If he does leave, I will have around $60,000 and probably a B+ prestige to go SG shopping with. That would be a lot except Kansas is in the final four and going to have $110,000 and an A+ prestige.

But if Virginia can win the NT and not have anyone leave early, maybe making the Elite 8 will not cause anyone to leave for me, which would be great. Much rather recruit for 2 with $45,000.

Well, got up to a B+ prestige, and I lost Benson and Flood and Baker came back.

That leaves a great frontcourt, the best I have ever had, and maybe the best in the country. Seriously. I return everyone, all 6 C, PF, SF from a Elite 8 team that was a post-based team.

But as good as my frontcourt is, my backcourt is in complete discord. Losing both starters is rough. Wyble will able to start now at PG as a sophomore, and despite the IQ, I think he can be almost as good as Canchola, especially if he has a good offseason:

Wyble Sophomore PG to be:

Ath 76, Spd 95, Reb 1, Def 77, Per 40, BH 80, Pass 85, WE 73 Stm 85, FT B-

IQs B/B/C+

So with a little more growth in defense, Perimeter, BH/Passing, we could be ok here. Not a strength, but maybe enough to distribute the ball if he has a 3% or 5% distro for his own shot without too many TO.

SG sucks. I hate Kansas(the state not the school), we haven't had a decent SG (top 100 at his position) in 3 years and it is killing me.

Boynton can't start on a final 4 contender. I need a juco SG or a transfer or a great freshman that learns fast.

But I got a B+ prestige and $60,000 to spend, and 1 position and 1 player I need.....this could be a really great year with the correct player.

Well recruiting preparation is complete. I need a PG, a SG and my nice to have would be a big to develop after this season since I will lose 2 PFs and have 2 senior centers next year, and I don't want to play Freshman too much if I can help it.

My recruiting this year is going to be interesting. Kansas and Oklahoma and Missouri all have a ton of money, prestige and open spots, but as we slowly rise, the threat from the C/C+ level teams lessens. I don't see getting any 5-star guys this year, but we'll see.

Recruiting in D1 makes me think of a quote I once heard that was attributed to Dwight D. Eisenhower when asked later about planning for D-day.

Paraphrasing, he said the plan was useless after first contact with the enemy, but the months spent planning were invaluable.

My recruiting planning is always valuable, but I have no idea what is going to happen. I could get anyone from a list with about 30 names on it, and I could get no one. Hopefully I get all 3 of my primary targets, but that will be pretty unlikely.

I find that it is generally a good idea to spent money on N-1 players in the first cycle, where N="the" number of openings you have. So I am working on my 2 targets. Obviously, I need a PG and a SG.

The difficult decision of who to go after first cycle is so important.

I have it down to 3 PGs, but its hard to decide....each has a unique reward (how good they are) and unique risks of what other schools I think will go after them. But the PG situation overall is pretty good.

There are 2 5-stars, a 4-star, and 3-4 good 2-3 star PGs within 300 miles of Wichita, so it shouldn't be too hard for me to find one that no one wants to battle for.

Most of the other local schools generally feel the same way, and in Kansas, there are only 3 schools with A, B+ and C- prestige, so pretty much we know who is getting who unless a foreigner comes in.

On the SG side I can identify exactly 2 SG within 350 miles I would want. Both have a high likelihood of battles. So I could go international, or farther afield. For $40,000 or so with a B+ even at 500 miles is still a lot for someone with lesser prestige to contend with.

My priorities though are probably SG first, PG second and then if that goes well, a local big. Or any big just to get some IQ improvement and some training before next year.

But man I feel good about my front line. My 4 C/PF average 81 ath, 58 spd, 95 reb, 84 defense, 96 blk, 94 low post and 38 passing. Plus a good 63 work ethic so I expect a little boost from the offseason.

Job changes:

UTEP, Texas Tech and Arkansas-Pine Bluff have all lost coaches, and the gains have all been pretty far from me (Western Carolina, Mt St Mary's, etc), so that is good for me :)

The only gain near me is at Lamar in Beaumont, TX which is a D- school so I don't really have much to fear there.

My rough guess is at comparable distance they'd have to outspend me 5:1 or something like that, so even locally I would have a 3:1 advantage. But probably anyone I want to recuit won't even talk to a D- school.

Its been a long time, but recruiting with a B-/B/B+ prestige is much easier than when I started with a D+/D my first 2 years. Although strangely you have almost less options since the majority of the 3, 4 and 5 star recruits are local to a A level team that is a big cash investment to battle.

Recruiting has begun, and so has the search for the missing piece of my team, which is a reliable 3 point shooting starting SG. Hopefully I can avoid battles and find that lucky guard who will don the Shockers Unis this fall.

Well, I started this thread when I got my first D1 gig in April 2009.  Since then I have had a lot of changes personally & professionally, and this week, for the first time I made the D1 Final Four, and actually won the NT.  Yay for me. 

I still think this thread is a great read for others just to see how one coach has had success in this game.