So my team is a mess defensively, like beyond awful. I have been advised to search for better guards who are highly rated defenders so I can be more competitive next season (lol). I have read the scouting guide and have stuck to players in a 200 mile radius but the guards that match my criteria are projected to go to DII. How difficult is it to pull players down to lower divisions?

Recruiting started in 5 days for the Knight world and I need to have realistic expectations for my desired recruits.

It's pretty easy to sign D2 players at d3.

D2 will not sign with D3 until the 2nd recruiting session.

Ok. But is there really a reason to stick close to home when it comes to DIII recruiting? In the preferences, there are players who desire to play far away from home. Wouldn't this make it possible for a school to snag a player who is 1000+ miles away?

Cost is the only real reason. If you're rolling in dough, no reason.

Posted by zagsrulez on 4/10/2017 9:34:00 AM (view original):
Ok. But is there really a reason to stick close to home when it comes to DIII recruiting? In the preferences, there are players who desire to play far away from home. Wouldn't this make it possible for a school to snag a player who is 1000+ miles away?

Its cheaper to scout guys closer to you via individual scouting so that's one reason. Another is the cost of HVs and CVs.

at D3 the budget is small so it makes more sense to stay home - especially if you're in a battle. But you can still find pockets where there are few teams in the are and recruits who might have no one on them and you can sign for AP only.

If you want to go for D2 guys be ready to battle a sim. With a low prestige and mediocre preferences, it will be difficult and will require promises and some HVs.

Usually you can recruit D2 recruits without having to battle any humans for them and sims are not too difficult to knock off if you run into them, but they won't sign until the second recruiting session.

One thing to point out about Sim recruiting - unless they are the first ones on a recruit, they usually don't go very hard after them.

So if you're all by yourself for several cycles and sims start popping up on the considering list, don't get too concerned. They will likely not even offer a scholarship. They're programmed to give up battling if it looks like they can't win but will continue to battle if it looks like they can. So try to drive them into the ground and crush their AI spirits.

Posted by zagsrulez on 4/10/2017 9:34:00 AM (view original):
Ok. But is there really a reason to stick close to home when it comes to DIII recruiting? In the preferences, there are players who desire to play far away from home. Wouldn't this make it possible for a school to snag a player who is 1000+ miles away?

IMO, it's all about scouting budget. I think scouting small, cheap states that are far away is a viable strategy but you need to FSS and assistant scout them first.