DD CF 21' Recruiting Tips / Handbook?

[sin44]

Loving the detail in recruiting this year! I am alittle lost, so would appreciate any tips on how others setup and maintain their recruiting:

1) How many recruiting points do you assign to a prospect per week? (I started with mostly 5 and boosted it to 10 for guys I really wanted). Should this be more heavy like 30-40 points towards players I hope to make a move on?

2) When do you offer scholarships? I started by offering week one to see if I could get any instant commits. But not sure if that gives a huge boost in points when you do

3) Is there a way to see who has high interest in your program? I started as Michigan, so targeted players in Michigan and Ohio/in the proximity. Then spread out to high end guys that seemed like a good fit.

4) How does the computer do with auto recruiting?

5) Dumb question but do results on the field play a role in players committing or losing interest if you have a down season?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can offer any guidance. The recruiting is so well done and in-depth, that it's intimidating (AND THAT'S A COMPLIMENT! Kudos to the Wolverine Studios team for really fleshing this out).

If one doesn't exist I would love someone to make a youtube video explaining recruiting or if there is a handbook that would be awesome.

[arodtwlv]

linking some 2 older guides that I think for most part are relevant (devs can correct me if wrong):
viewtopic.php?f=314&t=31065
viewtopic.php?f=314&t=25516


1) Not sure if changed due to now being able to go to 20 points, but I think other schools will always max their points for guys they're after...so if you know he's targeted by someone else know that if you put 5, the other school is putting max (either 10 or 20 idk this version). I usually do 10 points to start and then see if anyone's targeting my guys, if not then I leave it or slowly knock points off. If competition I re-asses and either boost or use the contact boosts or just drop him all together to focus elsewhere.

2) I offer top guys pre-seasion / before week 1. In past versions I think it gave you slight leg up, but can't remember. Either way I usually know who i want (or at least 80% of my board pre-season). Instant commits are rare, I don't expect recruits to come in until week 7 or so.

3) Interest will come once you've added to board, but not before then. Have to add first to know. Proximity, prestige etc will give u idea tho ahead of time and how well you know ur program and others.

4) See 1) and/or just run multiple seasons with auto recruiting to get feel for it. I'll sometimes do mix where I'll "scout" guys myself aka add guys to board pre-season and then let cpu handle rest. This way I can "guide" the cpu towards some hidden gems.

5) Not entirely sure, but I think it was said somewhere that recruits do take slight notice in your school's performance and momentum. Would love to hear from devs on that.

I think I've seen 2 guys do youtube vids, but they're from older versions when it comes to recruiting ('19 and before). One guy did a 2020 version, but he simmed seasons and I don't think walked thru his recruit process.

My workflow is pre-season after redshirts and training (but before week 1) I"ll go thru every senior graduating, figure out who needs replacing and then target 2 guys for every guy leaving. Tier 1 guy is my #1 want at each position and the tier 2 guy is my backup (often 1 or 2 stars since those are usually gimmies). I offer tier 1's pre-season and give say 10 points per tier 1 guy (math is uually you get between 12-18 points / scholarship (idk for diff schools and prestige, but this was for a low prestige and high prestige saves I've run)) and I'll also offer scholly right away. For my tier 2's I'll give all 1 point so I start building some goodwill.

During season If tier 1 guy goes to bad guy or bunch of higher ranked teams chase him, I'll drop him completely and either 1) look at uncommitted dudes with no offers and chase them, or 2) just put full points (10 in my case usually) into my tier 2 guys that I know I can 90-95% get at anytime. Guys who are under 1) who usually don't have offers often come from places w/o big schools (Hawai'i, Alaska, Puerto Rico, etc).

Scouting: still figuring out since changed between alpha and final release so don't have updated workflow for that besides excel exports and spreadsheets I run.

[sin44]

Incredibly helpful, thank you!

[Arquinton]

how do you handle the tasks such as home visits and interviews etc....

