Posted by luthien33 on 2/3/2013 2:51:00 PM (view original):
You guys have given me some AWESOME advice!! I know now that my recruitment for Grove City was a disaster and if I continue there, I will grow even more frustrated and quit this game.
So I have decided to take all your good advice and move to the Allen world. I'm looking at the Westminster team which has 9 seniors leaving and 3 freshmen. It could be a good start. What are your thoughts?
my thoughts are, definitely do not take this team.
handling a team with such an unusual class size is a challenge, one you could do without! you have to carefully balance things, and a single bad class when those 9 guys leave, is just brutal. plus, then you have a year with no upperclassmen (except any you recruit - again, more complication), and then another with no seniors. those are tough seasons. a veteran coach might take this situation and build for a great season in 4 seasons, knowing they are going to suffer along the way. but for a new coach, thats just about a worst case.
additionally, the most important process in this game is looking at what you've got, and adding the players you need (ideally, looking ahead a couple seasons). the best way to start to work on that is to have a normal class to recruit (2-6 players) every year, you will get the most practice that way. so, i'd find a team with fairly balanced classes - no classes with 0, no classes over 5, would be nice. ideally find one with some decent players - schools who had human coaches are often a good place to get started. that way you have something to work with, and aren't 100% depending on a great recruiting job. if you find a decent starting situation, you can recruit, hit some, miss some, and still do OK, start making the post season and stuff, that should make it a lot easier to ease in to the water :)
just a comment on my note about not worrying about a walkon here or there. its true that more advanced coaches do it all the time to have more money for recruiting, and theres a lot of strategy in that. but for a new coach, its doubly important - just take that pressure off yourself. theres no need to put so much emphasis on filling every spot every year, like most new coaches do. i think it ultimately hurts new coaches, because they focus on the wrong thing - having a full team - instead of simply, a good one. signing 3 good players with 4 openings is definitely a success, but a lot of people get too hung up on the 1. i mean, you cant push it too far - you still need to have like, 4 guards, 4 bigs, and 10 players total, or you start to get in trouble (technically, you can live with less than 10, but not a good idea for a new coach). but that means that you can shoot to have 12 guys, miss on 1 or 2, and still you are alright - thats a pretty good cushion.
this game can be a lot of fun, but its also fairly complicated/detailed, so as others have said, its best to just be patient, and enjoy the small successes along the way - a good recruit, a big win, that kind of stuff, not just an end-of-season result. if you focus on those little things along the way, you will get the hang of it soon enough.
2/3/2013 4:31 PM (edited)