seek out" unless you are one player away from competing for a title and you bumbled recruiting a couple seasons ago. If you happen to stumble across a great one while you're in that situation, go get your juco. But if you're just a growing team that is trying to get better, a Juco is just a bandaid that may not help as much long term

Overall, sure. There's a time and a place for them

I've started to test JUCO's out with my D2 Stanislaus team. I had been using a roster configuration of 4, 3, 3, 2 (FB/FCP). It worked really well, but it does tend to be weaker when you get to the 5 upperclassmen year. So I started to toy with getting one 2-year JUCO every other year when I have 4 openings, in order to boost that weaker year.

So my roster configuration goes like this now...
YEAR 1 - 4 seniors, 3 juniors, 3 soph, 2 fresh
YEAR 2 - 3 seniors, 4 juniors, 2 soph, 3 fresh
YEAR 3 - 4 seniors, 2 juniors, 3 soph, 3 fresh
YEAR 4 - 2 seniors, 4 juniors, 3 soph, 3 fresh

Note that I'm only testing this out with FB/FCP because of the need to go 12 deep, and I feel that by having one roster spot always designated as an upperclassman it will help to elevate those "down" years.

At lower levels, juco value is predominantly depth and filling out your class structure the way you want it. It’s not unheard of, but finding a key piece for a D2 or D3 team is less common than it is at D1. D1 teams will sometimes reach especially low for jucos, because their resources turn over quickly, making them roster depth that doesn’t tie up a spot too long. That means landing a game changer at D2 can be pretty expensive, and for only 2-3 seasons in an environment where you don’t need to worry about covering for early entry losses, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to invest all that much, in normal circumstances. There are always exceptions, though. Preference matches, geography, and roster roster needs can change the calculus, for sure.

JUCOs can be outstanding .. IF they play your offense and defense.

If they do not play at least one (your offense or defense) it can take a long time for them to learn (usually one whole season). This means they are really only valuable for one season if they don't play either your O or D set.

I have not been able to do this in the new system at D3, but it was very nice when you could convince JUCOs to redshirt. That really increased their value. Has anyone had luck in that regard? I tried it a few seasons ago with a D2 recruit (I think) for my D3 school - but I could not get him to accept it, even with a few HVs. I don't recall the exact amount of effort I attempted, but it did not work.

I don't ever try offering a RS in recruiting. I just try it after they report. I have never tried w/ a JUCO either way. That could be very good if you can get it to happen.

Posted by hughesjr on 1/21/2021 2:54:00 AM (view original):
I don't ever try offering a RS in recruiting. I just try it after they report. I have never tried w/ a JUCO either way. That could be very good if you can get it to happen.

I did this quite often under the old system, and told the recruit so during recruiting.... obviously a redshirt is just negative recruiting actions which must be overcome by positive efforts. the guy I tried it on under the new HD did not have a playing time preference and there was little competition for him as well. in the end I rescinded the action since I could not make it work.

I can confirm that redshirting JUCOs does work, albeit there is some risk involved. If the JUCO has a preference for playing time, you should probably forget it, they won't accept a redshirt. Also, if you do offer a redshirt and the recruit doesn't like it, you could have just lost your shot at signing the guy at all. I have had luck offering a redshirt, combined with some recruiting effort (HVs or a CV) in the same cycle. Can work really well, especially since you can find some pretty talented JUCO guys who could really use the extra year of development + IQ.