My first year in D1 and have 5 openings this year for a small school. What’s the best way to recruit in D1? D3 and D2 is really easy, but D1 seems like it will be a lot different and not sure how to go about it. Any thoughts/help?

You’ll get dozens of answers from different D1 coaches. There isn’t really a “right way”, but there are lots of wrong ways. The important steps are 1) know how the system works, 2) develop a process that works for you based on how you want to play, and 3) try to execute that process with managed expectations.

Having played lower levels, you probably know how the system works. The difference in D1 is that you can aim a little higher. You have more resources, so you can cast a broader scouting net; your division bumps your prestige modifier up higher, so you can challenge higher prestige teams for better recruits; and your potential NT opponents are going to be a lot stronger, so you’ll need to land some of those better recruits.

In lower levels, you can get by without battling for recruits, if you choose. If you know your geography and how to scout efficiently, you can just avoid battles and still fill your classes with decent enough recruits to stay competitive. Very hard to pull that off in D1. You’ll have to land at least a few high level recruits every couple years. IMO, the most important skill in D1 recruiting is player evaluation and prioritization. If you have a D+ team, you have to be able to fairly accurately speculate how much the B+ and above teams are going to want to spend on a guy, to see if he’s a reasonable investment. You can battle an A level team for a guy, if that A level team is not prioritizing him, pursuing him as a backup, and won’t invest a lot of long term attention or visits or promises. If the A level team matches your effort, you’ll have no shot (unless you have key preference advantages, like wants rebuild and distance).

It’s a pretty nuanced process that takes some experience to really get a feel for. There are lots of strategies you can employ in the actual recruiting, regarding attention allocation, when to go big with visits, etc. There really isn’t a guide book in how to do it, there are lots of ways to field a competitive team. Feel free to sitemail me if you want a more detailed discussion, and I’m sure you can find other good D1 coaches to chat up as well. Good luck!

You have a team in a lower level conference, and it has had RPI in the triple digits for something like 20 straight seasons. For the first couple of seasons you will be happy to improve the squad, and it won't be that difficult. You simply won't be able to compete on the national stage. You can focus on improving your standing in conference, and getting wins to improve your prestige. The biggest initial change in D1 will be the ability to cast a wider scouting net, but remember that long distance recruiting still eats up your recruiting budget.

After a couple of seasons you will notice things beginning to change. The nuances shoe3 speaks of in his post above become more visible to you, and more relevant. You'll have an idea of holes to fill in your roster. You'll have an idea as to which human coaches nearby recruit the same players as you. You'll be moving up in your conference. You're still at a severe disadvantage against teams in the power conferences, so you're still looking for players that fall through their cracks or guys not quite good enough to make their rosters.

You probably already know the game has neither dice rolls nor coin flips, so you know the post above mine is intended to amuse litle children and can safely be ignored by adults or even intelligent children. Shoe3 posted a great comment on probability vs "dice rolls" about a week ago; maybe you can find it. In D1 you have a lot more ability to influence the probabilities.

welcome to D1 Tiptop00! IMO i focus on good defense in my recruits when taking over a team..if i'm going with motion as my offense (what VMI is running) i would try to find 1 or 2 scorers also, but focus on good defense in the beginning..it takes patience to build a winner

Posted by Benis on 1/28/2019 12:53:00 PM (view original):
Best thing you can do is to mentally prepare yourself for losing dice rolls when you were 70%+ favorite.

Best advice. Still waiting on my first win as the favorite and I haven't even got to D1 yet. 0-3 so far.

For those curious, teams listed post-battle as 70% favorites win ~70% of the time. In a two way battle, the two teams are much closer in terms of effort credit accumulated, but the post-battle odds we see are stretched to favor the leader.

Posted by Basketts on 1/28/2019 6:20:00 PM (view original):

Posted by Benis on 1/28/2019 12:53:00 PM (view original):
Best thing you can do is to mentally prepare yourself for losing dice rolls when you were 70%+ favorite.

Best advice. Still waiting on my first win as the favorite and I haven't even got to D1 yet. 0-3 so far.

Not a bad start my friend! My record for one team was 1-12 if I recall.

So, not specifically to your question first (and other coaches will probably disagree) but recruiting is not the most important aspect of the game when rebuilding. There I said it. Go ahead and yell at me everyone. Scheduling is more important. You have to find 10 sims you can beat on the road. To start I don't care how bad they are, although obviously you want the best you can beat. Wins increases prestige, at least indirectly, and you have to get your prestige up.

