Question for best allocation of funds in recruiting. If a school knows it will likely end up spending a lot of money on a recruit (likely all 20 HV and a CV), what is the best strategy for when to use the visits/money? 20 all at once toward the beginning, spread out over the cycles, or does it depend (and on what factors)?

I can only think of a couple instances where the timing itself would matter in terms of how much credit you get for the visits:

• If the recruit has a Wants to Play preference, you would want to promise him minutes at the same time or before you spend the visit money to maximize the impact of the visits
• If you're expecting a prestige bump after the season (and the recruit is a Late signing) your visits will have more impact after the prestige bump. So it could be beneficial to wait from that standpoint. Conversely, if you're expecting a prestige drop, probably better off spending it before your prestige drops.

Otherwise, purely from a "maximizing the impact of the visits" standpoint, I don't think there are other factors that would matter. Spending it all early, spread throughout, or late would have the same impact.

Now - from a strategic standpoint - there are things you would want to consider. Should you spend early to try to scare off competition? Would you rather wait and see how the broader recruiting landscape plays out before using your funds? That is very much a case-by-case decision.

Posted by manonde01 on 6/22/2023 12:56:00 PM (view original):
I can only think of a couple instances where the timing itself would matter in terms of how much credit you get for the visits:

• If the recruit has a Wants to Play preference, you would want to promise him minutes at the same time or before you spend the visit money to maximize the impact of the visits
• If you're expecting a prestige bump after the season (and the recruit is a Late signing) your visits will have more impact after the prestige bump. So it could be beneficial to wait from that standpoint. Conversely, if you're expecting a prestige drop, probably better off spending it before your prestige drops.

Otherwise, purely from a "maximizing the impact of the visits" standpoint, I don't think there are other factors that would matter. Spending it all early, spread throughout, or late would have the same impact.

Now - from a strategic standpoint - there are things you would want to consider. Should you spend early to try to scare off competition? Would you rather wait and see how the broader recruiting landscape plays out before using your funds? That is very much a case-by-case decision.

Speaking to your last point of the strategic standpoint, as a D2 or D3 coach I am always worried that if I spend money on HVs/CVs early on in recruiting that later on I risk a higher division/prestige coach stepping in and stealing the recruit away from me anyways - especially if it's still during RS1 and I can't sign them until RS2. If that happens I'm out a large chunk of recruiting money with nothing to show for it.

Obviously that's not as big of an issue at D1 and/or for higher prestige programs. But it's definitely something to consider for lower programs.

Personally, I like to hold onto the money for situations down the stretch where it looks like I will likely be facing a recruiting battle against another program. Or for a late backup target that I need to make ground on fast after a primary target was lost to another program. So I'm generally in the "wait and see how the broader recruiting landscape plays out" camp of doing things I guess.