Developer Chat

Hoops Dynasty

admin

Tuesday, March 8, 2005

7:00 PM - 8:00 PM EST


The LIVE portion of this chat will begin on

Tuesday, March 8, 2005 at 7:00 PM EST.

Here's your chances to ask questions and/or provide comments/suggestions about RECRUITING in Hoops Dynasty. If you have questions about something other than recruiting, we'll be doing a series of chats to discuss different areas of HD. Please check the schedule.

Whats the best way to know when to give up on a recruit that doesn't seem interested? (firedog - Hall of Famer - 7:04 PM)

A recruit will not be interested in your program if you've either not done enough to garner his interest in your program, another school has a big lead or he's simply out of your league. It really depends on how badly you want the recruit. It's like knowing when to sell a stock - it's a judgment call on your part. One of the most common mistakes I see is that coaches give up too early - you can't be half pregnant. If you're going to go after a recruit, go hard. If you're going to give up, do it early in the process.

Is it important to do something EVERY recruiting cycle with a prospect? In other words, are those trips to the computer at 2:00 am doing me any good? (rockyg13 - Hall of Famer - 7:06 PM)

No, absolutely not. It's a big myth. Obviously the more you know about a player, the better, but there's no advantage by doing something with the recruit every 3 hours.

How important is the coaches recent success vs. the schools overall success in recruiting (lukagirl - Hall of Famer - 7:08 PM)

Both play a role in recruiting, just like in real life. I'm sure that if Coach K took a job at Stony Brook, they'd be landing much better players than they do today. Most recruits at look at both equally - along with the coach's reputation, loyalty, etc.

How does it make sense that teams with only 2 recruits or often even just 1 recruit can often end up with a #1 ranked recruiting class? (kcsundevil - Hall of Famer - 7:10 PM)

Ranking recruits is very subjective - we look at the weighted attributes of the recruit(s) that are signed by all schools. If I only had 1 scholarship and I signed LeBron James, I think that would be the best recruiting class I could have landed.

Will a successful recruiting formula from Div. 2 translate well in Div 1 by simply increasing the amount spent in each phase? (klinke - Hall of Famer - 7:11 PM)

Good question - we're just now going through seasons with coaches in DI so it's tough to say at this point. I think yes - the coaches that were good recruiters in DIII and DII will probably be good coaches in DI.

As far as regional recruiting goes, is it easier to get recruits who live by you just because of the price? Or do local recruits legitimatelly want to stay home? (aircartman - Veteran - 7:13 PM)

It's so much cheaper to recruit locally, it's a big advantage that's hard to overcome - especially in DIII. There is no inherent bias that kids will want to stay home though.

if i plan on spending 5,000 on a recruit, will i get the same results if I spend the 5,000 all in one cycle as i would if i spent 1,000 on him in 5 different cycles? (stoff - All-Star - 7:14 PM)

For the most part yes - assuming of course you are spending the $5,000 in the same way in both situations.

Must you have completed a home visit for a player to sign? (sreese - Hall of Famer - 7:14 PM)

No, but face to face contact is always more influential than letters and phone calls.

How does someone get caught offering Booster gifts? Can someone be turned in by another coach? (losboy - Hall of Famer - 7:15 PM)

How someone gets caught is a mystery of the WCAA - they don't even tell me how they operate. I do know that coaches can NOT turn in other coaches.

What is the best approach to get a player to consider your team, and once he does consider your team what is the best way to get him to sign with your team. (ktjq22 - Hall of Famer - 7:18 PM)

There is no magic bullet of recruiting - it's so dynamic based on who you want, what other schools are going after him, how far he is from your campus and what recruiting methods you use, it's impossible to come up with a "formula" that will land you a recruit every time. On strategy that I use is to simply wait. Most coaches think that they're going to land the next All-American so they spend so much money early that they inevitably get into recruiting battles. After the signing period begins, there are usually some very good recruits that are ignored which I can swoop in and pick up without any battles. Especially a good strategy if you have a lot of scholarships to fill.

Can D1 coaches generally take any DII recruit anywhere (aircartman - Veteran - 7:20 PM)

For the most part yes - but if you're in DI and you're having to sign DII caliber players, I hope you have a good relationship with the AD, otherwise you're going to be looking for a new job soon :)

I have 2 walk-ons, if I don't offer them scholarships will I still be given money to recruit with if I don't have any seniors? (paranoid0 - Hall of Famer - 7:20 PM)

Yes, you receive recruiting money based on the number of scholarships you have to fill.

