Recruiting - What I do (a mini guide).

[tarek]

Hey everyone,

I'm a casual DDS gamer but I've played many iterations over the years. I'm not the best, nor well versed at all aspects of the games and the respective sports, but I have fun. I thought i'd put together some thoughts about what I do with DDS:CB 2020 in terms of recruiting.

Caveat: I'm an Australian so I don't have a tremendous in-depth knowledge of College Basketball so if I make a few errors please forgive me.

The Setup

I'm going to base my thoughts on a mid-tier team DePaul. The team sits in the Big East Conference (Prestige:78) and has a team prestige of 45 (after about 4 seasons I usually get that up to around 53ish.

Step 1: Assistant Coaches

First thing I do is pick my assistants. I usually follow the following format:

1st Assistant: I aim to hire the best assistant I can here, based on reputation, offensive, defensive and player development ratings. Usually if you get a 1st Assistant that is over 60 reputation they are great. You usually need to pay them around $80-90K for a couple seasons, but they are worth it. If you get a great 1st assistant with a high recruiting rating (some ex-HCs are like that) then bring them in knowing they will only be on staff for a couple seasons.

2nd/3rd Assistant: For the remaining staff I pick one with the best scouting rating I can get, and another with the best recruiting rating I can get. If you rely on your 1st assistant for practice, then having more 'specialist' coaches in the 2nd and 3rd slot is fine.

How much money do you need?

I usually need around $20-30K for weekly recruiting, which means I spend the rest on reports and/or Camps. The reason for this is usually you want to have a verbal by mid-September for your primary targets, then during the season recruiting is quite slow since you'll already have invited a recruit to campus and you're just watching and calling each week. You're also capped per week with 3 live scouts (when applicable), 3 campus visits and 4 home visits (when applicable) so unless you are going after internationals you can somewhat manage costs pretty well.

Choosing Reports

First choice you usually need to make is what report you buy. Honestly, I don't put that much into the reports because I think old school recruiting is better. I also think the reports don't fully captue interest and your coach and assistant capabilities when it comes to recruiting. The most 'accurate' report in terms of interest is your region report. I figure, if a kid in your region has no interest in your school, then they don't want to go since they will at least have more of an informed point of view. So what I usually do is:

1. Buy normal region report
2. If you have alot of $$, buy your region gold report

I don't normally get the national or international reports. I'd rather test those recruit interest in the first week of recruiting.

Choosing Camps

I find the camps are the best source of information on a recruits performance. So in this sense I always choose a national camp (you can only pick one) at the appropriate level (Indy or East Coast usually) and your regional camp as must haves. If you have a spare $4k or so i'd recommend another camp and if you are flush with recruiting funds I would preference attending all the regional camps over one of the gold reports (but that is just my personal preference).

The first week of recruiting

After you've selected your report, camp it's time to start the first week of recruiting. At this point I normally ensure my best assistant is assigned to recruiting, even if they are the 1st assistant who would normally be running practices. You don't start practice until around mid-late September and those first 2 months of recruiting are absolutely critical.

To set up my first week recruit lists I do the following (bear in mind I'm going with DePaul and my goal is to get 4* recruits and maybe jag a 5*, 3* recruits are only considered if they are deemed 'diamonds in the rough'):

1. Since i've selected my region report (basic or gold) I filter for all 5 star and then 4 star recruits in my region. Add any who have shown any form of interest.
2. Filter all 5* recruits nationwide and add all with the ? symbol.
3. Filter all 4* recruits nationwide and start adding until you run out of spots on your list.

Note: When I say add I mean to both call and watch lists. I find there is no use having them on the watch list without the call list, particularly this early in the piece. That only becomes a factor if you are running out of funds, and if thats the case now, you're in a bad spot.

Why add all the ? recruits? Well in my experience I've found that if you are a mid tier school and buy the national report, every single 5* and 4* recruit out of your region will show up as 'None' for interest. I've found this can be misleading, as even if a recruit in this case shows 'None' there are circumstances where you can call them, select the 'give me 5 minutes of your time' option and spark up a little bit of interest to move them to 'Cool'. By not adding the national report, all of these recruits show as ? so it's like you are actively going to filter them for interest in the first week of the recruiting season.

4. All those 5* or 4* recruits who showed interest, invite them for a campus visit. You should have more than 3 but in the rare cases you might not, then drop the last ? 4* on your list, go to your region and filter by 3* and add the first recruit who showed any interest (region or local your choice) and invite them for a campus visit.
5. Watch game film of all those showing interest and then either all the 5* recruits in order, or whatever you choose. Just remember this first week is designed to solidify interest from your region recruits and cast the net as wide as possible to see if you have any interest from recruits you would normally consider outside your range.

Note: GPA doesn't factor just yet because recruits with the ? symbol have no information, not even GPA, so you'll find that out after you call them once.

6. Dial your region recruits and uncover as much of their interests as possible. You might get through 2-3 recruits. It's not a big deal just spend all your phone 'points'.

Once this set up is done, you are ready to advance to the second week.