Next, I wouldn't play man to man. You will probably have weaker players than most humans for 4 - 6 seasons so trying to match your guys against theirs will often get you beat. Fast break press will give you a shot against better teams with short benches. Zone will let you play 8 - 9 guys and you can take ineligibles, who sometimes slip through the cracks, and guys with lots of potential who will redshirt, because you only need 8 guys. You can also intelligently gamble on guys because taking walkons is not the end of the world. Anyway, just my 2 cents.

To your question, the general overall idea is the same as all divisions. I don't recruit that differently from d1 to d3.
1. Take what the game gives you. Sometimes you really need that pg and there just isn't one you can reasonably get who is any good. But a pf has fallen through the cracks to you. Take the good pf, not a below average pg, and make the pg position work somehow. So after a few cycles look around and see who isn't being recruited that would help you and take a chance. Sometimes other schools notice them and you have a decision to make, but sometimes they don't, especially early signers, and you can sneak better talent than you maybe should be able to just because you're observant. Your goal in your first couple seasons will be to win the 23 sim games on your schedule if you schedule 10 nonconference, to increase prestige. You can do that by just out talenting them.
2. Be the bully, don't get bullied. Look at some of the d2 teams around you. All the good ones will have d1 level players. Your goal should be to be an all star d2 team early in your tenure. In most cases if you took the top 12 players on d2 teams within a 300 mile radius of vmi, you'd be a decent d1 team. So don't be afraid to battle the d2 team for a player that will help you beat the sims rather than the B prestige team who probably has you beat most of the time if the player is any good. Of course preferences and priority can give you a reasonable shot against higher prestige teams but you have to be smart and observant in your choices.
3. Worry about cores. For guards and wings at low level d1 you should want guys who will have a sum of 240 with athleticism, speed and defense after growth. In addition it would be nice if they can do one other thing like pass or shoot, but you won't always find that. In bigs athleticism and defense should sum to 160 after growth and it is nice if they can do one other thing, mainly rebound or score. You may not get both.
4. Offer starts and minutes. It's why I like fast break press for rebuilds, because you can offer starts to 5 guys a season and your true starters still play a bunch, just off the bench. This leads into #5,
5. Find guys you don't have to spend money on who can play for you. It goes back to being a bully. Offering a guy a start and minutes will often, not always, scare off the d2 teams. If you can get them for nothing then you can max resources in a couple battles that you feel you can win for guys that are at the next level.
6. And this one can be the toughest, don't fall in love too deeply and know when to let go. It's like when you date the girl way out of your league, enjoy it while it lasts because it probably won't last forever. It's great to lead for a day on the stud you should never get, but if mr. A+ comes around and you realize you have no chance it is better to cut bait earlier rather than later and find that next target.

Like it was mentioned above, there is more than one way to be successful, but have a plan and bring in talent and you'll do okay. To me the key is beating sims for a few seasons, and as your prestige goes up so should the level of player you should target in recruiting, which allows for more gambles because you'll have more of a shot with those gambles and you'll be able to secure the talent a tier down easier if you miss.

All of piman’s advice is good, and I want to highlight 2 and 5 above. Related to both, remember you don’t need 12 future NBA players to compete. You don’t need 6, you don’t need 3. You can build final four teams around a star, and a good supporting cast; or a bunch of above-average and experienced program guys, who fit together in your system.

Posted by piman314 on 1/28/2019 10:20:00 PM (view original):
So, not specifically to your question first (and other coaches will probably disagree) but recruiting is not the most important aspect of the game when rebuilding. There I said it. Go ahead and yell at me everyone. Scheduling is more important. You have to find 10 sims you can beat on the road. To start I don't care how bad they are, although obviously you want the best you can beat. Wins increases prestige, at least indirectly, and you have to get your prestige up.

Next, I wouldn't play man to man. You will probably have weaker players than most humans for 4 - 6 seasons so trying to match your guys against theirs will often get you beat. Fast break press will give you a shot against better teams with short benches. Zone will let you play 8 - 9 guys and you can take ineligibles, who sometimes slip through the cracks, and guys with lots of potential who will redshirt, because you only need 8 guys. You can also intelligently gamble on guys because taking walkons is not the end of the world. Anyway, just my 2 cents.

