For what it’s worth, here are the prime indicators I use to gauge if a player is a possible early entry candidate. I evaluate all players for whom I expend significant recruiting effort (all in, or near max visits). I don’t mind early entry candidates, but I try not to have more than one in any given class. In order of importance:
1) Class ranking by position. Top 5 players by position are very likely to be on the big board prior to their senior year, and are EE candidates. Top 20 players by position are all in the watch zone for me. There are obviously some duds that never get too close, and you can spot them by potential. At the same time, there are (rarely) players out of the top 20 by position with high potential who can get to the big board prior to senior year, with maximized development.
2) LP/Per combo. If either projects to 90+, or if in combination they project to 140+, they may be early entry candidates, if some other baseline conditions are met.
3) Ath/Spd/Def core. In general, a 270 combo in those 3 will put the player in range, if other conditions are met. Sometimes guards with 100/100 ath/def, but under 80 speed can sneak by off the big board, even if they surpass the 270.
4) Skill cores all project above 80. For guards, it’s per, ball handling, speed; for bigs it’s rebounding, block, and LP. Keep in mind, the fake NBA GMs value skill cores (especially LP and per) more than the HD community does.
5) Overall near 800. This is the least important of the indicators, but especially if one or more of the indicators above is true, this one can be worth looking at, especially if the player has no glaring weakness at his position.
People mistakenly use the word “random” in relation to the big board and EEs. What they mean is probabilistic, of course. Even though a number is randomly generated to trigger the final decision, where that number lies on the player’s probability line is determined by how the system weighs his attributes, and how he stacks up relatively against everyone else. There is a rhyme and reason, it is our job as coaches to assess where each player we recruit lines up.
4/14/2018 3:18 PM (edited)