I'm curious what some of you better coaches think about redshirting FR.  I've looked at most of the better teams in the 2 worlds I coach in (Iba and Crum) and it looks like it is about 50-50 in terms of those that use redshirts and those that don't.  What are your thoughts about whether or not redshirting is worth it?  Do you prefer to have more depth and play with 12 players or do you think the benefits of an extra year of practice and IQ growth is worth the RS?

I absolutely think it's worth it

I'm guessing red shirting is good 96.3% of the time. The better teams are recruiting better players, the players who are so good that they resist red shirting. This probably drops the overall avg your seeing

In my limited experience, redshirting is best used for balancing your class sizes and/or for giving a player time to raise their IQ in your system if you expect them to be a key for you in future seasons and don't need them immediately.

I'm not sure it's worth it just to get a freshman to improve their ratings - when I've done it, the improvement was marginal compared to a roughly equivalent player who got actual court time.  Some of that may depend on WE, of course, but I no longer look at redshirting as a cure for bad ratings.  These days I will probably only use it to balance class size.

ethan, its basically free imporvement though, as that player still gets all that other improvement as a regular player for 4 years. IMHO its best used for those guys that have lots of high potentials that are harder to max out.

For me there are a couple of thinkgs that come into play when I decide to redshirt a player or not.
First, I look at the makeup of my team and ask myself, "is this guy going to get much PT this season?" If you need him to play this year then I never redshirt the guy, but if he is hardly going to see the court then I try and redshirt him.
Second, I look at his potential. If he has low potential and runs the risk of maxing out quickly I am less likely to RS him. If he has High potential in the core areas and I don't need him to contribute this season, I will RS him.
Third, is a combination of #1 and #2. I usually try a pick my best player with the most potential that will see the least amount of PT this season.
Last, since I never inform my players of a redshirt in recruiting, they may not be open to being RS, as jenningss mentioned earlier. Then I either try my next option or forget it all toghther.
Using it to balance class size is a consideration but it plays into #1 above, how much PT the guy is likely to see.
As far as improvement goes while a player is RS. He does not grom nearly as quick as he would if he were to see PT, that is just the way it goes. I have never had a RS gain more that about 25-30 points in his RS season. It also stands to reason that IQ will go up at a slightly slower pace as well, but I can not confirm that it is only a hunch. However IQ will still be in the C- to C range assuming had little to no knowledge of your Off and Def sets.

Posted by dacj501 on 2/19/2011 1:31:00 PM (view original):
ethan, its basically free imporvement though, as that player still gets all that other improvement as a regular player for 4 years. IMHO its best used for those guys that have lots of high potentials that are harder to max out.

I think the notion that it's "Free" depends on the potential cost to the player's WE.

If he accepts the RS with a smile, you're home free.  But if he balks and pouts, I'm not sure he's going to end up ahead of where he would be without the RS.

A lot of times I will redshirt a player at a position with a rising senior who will be gone next season. That way the next season instead of relying on a true freshman to get the PT I have a guy who has at least some IQ and better skills to get the minutes.

Assuming the recruit has numerous high potentials, my rule of thumb on redshirts is to expect the total improvement to be somewhere near the overall WE of the player.

here's a list of the guys I've redshirted the past 6-7 seasons at my two D2 teams.  (players WE,  total points of improvement season + offseason)

WE12  +29,  WE32  +38,  WE34  +40,   WE35  +40,  WE39  +52,  WE43  +43,  WE46  +50,  WE47  +50,  WE55  +63,  WE57  +62,  WE59  +52,  WE70  +81,  WE79  +94

I think redshirting in d2 and d3 is very useful, someone posted 96.3% of the time, that is funny, I think his point is every once in a while, you won't do it, but by and large you should every time.

In d1, it is very different, not that you still shouldn't but often you recruit guys who won't take red shirts at the high end of d1, at the low and middle end of d1, I would suggest using redshirts too.

RS is immensely useful imo. Most teams shouldn't need all 12 players on the court, unless you are playing with very low team stamina, so a RS allows one of your players to play with higher ratings than he normally would for his entire career. I like to take on a project player for my team every year, i.e, one that has low initial ratings but alot of high (especially high-highs) and good WE, slap a RS, and watch him dominate by his JR* and SR* years. 

Posted by ethan66 on 2/19/2011 1:55:00 PM (view original):

Posted by dacj501 on 2/19/2011 1:31:00 PM (view original):
ethan, its basically free imporvement though, as that player still gets all that other improvement as a regular player for 4 years. IMHO its best used for those guys that have lots of high potentials that are harder to max out.

I think the notion that it's "Free" depends on the potential cost to the player's WE.

If he accepts the RS with a smile, you're home free.  But if he balks and pouts, I'm not sure he's going to end up ahead of where he would be without the RS.

He's right, it's a free season of development. Obviously if you redshirt a guy and his WE drops to 1, you're not going to redshirt him. You just need to take it off and reapply it until he takes it.

Posted by ethan66 on 2/19/2011 1:55:00 PM (view original):

Posted by dacj501 on 2/19/2011 1:31:00 PM (view original):
ethan, its basically free imporvement though, as that player still gets all that other improvement as a regular player for 4 years. IMHO its best used for those guys that have lots of high potentials that are harder to max out.

I think the notion that it's "Free" depends on the potential cost to the player's WE.

If he accepts the RS with a smile, you're home free.  But if he balks and pouts, I'm not sure he's going to end up ahead of where he would be without the RS.

ya...Unless the WE is very high its not worth it without accepting it...

Do it if you can.  Sometimes you can't.

Having said what I said, I find myself wishing I could redshirt 2 players per season instead of just 1.  Once in a while I feel the need.