To your question, the general overall idea is the same as all divisions. I don't recruit that differently from d1 to d3.
1. Take what the game gives you. Sometimes you really need that pg and there just isn't one you can reasonably get who is any good. But a pf has fallen through the cracks to you. Take the good pf, not a below average pg, and make the pg position work somehow. So after a few cycles look around and see who isn't being recruited that would help you and take a chance. Sometimes other schools notice them and you have a decision to make, but sometimes they don't, especially early signers, and you can sneak better talent than you maybe should be able to just because you're observant. Your goal in your first couple seasons will be to win the 23 sim games on your schedule if you schedule 10 nonconference, to increase prestige. You can do that by just out talenting them.
2. Be the bully, don't get bullied. Look at some of the d2 teams around you. All the good ones will have d1 level players. Your goal should be to be an all star d2 team early in your tenure. In most cases if you took the top 12 players on d2 teams within a 300 mile radius of vmi, you'd be a decent d1 team. So don't be afraid to battle the d2 team for a player that will help you beat the sims rather than the B prestige team who probably has you beat most of the time if the player is any good. Of course preferences and priority can give you a reasonable shot against higher prestige teams but you have to be smart and observant in your choices.
3. Worry about cores. For guards and wings at low level d1 you should want guys who will have a sum of 240 with athleticism, speed and defense after growth. In addition it would be nice if they can do one other thing like pass or shoot, but you won't always find that. In bigs athleticism and defense should sum to 160 after growth and it is nice if they can do one other thing, mainly rebound or score. You may not get both.
4. Offer starts and minutes. It's why I like fast break press for rebuilds, because you can offer starts to 5 guys a season and your true starters still play a bunch, just off the bench. This leads into #5,
5. Find guys you don't have to spend money on who can play for you. It goes back to being a bully. Offering a guy a start and minutes will often, not always, scare off the d2 teams. If you can get them for nothing then you can max resources in a couple battles that you feel you can win for guys that are at the next level.
6. And this one can be the toughest, don't fall in love too deeply and know when to let go. It's like when you date the girl way out of your league, enjoy it while it lasts because it probably won't last forever. It's great to lead for a day on the stud you should never get, but if mr. A+ comes around and you realize you have no chance it is better to cut bait earlier rather than later and find that next target.

Like it was mentioned above, there is more than one way to be successful, but have a plan and bring in talent and you'll do okay. To me the key is beating sims for a few seasons, and as your prestige goes up so should the level of player you should target in recruiting, which allows for more gambles because you'll have more of a shot with those gambles and you'll be able to secure the talent a tier down easier if you miss.

Just found this post. Wow, great insight and wisdom in your words. Great write-up and analysis, your assessment is spot on.

Posted by shoe3 on 1/28/2019 8:59:00 PM (view original):
For those curious, teams listed post-battle as 70% favorites win ~70% of the time. In a two way battle, the two teams are much closer in terms of effort credit accumulated, but the post-battle odds we see are stretched to favor the leader.

I guess I'll believe this when I see this.

I've tracked recruiting at two D1 schools, and when I'm favored between 51%-74%, I've landed 35% at one school, 32% at the other (LSU going 1 for 2 in the past season. Losing a top ten when favored 68-32). Probably closer to half the signees one would expect if the listed odds are correct.

Still a somewhat relative small sample size, but it now includes over 70 players.

In rebuilding I find focusing on "Early" signees pays off. As battles are resolved, many higher-prestige teams will be looking for alternatives late, and a lower-ranked squad won't be able to keep them off.

Posted by l80r20 on 1/28/2019 3:08:00 PM (view original):
You have a team in a lower level conference, and it has had RPI in the triple digits for something like 20 straight seasons. For the first couple of seasons you will be happy to improve the squad, and it won't be that difficult. You simply won't be able to compete on the national stage. You can focus on improving your standing in conference, and getting wins to improve your prestige. The biggest initial change in D1 will be the ability to cast a wider scouting net, but remember that long distance recruiting still eats up your recruiting budget.

After a couple of seasons you will notice things beginning to change. The nuances shoe3 speaks of in his post above become more visible to you, and more relevant. You'll have an idea of holes to fill in your roster. You'll have an idea as to which human coaches nearby recruit the same players as you. You'll be moving up in your conference. You're still at a severe disadvantage against teams in the power conferences, so you're still looking for players that fall through their cracks or guys not quite good enough to make their rosters.

You probably already know the game has neither dice rolls nor coin flips, so you know the post above mine is intended to amuse litle children and can safely be ignored by adults or even intelligent children. Shoe3 posted a great comment on probability vs "dice rolls" about a week ago; maybe you can find it. In D1 you have a lot more ability to influence the probabilities.

i dont understand this - perhaps when some people call something a coin flip, they mean they don't have any control over the situation - but thats certainly not how i mean in, and i know i am not alone. i call it a coin flip because in the end of the day, once all your actions are behind you, what you have left is a weighted coin flip. i don't consider calling it such to be derogatory at all - that's simply what it is. of course you have a great deal of influence what happens prior to that coin flip.

