I wanted to check in and see what attributes coaches prefer when recruiting three positions. Point Guard, SF and C.

On point do you prefer athleticism over speed? How about defensive rating? I focus on passing first, then ball handling, athleticism, defense in that order. If a player is below 50 on any of these it’s hard to make them into a quality player. Any suggestions or comments?

small forward seems to be one of the more difficult positions to recruit. Although I have worked a PF or SG conversion with some success at SF, I prefer a true SF with following attributes in order: Athleticism, defense, perimeter, then rebounding or passing/ ball handling. I guess I like the wing small forward.

Center is tough. My preference would be Defense, Athleticism, Rebounds, Blocks, then LP. I tend to favor a PF getting most of our points underneath.

Is anyone wildly contrarian as to my thinking?

I want all of my players to be good in at least 2 areas. For example, guards can be pure PG, shooters, or defenders. I'll take a guard who is a bad defender if he's an excellent Pure PG and Shooter. I basically just want useful players on my roster.

Once you know what ratings affect each category, then it becomes easier to find those players in scouting. You should also have an idea of what your team needs so you can look specifically for the type of players that will shore up any weaknesses. This can be more difficult than it sounds because you need to plan ahead. If I know I'll have 6 seniors next season, but my team lacks shooting, recruiting a kid with green 40 perimeter won't do me much good.

I guess my point is that it takes good balance and sometimes you'll need a center that brings defense and rebounding, and sometimes you'll need post scoring. It really just depends on your offensive/defensive system and what your roster is lacking.

Too lazy to retype, but my thoughts for these questions are in section 4 "Player Evaluation" of my D1 rebuild guide.

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