Posted by dahsdebater on 9/19/2012 1:39:00 PM (view original):
Obviously this is off-topic, but I don't see why the 1000-mile rule SHOULDN'T (not arguing whether it does) apply across divisions. If you have a D2 and a D3 team, you're going to look at the D2 pool with both teams. Once you're doing that you will, at least subconsciously, wind up applying what you learn about recruits in the area for one team to your other team, even if it's only on the level of "well, I know there is a shortage of quality PGs around, so I better be careful to lock my guy up." And that's assuming you do your absolute best to actively avoid helping one team with the other.
i havent had d2/d3 teams that close from my own experience. i have had d1/d3 teams about 50 miles apart, and that obviously had no interaction. and ive also had d1/d2, about 200 miles apart, and the d1 school (due to a very strong acc and big east) recruited very much in the direction of my d2 school, so they had very very similar FSS states every year. i never saw an issue with it - i guess because both teams were high end for their division - if the d1 school was like a major rebuild d prestige, there would be more overlap. but with a+ uk, if i was ever looking at players my d2 school could recruit, it was the very quick eye scan for a total standout in 30 seconds type of thing. there were definitely a couple times i would see a guy and go hmm, nah, but still pretty good. and then in d2 i would be going through and see the same guy and go man hes good! wait, havent i seen him before? but i dont see the harm in that, the states were scouted on both schools independently, and if i saw a guy in a 30 second scan of a page of recruits, id definitely notice him in d2. i never went "oh hes good, i better scout state X" (helps state doesnt show on the ratings view maybe, but even before i knew it existed, i never saw an issue, either). and i definitely never got enough info to be meaningful, about the d1 landscape when i searched d1 with my d2 school and scrolled down to where i had a chance, in those 2 seconds while i scrolled down, nor about the d2 landscape in the 30 seconds i spent scanning the low end d1 recruits.
now, based on that experience, i would guess d2/d3 are similarly not really an issue, assuming you are generally having higher end recruiting views or lower end views with both schools. say you have an a+ school in both, close to each other. for starters, noticing "man not many pg options" for my d2 school has **** all to do with d3, you could have a ton of pg options for d3, but they are useless to d2. if you are the kind of coach who mostly looks up a division (like me), then you really are mostly looking at d1 with your d2 school, and quickly checking d2 for any standouts - certainly not surveying the scene adequately to make all these judgments about the general d3 situation. and if you happen to notice a good d2 player, but not good enough, and you aren't taking the effort to write them down or anything, or where they are from, then either 1) they fall into the same state as your d3 school is scouting regardless, and it doesnt matter you saw them, or 2) they dont fall into the same state as your d3 school, and you arent going to scout that state just because you glanced at that player for 2 seconds.
on the other hand, you could be the kind of guy who recruits heavily out of your own division. but you are probably that way for both schools then? (this might be a leap, having not coached d3 in a while). if thats the case, the d2 school is heavily looking at the d2 pool, but the d3 school is not. so any judgements you make about things like, gee, not many rebounding type bigs, they really dont apply. and also, if you happen to notice a player who is good but not good enough, and you arent specifically trying to note them or anything, i think it would again not really be an issue.
now, the biggest issue i see is this. the way i recruit, i really dont see an issue. but what about the way someone else recruits? it seems to me the normal ways i can think about really aren't a problem. but maybe different people are different. what kind of recruiting strategy do you see it really being a problem for? or what problems do you see in the strategies i suggested?
i honestly dont even have a problem with <insert very well respected and accomplished coach> having two d2 schools in the same conference very close to each other. maybe he still doesn't, and part of it is because i know hes an honest guy. i wouldnt think WIS should really allow the 2 teams in a conference thing for people not grandfathered in, but even in the two d2 schools in the same state situation (which is about as bad as it can get, no?), i dont think its that big of a deal. actually 2 d1 schools is probably worse. but those two d2 schools, they are probably not benefiting from each other's scouting, for the same reasons outlined above. the only real issue is they won't compete with each other, but i have conference mates all around me that i never or maybe once in 50 seasons have competed with. so i think its better NOT to have 2 schools in the same state, but for a coach who is not intentionally abusing it (if they are, doesnt matter where the schools are), i dont really think its that big of a deal, and people should be grandfathered in. the travesty of ruining their fun is a lot bigger crime, in my book.
the only case i really struggle with is d1, two schools in the same area, same prestige range (within a grade, or 4 partial grades maybe). i dont think that should be allowed, at least if those schools have overlapping 200 miles. you just might learn too much about what other schools are doing. and it is a slight unfair advantage to not compete with that other school ever, where you might sometimes. in d1, competition is MUCH higher, so those slight advantages have to be taken more seriously. but still, if there was a coach in my world with 2 a range prestige schools within 400 miles, i still wouldnt complain if they were grandfathered in, if they seemed to be doing things above board. however, i wouldnt allow it going forward.
IMO the rule should be, you cannot have schools with overlapping 360 miles regions (720 miles) in the same division. if i made a sim, i would only allow 1 team per division, but i would let you skip ahead in worlds (like, skip d3 if youve succeeded in d2 somewhere else, and skip d2 if youve succeeded in d1 somewhere else), and have multiple worlds on the same schedule. they would be like "sister worlds" to allow people to recruit on 1 schedule or maybe 3 schedules instead of 9 (with 9 teams). also, i WOULD allow the taking over of previous teams in divisions, but id do pulldowns/drop downs differently, with no overlap between divisions, that is just sloppy and without benefit, IMO. plus, id only have you scout your division players, if i had an FSS-like concept at all. so there would be absolutely no overlap between divisions like there is in HD. however, given the way HD is today, in the interest of not ruining peoples' fun, i would just make the rule, no 2 schools within 720 miles in the same division. and that is very possibly overly restrictive in highly competitive areas, there are lots of schools 4, 5, 6 hundred miles away i NEVER compete with on the east coast. but still, i dont think its worth the additional complexity to make different rules for different regions.