Future Stars Scouting?  Looks interesting..please explain it and it's value.

Also, I was eilgible to go D2 from the get go but I wanted to re-learn in D3.  Can I get drop downs at D3?

As far as what FSS is, there's a great explanation on the Player's Guide: http://whatifsports.com/hd/help/guide.aspx

At D3, I think its value is primarily 2 things:
- You find out the potentials of ALL recruits in that state (excluding transfers) in one fell swoop. If you're considering a number of different recruits in one state, this can be a lot more cost-effective than doing scouting trips one by one.
- FSS also tells you the Word on the Street - i.e. how tight a recruit is with a school that's considering him. Can be very helpful in choosing whether or not to get into a recruiting battle, or to see if you're ahead / behind.

I usually buy FSS for at least my home state and any other states that are inside 180 miles - that's the basis for my pulldown / dropdown decisions. I'll occasionally also buy it for smaller states further away if I'm struggling to find good prospects nearby.

As far as dropdowns at D3, yes, you can definitely get them, though it depends on your prestige and the specific recruit.

I have a B prestige and will be at Alfred which is in NY.

You can also pull down players by scouting them over and over, but at D3 you would only want to do that with players that are pretty close geographically. I usually recruit only D2 players at D3. Only call them on the first cycle, and see which ones list you as a backup option. If they are good an close by and list you as a backup option, Then I would buy Future stars for that state, if there are more than a couple of players from that state. For you, I would consider NY, NJ Conn, and maybe PA, but I bet PA is pretty expensive. You get a 10% discount if you buy 2-3 states, and 15% if you buy 4 or more. If you have 3 states in mind, you might just see if a state like vermont only has a few and is super cheap. If so, the extra 5% discount on the other states might outweigh the cost of recruiting in Vermont (or wherever). Feel free to sitemail me if I can help you. If you are looking for another team, join Phelan, and take Chowan. It's in the USA South conference, which is a great conference, and there is only one opening. But you'd have to take it in the next hour or so.

thanks so much!

Posted by chapelhillne on 7/14/2011 3:31:00 PM (view original):
You can also pull down players by scouting them over and over, but at D3 you would only want to do that with players that are pretty close geographically. I usually recruit only D2 players at D3. Only call them on the first cycle, and see which ones list you as a backup option. If they are good an close by and list you as a backup option, Then I would buy Future stars for that state, if there are more than a couple of players from that state. For you, I would consider NY, NJ Conn, and maybe PA, but I bet PA is pretty expensive. You get a 10% discount if you buy 2-3 states, and 15% if you buy 4 or more. If you have 3 states in mind, you might just see if a state like vermont only has a few and is super cheap. If so, the extra 5% discount on the other states might outweigh the cost of recruiting in Vermont (or wherever). Feel free to sitemail me if I can help you. If you are looking for another team, join Phelan, and take Chowan. It's in the USA South conference, which is a great conference, and there is only one opening. But you'd have to take it in the next hour or so.

Alfred is in what they call the 'Southern Tier' in NY and is probably closer to Ohio than Conn.  It is 20 miles from PA.  So I would consider going with NY and PA if you can afford it.

If I'm buying big states like NY and PA, I always make sure to get AT LEAST the 15% discount. Adding in tiny states like the Dakotas, Alaska, Hawaii... can actually end up saving you money when they bump you to the next discount level. Whatever you do, don't just buy NY as a single state, evaluate, buy another single state, etc. 20% on a big state is a few hundred bucks, money you can't afford to waste at D3.

I don't plan it out or anything, but I think I usually end up spending around $1000 on FSS per open scholarship. It's easy to go overboard with it and spend too much, so you might wanna be conservative the 1st time around. $1000/spot is probably on the high side if I had to guess, but I don't like leaving stones unturned.