The second week of recruiting - plus the start of national camps

After your first week you will open up your call list and not surprisingly you will see a bunch of 'None' interest form the 5* and 4* recruits. This is normal, why would they want to play for you when the big schools are chasing them. But hey, you did your due diligence and that matters. However, sometimes if you are lucky you might get a handful of recruits who you never would have thought possible come back as 'Cool'. It's worth looking at them more closely.

First, check their GPA, if you know the GPA required for your school, this will be your first filter. As DePaul we need a 900 SAT for entry. Anyone less that 2.5 GPA is probably really suspect. It's a high risk to recruit someone with a 2.3GPA or below. Sometimes those who turn 'Cool' are those with really low GPAs, and if they a high school recruits, you can forget them. If they are a JUCO player, different story, they just need a 2.0 or greater GPA to transfer to your school (however note they will be coming in as a Junior not a freshman).

Then I follow the following steps:

1. Anyone new who has shown interest, in order of their rank, invite them for a campus visit. Sometimes they will decline, but I've found if you re-invite them they sometimes say yes on the 2nd or 3rd click. Or if they decline just skip them to the next person who hasn't been to campus and come back to them in a later week once they warm up a bit more.
2. Repeat step 3 from week before, i.e. add more 4* ? recruits in order. The reason for this is because most of them will feature in a national camp (hence why I usually go with the Indy Camp) and you'll get a snapshot of how they went. If you want to get extra fancy, if you know what position you are targeting, you can add based on position to give you more bang for your buck.
3. Once you've filled your list again, and you've used your campus visits, then (because I believe week 2 is an evaluation week) whoever is warm I go a live scout because I think it adds a little bit of extra interest from the recruit.

After that, advance and go through the national camps.

What to look out for in the camps

In the camps i've found you usually get the following reports:

* Player was easily in the top 5
* Player was top 10
* Player was in the top 25
* Player had a decent, but not spectacular showing at the camp
* Player did not really stand out at the camp

The correlation i've usually found (although this isn't foolproof) is as follows:

A player in the top 5 or top 10 should be a major target for you. They usually equate to players who can come in and play right away, or they have a high/tremendous work ethic. Players in the top 25 also fit the bill, but can sometimes come in with more potential than immediate ability and hence present a risk. these players also err on the side of having high work ethic but not always. Players who are decent might have issues. Players who don't stand out are still okay, sometimes there are issues with effort, leadership, they are more raw or other stuff. A high rated recruit who performs poorly doesn't necessarily mean they are bad, they might have a 4-5* potential, but they might only come in as a 1* player, and thus present a risk that they may never reach potential. This isn't the end of the world if you think you can redshirt them, but it's up to you. If you want a sure fire player look for those players who get into the top 5 or top 10. If they are top 5 in a national and regional camp, they are going to be solid players.

Example: One season I had a 3* recruit who was ranked in the 200 range who was top 5 at the east coast jam and top 5 in the regional camp. His coach then said he had tremendous work ethic and never missed practice. I knew I had to have him. I knew the upside might not be there but I would be getting a solid contributor. When he came in as a freshman he was a 3.5* player with a potential to 4*. He was consistent and solid throughout his time, far better than some much higher ranked recruits from other seasons.

What to look for in campus visits

Similar to the camp results, there are a few standard responses. I don't know if i've remembered them all, but they are usually:

* I had an awesome time
* I had a cool visit
* I appreciate the time
* I don't think this will work out

Usually a player who says it won't work out moves from 'Cool' to 'None' so you can cut them away. An appreciate the time player will usually stay at 'Cool', feel free to keep pursuing them, but they are difficult to snag. A cool visit player moves from 'Cool' to 'Warm' (or stays at warm if already there). An awesome visit player is going to definitely look at your school, they are the ones who have you on their radar as much as you have them on yours.

Third week and the first week or two in August

By the third week you should have a solid selection of recruits and now it's time to add those 3* recruits from your region that have shown interest but were sitting back idle whilst you tested the nation 5* and 4* recruits. At this point some recruits have moved to 'None' after an unsuccessful visit, others from the national 4* list didn't show any interest so you should cut them away. All in all if you're lucky you should have a standard of 20ish recruits, with about a quarter having been on a campus visit.

At this point you can keep add ? 4* recruits to see if you generate interest, or maybe an international, or maybe a few more JUCOs, or just the 3* in region recruits. Keep an eye on GPA and make sure you aren't giving your spot to a low GPA player when you could be giving it to someone else.

At this time you should be starting to form a real picture of who is a realistic target, who is interested but high risk, and who just stands out for a number of factors (shown usually in their interest areas, coach and parent comments, etc). Keep inviting players to campus (once you get past the dead week), keep watching film, keep calling them up.

Once you get to the 2nd week of August (maybe 1st if you've had a solid run with recruits) you should know who you want to offer a scholarship to. They have interests which compliment your own strengths for the home visit, they were either an awesome or cool visit recruit, they've shown some chops at a camp or two. At this point, in the 2nd week of August, if you are comfortable you should make them a scholarship offer.

