Wrapped up my second year in D3 Smith and I'm getting the sense that the teams at the top are recruiting D1. Right now I'm focused on D2 recruits as my prestige is at B- and I'm still learning. D2 seems to have really solid recruits that I can make the tourney with but are D1 guys required if I really want to make a run at a national title?

And what goes into successfully bringing in D1 guys? High prestige? Or simply understanding the recruiting system well enough?

Roller -- I have spent all of my time in HD at the D3 level and have started to form some sort of mental note as to what recruits I can get and who I can't. There are certainly a lot of gems in D2, and you can get these guys more often than not, but if they are good with high potentials, there is a chance that there will be D2 teams on him that will scoop him from you. You can certainly recruit D1 prospects and you should be, but when you get higher in position rankings is when you'll start to consistently run into D1 and D2 teams. There is a lot of talent in the D2 pool, but I would definitely be looking at some of the lower D1 guys as well.

I don't necessarily think prestige has much to do with it at the D3 level. Understanding the system has a lot to do with it, making sure your preferences match with what the recruit wants is a big one. Promising minutes and a start obviously gives you a boost as well, but a lot of it is formulating a plan and being able to stick to it throughout recruiting. Luck is also heavily involved lol.. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Posted by jfoges on 6/30/2020 3:22:00 PM (view original):
Roller -- I have spent all of my time in HD at the D3 level and have started to form some sort of mental note as to what recruits I can get and who I can't. There are certainly a lot of gems in D2, and you can get these guys more often than not, but if they are good with high potentials, there is a chance that there will be D2 teams on him that will scoop him from you. You can certainly recruit D1 prospects and you should be, but when you get higher in position rankings is when you'll start to consistently run into D1 and D2 teams. There is a lot of talent in the D2 pool, but I would definitely be looking at some of the lower D1 guys as well.

I don't necessarily think prestige has much to do with it at the D3 level. Understanding the system has a lot to do with it, making sure your preferences match with what the recruit wants is a big one. Promising minutes and a start obviously gives you a boost as well, but a lot of it is formulating a plan and being able to stick to it throughout recruiting. Luck is also heavily involved lol.. Let me know if you have any other questions.

I think this is generally pretty good advice for D3 recruiting.

I would add that if/when you add D1 pool recruits to your mix, hold them pretty loosely to start with. Eventually you’ll get a feel for how much heat a type of guy will get from higher division teams, and being able to correctly speculate when a guy is going to be a priority vs when they will purely be a last resort for the higher division team is the difference between landing some real impact players, and wasting your resources. To start out, always (IMO) best to shotgun the D1 recruits, spreading out your early attention on lots of options rather than picking a couple favorites.