Help.  A sweet 16 DIII team last year on the strength of 3 good players who are now gone.  

I haven't a clue what to do, need help with offense and defensive sets for right now with this team and  the long term, depth chart, team practice.  Types of players to recruit next year...I'm a basket case...

Should I be worrying much about the WE of recruits?  Should I use the future stars service?  I'd rather have a long term solution and plan not an immediate fix.

Thanks

http://www.whatifsports.com/hd/TeamProfile/Ratings.aspx?tid=5792

You should always use Future Stars.  The main reason is that it can tell you a recruit's potential in each area - something that is critical to having a strong team that can contend in the NT.   Build a scout list of players you like, then figure out which states will give you the most bang for the buck.  (I always scout my own state, too, those are the cheapest recruits).

WE is important in terms of how quickly your players will reach their full potential.  I've taken guys with WEs under 20 in the past and in at least one case he never did reach what I considered his full potential.  In another case, I was desperate for a PG who could play DEF and the kid started for 4 years - in that case, his low WE was less of a problem because the playing time made him happy and he improved well over his 4 years.

Just a cursory look at your team:  Since you play some FCP, I think I'd be recruiting players with better ATH, SPD and DEF for that style.  You have one guy with high SPD but low DEF (Mahon) who is also your leading scorer.   If I was recruiting for your squad I'd be chasing better athletes who can play defense.  LP and PER are important, but in your scheme ATH/SPD/DEF ought to come first.

Your mileage and all that.

 

Always use future stars. Recruit for ath/speed/def/ft, probably in that order if you stick with press. Anything under 35 WE means the guy will meet about half what his max potential would be. Unless you start him all four years, and even then its a crapshoot. Mid 40 WE is a solid baseline that will go up with playing time and starting.

check the top of this page on the forums and there are alot of Vets who would be glad to help on the Mentor Thread.
Most people who enjoy this game realize that keeping people around longer only enhances everyone elses experience here.
Pick a name or 3 that said they'd be glad to help and shoot em a site-mail with any questions you have. (if they're busy in the real world... they'll let ya know), and if they are... shoot it off to 3 more till you find a couple that have some time to share.... most of us enjoy it.
Also on your main team page....read the FAQ posts, new users guide, HD 101 etc. under HELP...We all go back and look at some of that stuff time and again... they help all of us.

Future Star is a must; it is the cheapest and most cost effective way to get information on the potential of your recruits. Potential is what determines if your player will grow, not WE. WE only accelerates player growth. 

WE, I generally don't recruit anyone sub 20 but if my team is extremely young or I'm in a super weak conf where making the NT is easy, I might go as low as 18 and let the guy start 26 games and play 20mpg. 

Also, be sure to recruit close to your school. At D3, you don't have a lot of Cash. I would just future star NY and NJ an get your players from there. I make a spreadsheet in Excel and enter the ratings for the players that I am interested in. Then I color the ones with high potential green, and low potential red (based on future stars).

Also, be sure to read some of the forums about drop-downs and pull downs. If I am at Division 3, I usually try to get Division 2 players that the D2 teams pass over.

The 9 athleticism of your sophomore center, House, is going to hurt a lot. For low post players, you want to try to get ones with good athleticism. He also only has a 2 for defense. I would cut him .

For a press team, I usually try to stay above 30 for a defensive rating, unless it's a little lower than 30 but has high potential.

Good luck.