With an early scholarship offer, it seems like more interest is generated in those last few weeks before home visits. The recruit knows you are for real, and your chances of landing that recruit get better. Now you just need to nail that home visit.

Make or break - the home visit

The home visits are where in all comes down to. I focus on the players I've given scholarships to, and the alternates who are really high on the radar too. I've still got all others on my list, maintaining interest with weekly calls, just in case I need to pivot to them. I use my 4 home visits in order of priority and focus on something in their top 3 which really matches my strengths.

For example, DePaul is in the Big East with good conference prestige, my facilities are upgraded to B+ and I have a decent team prestige. My coach isn't too disciplined (average only) so that doesn't matter, and academics are decent at C+ so I can pitch that if it makes sense.

So pick your pitch and hopefully you've read the situation right (combining parents needs too if required) and you can advance.

I can't remember all the different replies for the home visits but the one you are REALLY looking for is the one that says you really impressed and they can't wait to see you on the court next season. Those recruits have all but made up their mind, and you should be #1 on their list. If one of them already had a scholarship offer, they might already accept, if they haven't, you have a decision to make. Maybe the player you had a scholarship with turned you down, which makes it an easy decision, maybe they said you impressed them but aren't totally sold, maybe they said it was okay. Usually the players that said the visit was okay have another scholarship offer and they will err towards that one not yours. You can choose to keep trying and go for another home visit, or cut them loose and revoke that scholarship.

My personal preference is to try and have all my scholarships committed to by mid-late September, but on years where I might have 3 scholarships to give out, if I have 2 committed I might take a risk with the 3rd one. If that doesn't pan out, I've got the rest of the season to pivot to another player.

What happens after the first flurry or verbal commitments?

Usually by early October all the early commitments have been made. You'll remove players who have chosen another school, and add players who are still unsigned. If you have used up all your scholarships, honestly you can keep recruiting, or just waste the money you have left how you see fit (note: it's always best to spend ALL your recruiting fund, even if you have already given out all your scholarships, it helps to make the board request later).

Some of the things you might want to do if you have that final scholarship or even if you don't, is to go through and check who didn't verbally commit. Usually they are players with low GPAs who didn't get offers because of the risk they present in qualifying for schools. Feel free to add them to the list (watch AND call) and just keep them maintaining interest. Or add a few internationals and see if you can generate interest in them.

After that the regular season starts and recruiting should become less of a focus.

The regular season and waiting for SAT scores

The remainder of the season I might invite a player or two to campus, watch some film of players, and keep some low GPA 5* or 4* recruits on the list just in case. I've often found there isn't that much to do during this period, but you want to keep an eye on the end of January as a key date. Because that is the date the SAT scores are given.

When SAT scores are updated (usually 29 Jan I think) that should cause you to take another look at the recruiting pool. Maybe that recruit on 2.3 GPA did great in the testing and managed to get a score that allows entry to your school, or maybe a JUCO player is looking more interesting. If a player who is good manages to get an SAT score that meets your requirements, and you have a scholarship offer, then feel free to go hard after them. If not, go with maybe a 3* player who showed early promise and who you've visited at home as has you #1 on their list, because you know as soon as you give them a scholarship chances are they are verbally committing. How you play this is up to you, I normally try to swing and miss with a player who jags the SAT score, but sometimes that just isn't the case and none of the remaining 'good' players make the cut off. In that case I go with a position of need, and a recruit who really wants to be in my program, and usually favor a local kid in this instance, knowing that i'll probably be redshirting them their freshman year.

The end and back to the beginning

After that you will get your late commits, the season will end and if you have a spare scholarship you might throw it at a transfer player, but I rarely find they are worth it.

So that's my mini guide for what I do with recruiting in DDS:DB 2020. As I said at the top I'm no expert, and I'm constantly learning new things about the game. But it's an amazing experience and I hope that someone who reads this finds some value in it. If you have any more questions just ask, I can share stories, more ideas/tips or generally love to learn from others and what they do that works or doesn't work and try to incorporate that into my recruiting rhythm.

[Wayne23]

This is great! I would only add that if you're at a lower ranked school save some money for Spring recruiting. You can sometimes snag a decent recruit or two who was not offered a scholarship by the school(s) he wanted.

[tarek]

Thank you!! Yeah I haven't played a small school in a while but what I've found is there are hardly ever any 5* or 4* recruits who haven't verbally committed after October except those with suspect GPA scores. But 3* recruits? There are plenty and depending on whether you saw them at a camp or not, can be a really solid option. And after you get that first gauge on how they like the school after their campus visit, keeping them on the call list is easy and only burns $5 per week.

If I still have a scholarship open during the season I try and keep my call list at around 15-20 recruits so it only costs $75-$100 per week. And if you have around $5-6K available for that in season you should have enough for the visits and then the home visits to secure their verbal in March.

I find recruiting so much fun. And once you get a little system going for your school and level and work your strengths it's almost like magic sometimes.