Recruiting question regarding pitch and visits

[casperthegm]

I'm on my first offseason and would prefer not to mess it up, so I hope you don't mind a couple of quick questions that might seem obvious to the vets;

 

#1; I read a post that said to hold off on pitching to a recruit until the later weeks in recruiting, so that I'll know what the recruit really wants to hear. My first week through I scouted interested recruits and back got 2 things that are important to each recruit. Do I keep scouting each week to see which one comes up most often, so that's how I'll know what to pitch? (and what week should that be?)

 

#2; Each recruit that I've gone after so far typically has 9-10 interest, a couple were 7-8 interest. The report after the first week shows anywhere from low, to average to very high, to top one. The low to average seem a little odd, since their interest in me started high. Should I just give up on the low to average interest guys and move on?

 

Thanks again for the help.

 

Justin

[unreal5]

I am also interested in knowing this as well.

 

Is it better to pitch early or to wait and make it the correct pitch?

[bsmitty]

Some general observations: if a player has multiple offers after 1-2 weeks, they are likely going to accept a scholly early in the recruiting cycle. If you want them to consider you, you may have to offer and hope you nail the pitch. If they don't have many offers, you can take your time and learn what is important to them. I put more value into the interest level. If they start off 9-10 and then drop (especially after a visit), I most likely stop recruiting them (two teams I have coached - Texas and Tennessee - both major programs). Also, if you open the player card and your team is green and not blue, you are likely not getting that player.

[unreal5]

Thanks for the response.

 

That helps immensely. I'm coaching a horrible team in the Pac-12 (just so happens that in 2 years, FOUR of the playoff teams have been from the Pac-12) and so I'm only going after 3 star recruits and trying to develop them.

 

In the 2 years that I've been coaching, I've been GIFTED two 4 star recruits who wanted to play for us. So I recruited them hard. Went all out max and waited on my pitch to nail it. I was their top choice all throughout and then in the end they decided to go to different schools.

 

Any idea what I might be doing wrong here?

[william1993]

well, I've gotten green players in the past, so sometimes it helps if they are in the same state as you are.

 

You didn't do anything wrong. Sometimes a recruit just doesn't want you, no matter how hard you went in on them. You give them the 5 star treatment but maybe sometimes being close to home or on a team with some HS friends is just too much to take him away.

 

You have to learn who to fight for, who is WORTH fighting for, and when to fight for them.

[bsmitty]

William, follow up question on the green indicator for interest. If you're max $ recruiting them and they've visited and it still remains green, at what point do you move on? Especially if it's a 4-5 star recruit? I typically move on by week 10-11 of the recruiting phase but I'm wondering if I should hold out or even go ahead and offer?

 

I've played about 20 seasons total (my sense is you've played much more than that?). I typically try to avoid offering someone after say week 12 unless I'm very certain they will accept. I've thrown offers to 5 star guys early when they already have multiple offers b/c I at least want to have a shot.

 

Other observation - I coached Texas for about 12 years, got the team cruising (won 2 champ) and then took an offer from Tennessee just for the challenge. I completely undervalued recruiting a smaller state that produces few HS recruits and the higher costs involved. If you're starting out and learning the game, one suggestion is to pick a team in Texas, Florida, California - a state that produces a lot of recruits because it will be cheaper and you can use the "Location" pitch more effectively. Just a thought.

[olympia]

I tend to scout lots the first week, but will spend some money on recruiting without locking in a pitch.

 

Once my scouts determine the proper pitch, then I lock it in and spend as much as I can. I've coached smaller teams like ECU and rebuilding bigger ones like Tennessee. I may not get a lot of 5 stars, but load up on 4's (3's at the smaller schools). A lot of times, I think there is just some luck involved. Sometimes no matter what you do, the guy will not sign with you (or small chance). I played around with the recruiting one time to see how different things worked (replaying a week over and over without saving it). Interesting that different players would sign or not sign even though I did nothing different (luck factor).

 

Like most, start with the guys who are high and very high on you. But there is a chance of getting a guy from "AVERAGE" interest to sign with you over time. Sometimes I have good luck jumping on a guy with no offers late in the cycle. One tip is to watch and track their interest each week. If the interest is waning and other teams are jumping on the player, it might be best to cut and run. Spend the resources where they have the best chance of paying off. Email players that say they want to play there and even Top Ones with the very highest interest are not guaranteed to sign with you. JUST like the real world, these kids can change their mind at the drop of a hat (I often think the other team "paid" them or used some other illegal tactic to steal "my" player). Trial and Error - only remember what worked last time wont work every time (but those 75% success tactics are worth repeating)

[bsmitty]

Has anyone been successful getting a kid who started off with interest around 5-7? I don't even try for those guys because I figure it's wasted money. And my guess is even if you were able to land a guy who started off that low, the overall odds of trying to recruit those players is very low.

[william1993]

I've done the people with low interest before. It usually only works when your school has high prestige or something is wrong with that recruit (low gpa, low durability) where nobody wants to take a chance on him. I've offered people before who had 9 interest then it goes down to 5 when more people from the same position commit but I still get the 5 interest becaues I offered him and literally nobody else did. But there's a luck element to it

[bsmitty]

William good point on the interest level dropping from a player when you secure a commit from another player at the same position. I actually like that because it reminds me to consider stop recruiting at that position and reallocate funds as necessary.