so reading the faq's it says ineligible can still come to your school.  but how to do get them to come to your school?  do you offer a scholarship even though they cant have one in the first year?  is that what makes them come to your school other than the obvious recruiting money spent?

You recruit ineligibles exactly like any other recruit.

ok, one more noob question.

i have one redshirt fresh from last season.  i got 5 players this recruit season.  i informed one of a redshirt.  so i show as having 6 fresh but will not show 5 until i can officially redshirt the one.  so i will have 5 fresh but now i show as having 6.  can i recruit another inneligable guy and not have him count against the 6 max per class?  have alot left in the budget and would rather grab another good player instead of getting the 25% left over.

Nope, you have six as of now.

Think of it this way: Just because you informed someone of a RS doesn't mean you'll necessarily RS him. So you have to approach it as though you have a full class of six frosh.

As an aside, I can't see the potentials of those recruits, but it looks to me as though you're aiming too low (perhaps far too low). You might actually be better served moving back to D3, taking over a program there and building up your skills and understanding of the game, before taking another crack at D2.

(Hopefully that doesn't come across as me being a jerk, just trying to offer honest advice.)

thanks for the clarification. 

as far as the recruits go, 1 was a pull down and 1 was a drop down.  both of those the assistant said were potential d2 all americans.  am i putting too much stock in that assesment by the assistant coach? 

another one, the one i redshirted last year was the same as those 2 but his we dropped when i put the shirt on.  lesson learned.

i am actually taking the approach that those guys fit into my off/def scheme since their coaches said that is what they run.  they also have the stats and projected stats that fit what i run.  isnt it better than having to teach them a new scheme all over again?  i dont really know if taking the highest rated player is better when their qualities dont match with the off/def that i run.  your thoughts are appreciated. 

should be noted that i just got this team last season and was left with 4 guys.  had to recruit 4 and run with 4 walkons.  it sucked. 

as far as the recruits go, 1 was a pull down and 1 was a drop down.  both of those the assistant said were potential d2 all americans.  am i putting too much stock in that assesment by the assistant coach? 
Yes -- those assessments mean nothing. They are window dressing. You should focus only on the core ratings important for that position and potential.

i am actually taking the approach that those guys fit into my off/def scheme since their coaches said that is what they run. 
No, do not recruit based on that. It's a tie-breaker at best. Ratings and potential.

they also have the stats and projected stats that fit what i run. 
No, those are HS stats and (except for ft percentage) just window dressing. You probably haven't heard this before, but ... ratings and potential.

isnt it better than having to teach them a new scheme all over again? 
No, it is not. Ratings and potential trump a slight advantage in starting iq (which will be made up in a couple seasons anyway).

i dont really know if taking the highest rated player is better when their qualities dont match with the off/def that i run.  your thoughts are appreciated. 
I didn't say highest rated ... it's the ratings that matter for the position and their potential. And unless you're running press (in which case there are a couple categories that matter more than others), the difference in sets are minimal, particularly on offense. Just recruit the best players you can, period.

i did kinda stumble my way into d2.  i am not offended by ay advice you have.  i appreciate it very much.  would you personally rather have a learner be at d2 instead of a sim?  just asking. 

yes i am running a press, so i am looking for high stamina and athlete and speed.  just to point on what you said in the last paragraph.

i will say this, that i didnt expect dropdowns to come just before the signing period.  lesson learned. 

I think what girt means is that it would serve you better to learn at D3 rather than D2. If it was better for a team to be taken over by a human rather than a SIM than WIS would allow everyone to move up to D1

Posted by girt25 on 1/5/2012 11:26:00 PM (view original):
Nope, you have six as of now.

Think of it this way: Just because you informed someone of a RS doesn't mean you'll necessarily RS him. So you have to approach it as though you have a full class of six frosh.

As an aside, I can't see the potentials of those recruits, but it looks to me as though you're aiming too low (perhaps far too low). You might actually be better served moving back to D3, taking over a program there and building up your skills and understanding of the game, before taking another crack at D2.

(Hopefully that doesn't come across as me being a jerk, just trying to offer honest advice.)

disagree with where learning is best...i think it depends on the world, the conference and location of the school. if you take over a d3 team in a world packed with humans, in a conference filled with humans, in a state packed with d3 teams (or at least local to enough d3 teams), the learning experience is going to be terrible. you won't land any great recruits. you won't be winning conference games. etc. on the other hand, if you move to a d2 school on the opposite end of the spectrum, the flexibility allows the coach to experiment with different recruiting strategies, gp's (against sim conf mates), etc. obviously, i'm using two extremes to prove a point and most of the time, its more balanced than this, but i've found some d3 programs brutal to take over and you end up just taking lump after lump. see, e.g., my history in knight. couldn't do $h!t with d3 millikin bc, quite honestly, it was filled with hof coaches. on the other hand, i was able to quickly turn around my d2 team. the latter could obviously be chalked up to luck, but i prefer to think that the circumstances were better for me @ d2...

I think you're sandbagging jjsjedidiah.  Girt has given great advice on every point, other than suggesting moving back down to D3.  That's not a good idea.  You will have to suffer through another couple seasons before your team is competitive, but it will happen.

With the benefit of having scouted the states of most of your recruits -- you did fine.  Those recruits should develop well with minutes.  However, do not attempt to play fastbreak / fullcourt press with less than 11 players.  If you can't find a JuCo player with any upside, then I would suggest signing a couple senior transfers (don't worry whether they are on your D2 or D3 list).  The best thing about seniors is that they leave quickly and you should be able to find a couple that know your offense & defense (or at least one or the other).  The worst thing you can do is sign players that have no upside and 3 or 4 years remaining on your team.

As jtt said, it depends on the situation on the best place to learn (and how thick skinned you are).  ::pulls up pants:: why when I started HD, you had to take 2 or 3 seasons to get to D2, and by golly, it made for less drop-outs from being overwhelmed at D2.

But really, my biggest advice would be to find a conference with helpful coaches, or a mentor at any level (girt may not remember, but his simple sitemail to me years ago that simply said "You can do better" when it came to recruits helped A LOT for me).  Find a place where you can learn from good coaches (they don't even have to be great), and it doesn't matter if it's D2 or D3.  That being said, I also think a great learning experience is to stay somewhere for 5 seasons to understand how your early recruiting classes panned out as seniors.

Good luck, and have fun!