Posted by piman314 on 1/28/2019 10:20:00 PM (view original):
So, not specifically to your question first (and other coaches will probably disagree) but recruiting is not the most important aspect of the game when rebuilding. There I said it. Go ahead and yell at me everyone. Scheduling is more important. You have to find 10 sims you can beat on the road. To start I don't care how bad they are, although obviously you want the best you can beat. Wins increases prestige, at least indirectly, and you have to get your prestige up.

Next, I wouldn't play man to man. You will probably have weaker players than most humans for 4 - 6 seasons so trying to match your guys against theirs will often get you beat. Fast break press will give you a shot against better teams with short benches. Zone will let you play 8 - 9 guys and you can take ineligibles, who sometimes slip through the cracks, and guys with lots of potential who will redshirt, because you only need 8 guys. You can also intelligently gamble on guys because taking walkons is not the end of the world. Anyway, just my 2 cents.

To your question, the general overall idea is the same as all divisions. I don't recruit that differently from d1 to d3.
1. Take what the game gives you. Sometimes you really need that pg and there just isn't one you can reasonably get who is any good. But a pf has fallen through the cracks to you. Take the good pf, not a below average pg, and make the pg position work somehow. So after a few cycles look around and see who isn't being recruited that would help you and take a chance. Sometimes other schools notice them and you have a decision to make, but sometimes they don't, especially early signers, and you can sneak better talent than you maybe should be able to just because you're observant. Your goal in your first couple seasons will be to win the 23 sim games on your schedule if you schedule 10 nonconference, to increase prestige. You can do that by just out talenting them.
2. Be the bully, don't get bullied. Look at some of the d2 teams around you. All the good ones will have d1 level players. Your goal should be to be an all star d2 team early in your tenure. In most cases if you took the top 12 players on d2 teams within a 300 mile radius of vmi, you'd be a decent d1 team. So don't be afraid to battle the d2 team for a player that will help you beat the sims rather than the B prestige team who probably has you beat most of the time if the player is any good. Of course preferences and priority can give you a reasonable shot against higher prestige teams but you have to be smart and observant in your choices.
3. Worry about cores. For guards and wings at low level d1 you should want guys who will have a sum of 240 with athleticism, speed and defense after growth. In addition it would be nice if they can do one other thing like pass or shoot, but you won't always find that. In bigs athleticism and defense should sum to 160 after growth and it is nice if they can do one other thing, mainly rebound or score. You may not get both.
4. Offer starts and minutes. It's why I like fast break press for rebuilds, because you can offer starts to 5 guys a season and your true starters still play a bunch, just off the bench. This leads into #5,
5. Find guys you don't have to spend money on who can play for you. It goes back to being a bully. Offering a guy a start and minutes will often, not always, scare off the d2 teams. If you can get them for nothing then you can max resources in a couple battles that you feel you can win for guys that are at the next level.
6. And this one can be the toughest, don't fall in love too deeply and know when to let go. It's like when you date the girl way out of your league, enjoy it while it lasts because it probably won't last forever. It's great to lead for a day on the stud you should never get, but if mr. A+ comes around and you realize you have no chance it is better to cut bait earlier rather than later and find that next target.

Like it was mentioned above, there is more than one way to be successful, but have a plan and bring in talent and you'll do okay. To me the key is beating sims for a few seasons, and as your prestige goes up so should the level of player you should target in recruiting, which allows for more gambles because you'll have more of a shot with those gambles and you'll be able to secure the talent a tier down easier if you miss.

great advice!

one addition for the op - i'm not sure if this is your first d1 season anywhere, but a good rule of thumb is if you wouldn't be freaking stoked to get a guy on your d2 team, don't consider him. you have massively more resources for scouting and recruiting over the d2 teams, and better buying power (prestige), so make sure you are at least getting guys who would be at least as good as the beastly d2 players.

i highly recommend looking around for non-bcs teams who are in the B range, maybe C+, you'll find teams who recently were lower and have succeeded and gotten ~1 grade or more from a few seasons ago. look at their upperclassmen who were recruited on similar prestige as you, and that gives you a good sense of what you can get. regional differences and the quality of the recruiting crop definitely affect stuff there but its a good way to get a feel for the kind of guys you'll be looking for to get you to the next level. also, be patient, if you can pick up a grade of prestige in a cycle (4 seasons) and start again in a much stronger spot, that's good progress. d1 is very hard the first time around, incremental progress is the goal and celebrate every success! good luck