[justasample]

linking some 2 older guides that I think for most part are relevant (devs can correct me if wrong):
viewtopic.php?f=314&t=31065
viewtopic.php?f=314&t=25516


1) Not sure if changed due to now being able to go to 20 points, but I think other schools will always max their points for guys they're after...so if you know he's targeted by someone else know that if you put 5, the other school is putting max (either 10 or 20 idk this version). I usually do 10 points to start and then see if anyone's targeting my guys, if not then I leave it or slowly knock points off. If competition I re-asses and either boost or use the contact boosts or just drop him all together to focus elsewhere.

2) I offer top guys pre-seasion / before week 1. In past versions I think it gave you slight leg up, but can't remember. Either way I usually know who i want (or at least 80% of my board pre-season). Instant commits are rare, I don't expect recruits to come in until week 7 or so.

3) Interest will come once you've added to board, but not before then. Have to add first to know. Proximity, prestige etc will give u idea tho ahead of time and how well you know ur program and others.

4) See 1) and/or just run multiple seasons with auto recruiting to get feel for it. I'll sometimes do mix where I'll "scout" guys myself aka add guys to board pre-season and then let cpu handle rest. This way I can "guide" the cpu towards some hidden gems.

5) Not entirely sure, but I think it was said somewhere that recruits do take slight notice in your school's performance and momentum. Would love to hear from devs on that.

I think I've seen 2 guys do youtube vids, but they're from older versions when it comes to recruiting ('19 and before). One guy did a 2020 version, but he simmed seasons and I don't think walked thru his recruit process.

My workflow is pre-season after redshirts and training (but before week 1) I"ll go thru every senior graduating, figure out who needs replacing and then target 2 guys for every guy leaving. Tier 1 guy is my #1 want at each position and the tier 2 guy is my backup (often 1 or 2 stars since those are usually gimmies). I offer tier 1's pre-season and give say 10 points per tier 1 guy (math is uually you get between 12-18 points / scholarship (idk for diff schools and prestige, but this was for a low prestige and high prestige saves I've run)) and I'll also offer scholly right away. For my tier 2's I'll give all 1 point so I start building some goodwill.

During season If tier 1 guy goes to bad guy or bunch of higher ranked teams chase him, I'll drop him completely and either 1) look at uncommitted dudes with no offers and chase them, or 2) just put full points (10 in my case usually) into my tier 2 guys that I know I can 90-95% get at anytime. Guys who are under 1) who usually don't have offers often come from places w/o big schools (Hawai'i, Alaska, Puerto Rico, etc).

Scouting: still figuring out since changed between alpha and final release so don't have updated workflow for that besides excel exports and spreadsheets I run.

Thank you for this info. Very helpful

[JWW]

arodtwlv, thanks for the advice. There just isn't much written about the details of recruiting strategy, and the videos don't go into detail. Yours was the most helpful advice I've found. Generally using your tier 1/tier 2 method, I've been able to improve my recruiting in my Louisiana-Monroe career. I finished the 2029 season ranked #31 in recruiting, grabbing 2 4-stars and the rest 3-stars including some high 3-stars. I've found I can manage to keep my recruiting in the 3-star level, though sometimes near the bottom of it.

Strictly recruiting by position that needs to be filled is very important, I've found. It seems obvious, but it wasn't when I started. I now recruit entirely by position. If I lose two guards to graduation and need two guards, for example, I will target four guards, two of higher quality, two of lower quality. I will offer scholarships to the higher quality ones first. If they don't show interest fairly fast, I cut them loose and move on. I finally learned that hanging on with recruits showing no interest is virtually always a losing proposition. If one signs with another school, then I add another guard, always targeting four guards until I get my two. Of course you don't always need to replace your seniors one for one, depending on how many you have returning for the position, but that is definitely where to start making your recruiting decisions.

In addition, I will go after two or three local in-state 4-stars, regardless of position. I usually lose them, but sometimes I get one.

Anyway, thanks again for helping me set up a system. I was doing something along those lines before, but in a disorganized manner. I finally started taking notes during recruiting and organizing the process much better after reading your post.