Wow, long time since my last update. So recruiting was not very exciting. I had $55,000 or $60,000, 2 open scholarships, and I just did nothing. Sat on it. I just never found a guy that was worth going all in for.
My top 2 targets were targeted by Kansas (6 open A prestige) and my B- prestige seemed like a waste of money when KU had a bankroll of 120,000.
So I just waited and took the best second tier players available. I am pretty happy, but it was a "avoided a big mistake" recruiting season, rather than "made great moves" season.
So my Recruits:
PG Vernon Canchola from Catoosa, OK 77th PG, 1-star
Ath 69+, Speed 79+, Reb 9, Def 69+, Blk 10, PER 42-, BH 75+, Pass 92, WE 27, STM 82, FT 62.6% (high), GPA 2.9
I think he was a real steal for $3500. No one ever bothered me for him from the first cycle I was on him. I bet he ends with 90 Ath, 95 Speed, 90 Defense, 90s in BH and Passing. And who knows how high his FT shooting will go to help ice games. Only limitation is he cannot shoot 3s. That is a weakness, but I usually take SFs that are more perimeter players than post players, so I think it will be ok. He is going to backup Hummel for 2 years and probably start his Junior and Senior Seasons.
My second recruit was about $12,000 since he was 400 miles away and an ineligible. I had to fight off Eastern Washington for him, but it wasn't really a battle. I was a B- and they were C-, and I had a 400 to 800 distance advantage too. So by the time I spent $7500 they were gone.
PF Donald Baker, #63rd PF, #255 overal 2-star from Hatch, NM
Ath 71+, Speed 51, Reb 72+, Def 55+, Blk 68+, LP 77+, Per 33, BH 19, Passing 23, WE 28, Stm 69, FT 75.1% (high), HS GPA 2.1
I am so pleased that Baker showed up on campus. He has a ton of high potential areas, and I think he could end up with a 90 ath / 60 speed to go with 90s in Rebounding, Shot Blocking and Low Post. Plus his PER/BH/Pass skills all have room for improvement, and he is a good FT shooter. I really hope I can get him for 5 years, because with his low (28) WE it is going to be hard to develop him, especially when he will need a lot of Study Hall. He came in with a D+ in Man to Man.
So not too bad, 2 useful players and I only spent $18,000 on them. Throw in a wasted $5,000 on some KU targets, scouting internationals, etc. and I saved around $34,000, which gave me an extra $8,500 for next year. I am going to spend about half of it on FSS and then use the rest for some battles. KU has 6 to recruit though, which sucks, because they will have $100-$120k, vs. my 90-105 and they will have a prestige advantage. But hopefully with a good year it will be less than the A vs. B- it is today. Or else I just have to get out of the way.
So far this year it has been a real grind. 6-4 in noncon about 90th RPI. Hopefully we can get it going in conference play and go 13-3 or something and make the NT for the 3rd straight year. I have 5 open scholarships, and would really like the extra $$$ and prestige.