I just took over a Div III team with a C- prestige that has been SIM run for the last 10 seasons. There is 8 open scholarships to fill, with 2 Jr. SF's and 2 Jr. PF's returning. When you are filling that many positions in a season, what is the best way to go about this knowing that the 1st 2 seasons will be pretty tough? Is it beneficial to throw all practice minutes into individual skills since the freshman will be playing all season and improving their IQ on the court with playing time? Would it be best to go after 6 scholarships and take the 2 walkons to help balance the team out for the following season? How much weight does a guaranteed starting spot count for as my budget is at $18,000 for 8 scholarships? Any advice would be great, thanks in advance.

I might go ahead and bite the bullet and use promised starts on two fo the guards - after all, witht hat roster you are going to HAVE to start two guards you recruit, so you might as well get recruiting credit for it.

Practice plans should be similar, if anything you want to increase your offense and defense practice time so you can improve IQs quicker. I also would only try to sign 8 players if all 8 will be useful as juniors and seniors. If you can't sign 8 guys you like just focus on getting 5 or 6 at the most and try to grab a couple of players that can be studs. The fact that you have as much money as you do means you can battle for guys you normally wouldn't be able to.

I was going to say my preferred would be recruit six and redshirt one, which with leaving two slots fallow would give him two scholarships next year and three freshemen for next year.- on that team with only juniors, if he DOESN'T leave a few slots fallow, he'll have zero recruits next year, which means if he sees any deficits in his team, he's out of luck addressing them unless he cuts someone.

Actually, he is actually at a disadvantage. Instead of having 3k per schollie, he only has 2250...

As far as strat, I'm assuming you are keeping this team and not trying to move up (knowing you can move up after one d3 season)? if you are looking for opitimal improvement, I'd split you class evenly: 4 solid frosh and 4 jucos/tranfers who know your offense/defense.

Yes, I'm looking at keeping it and NOT moving up to Div II

Doomey: THat disadvantage is why I would only go for the six and take two walkons - and then actually get money for the slots next season and recruit them then.

I would go into recruiting with a plan of getting 6 good/great players and then any other players you can land with over cash is gravy. As some pointed out above you have the advantage of promising starts which most established schools won't be capable of. Try to find Division II players within 70 miles of your school that you like and see who you can pulldown (you could try a little further out but then it gets more costly and may take a long time for them to ever consider you). Obviously make calls to all Div II players that interest you even if they aren't close to your school as you never know who will make you a backup and drop to you. Picking up a juco or transfer sounds like a good plan especially if they play your offense and/or defense as the freshman will take a while to learn the off/def sets. This project should be a lot of fun, I just completed my 3rd season with Colorado College in Phelan and that was a C prestige tear down project. I made a few mistakes along the way as far as deciding on a defense and a couple of players I later cut but it is all coming together as I just missed the Sweet 16. This team has provided the most fun by far as it is all mine.
Two last notes don't be afraid to sign a player now and to cut him in a couple of seasons when your prestige is higher as the reputation hit isn't a big deal especially since you intend on staying there a long time. Also I would put atleast 25 minutes into your offense and defense as your freshman will stink until they reach atleast a C- and will finally show striking growth around the B- level.

I took over Frostburg State in Smith when it had C- prestige, signed 9 players (6 frosh and three sophs [all jucos]) and by the jucos' senior year I finished the season 28-1, made it to the sweet sixteen before losing, ending my season at 30-2, bringing the school up to an A- prestige.

Keep in mind Smith is pretty depleted at DIII, but still, anything is possible. Filling all of the scholarships is not out of the question; focus on signing "special" players, rather than well-rounded players. Look for guards who are lacking in one area, but make up for it in other areas (for example I had an incredible guard on my team who had 11 BH, but made up for it in most other categories, getting every other core above 60/70). DIII is all about specializing, landing players who aren't necessarily perfect all around, but who will be incredible in certain areas, and that is far from an impossible task with a C- prestige at the DIII level. It isn't easy, but it isn't that hard either.

Recruit locally (if you recruit too far away you will certainly run out of cash) and pick up the best talent you can find. Try to avoid recruiting battles and know that with 8 new players your team is going to struggle through it's first season. The first season is all about EXPERIMENTATION, discover what works and know that your incoming players are bound to have terrible IQs in whatever O/D you choose to run. Switch the lineup after every game (if you feel like it), do some crazy things. It's your first season with this new team, so get a feel for who's good at what and who should play where, so three-four seasons from now you'll know how to make your team click, and possibly have a season like I did with my Frostburg State team.

Not much over for you TK. Eckley is the only player. The 2 sf's are almost worthless 3rd unit guys at best, the center is probably a bench guy. Guards and a few big guys are needed. Find the best out of the guards promise starting spots to the best 2 rated guards with the most upside you can start one at SF and one PG or PG-SG and see if you can find a young powerhouse center with some great upside and hold out a starting spot for him.

Thanks for all the advice guys, appreciate the input

Promise minutes as well as starts for some guys. . they are going to get minutes anyway.

I'd aim to recruit 4-6 players, and don't take any juco transfers. Who cares if you got walk ons? Your going to get smashed anyways.


Play 10 of the worst sim ais for a few season. Keep in mind 18 wins will bump your prestige. In 3 seasons, you'll go from C- to a B-, and further if you sneak into the pit or NT. After that you'll be able to recruit easier and start playing a tougher sos.