Hi there. Is there any particular clues we should be looking for when reading a prospect's feedback? (Weena - Hall of Famer - 7:24 PM)

Hi Weena. Tough question. Yes and no. Yes, recruits do give clues as to their level of interest in your program within their responses, hopefully those are fairly obvious. We sometimes get confused coaches who don't understand why a recruit tells him/her how much he loves the program and then signs with someone else. You have to remember that we've compacted a 9 month recruiting process into 6 days. So yes, a recruit may have had a great time visiting your campus and he'll reply and let you know that. BUT, you have to remember that he's also probably visiting other schools right afterwards and telling that coach what he things of their campus. If a recruiting battle is very close, the recruit can change his mind after every phone call!

how much stock should we put into highschool stats (hockey_brian - Hall of Famer - 7:26 PM)

I do look at high school stats, but primarily for free throw shooting, games played, etc. As I'm sure you are aware, studs in high schools don't necessarily turn out to be good college players.

will the recruiting chat be availabe to view at a later date (hockey_brian - Hall of Famer - 7:27 PM)

Yes, all chats will be archived.

I have noticed that certain areas of the country have better recruits, specifically the southeast, is there any reason for this? (nyisles2004 - Pro - 7:28 PM)

All recruits are generated randomly - no geographical region has any advantage over another with regards to the quantity or quality of recruits available.

Has there been any serious consideration given to making walkons scholarship guys like in GridIron? (chgunnz - Hall of Famer - 7:29 PM)

I'm not sure I'm following your question, but you can offer walkons scholarships now in HD.

What is the most effective recruiting method? Would spending $150 on 15 phone calls have a different than spending $150 on Letters? If you would explain the effectiveness of each recruiting tool. Thanks. (terpsfan0410 - Pro - 7:32 PM)

Again, there is no 1 magic bullet when it comes to recruiting. With regards to your example, no, there's not a signifant difference between spending $150 on letters and $150 on phone calls, but as I mentioned earlier, personal contact normally carries more weight with a recruit than simply inundating him with calls and letters.

Can sending letters every 3 hours start to get on the recruits nerves, to the point where it adds little to no value? (losboy - Hall of Famer - 7:33 PM)

Currently no, but we should have the recruits start calling you at 5am and see how you like it :)

Are recruits more likely to go to a local school at the D-III level? (decepticons - All-Star - 7:34 PM)

Yes, but only because DIII coaches should not be recruiting outside of 100 miles (sometimes 250). It's just too expensive at that level.

To get a d1 recruit at the d2 level, do you think its realistic to try? (nyisles2004 - Pro - 7:35 PM)

Never say never, but I personally wouldn't try it.

Is it more a matter of recruiting $ spent, or a matter of continuity. What's the disadvantage of dropping big $ recruit bombs in the period just before signing (jake_marley - Hall of Famer - 7:37 PM)

It's more a matter of what you do to influence that recruit to consider your program. You do NOT have to contact recruits every 3 hours as seems to be the popular myth. The disadvantage is that you drop a lot of money and the kids signs with someone else.

I know that playing time and a starting spot can mean alot in the recruiting process, but is it as valuable as a home or campus visit? (tlak1038 - Hall of Famer - 7:40 PM)

Just like real life, different recruits find different things (promises of minutes, starting) more important so while most recruits will not value a promise as much as a home or campus visit, it certainly can help differentiate one school from another in the eyes of a recruit.

I will often offer, just as a test, a seemingly out-of-reach recruit a campus visit (and only a campus visit) knowing that if they accept it, I'll know they are interested, and if they decline it, I'm not out a penny. Is this a good idea, or just a downright awful one? (shupirate - Veteran - 7:41 PM)

Normally not a good idea - some recruits will keep those plane tickets you sent. If you haven't been burned yet...you will be.

are there any plans to offer a "guarantee freshman AND sophomore start" option in recruiting? it seems easy right now to bring in two straight powerful recruiting classes with guaranteed starts and minutes for frosh. (kcsundevil - Hall of Famer - 7:42 PM)

Yes, down on the list of upcoming changes are going to be increased options for recruiting - promises for a recruit's sophomore year will be part of that.

are your fingers tired of typing yet? (kelby_03 - Hall of Famer - 7:43 PM)

Yes, I'm about three keystrokes away from carpal tunnel ;)

Hello. I noticed last season that in some evaluations it noted what offense or defense the recruit played on high school. Is always gonna show up randomly, or will it be available to you anytime you do an evalution in the future. (AceCards - Hall of Famer - 7:44 PM)

It's almost always included now in some form or another with an evaluation visit.

If I'm recruting two guys for the same position, and offer both starting spots.....I'd like to be able to rescind that offer to the guy I don't get first...so I can get both, but don't break the promise to the 2nd one. Possible? (SHOTGUN - Hall of Famer - 7:46 PM)

Not possible, once you make a promise to a player, he's going to hold you to it. Your options would be to either withdraw the scholarship offer to one of them, start both, start them alternating games and hope neither complain or start only one and deal with the nasty emails from the other.

Any chance of in season scouting of HS seniors? like in GD (SHOTGUN - Hall of Famer - 7:47 PM)

Two in a row for the shotgun! Yes, you will be able to scout "all year round" in HD in upcoming releases - we don't have a timeframe for that yet.

if you had to recruit each of the 5 positions and could only look at one rating for each player at each of those positions, what rating would it be for each position? (vandydave - Hall of Famer - 7:50 PM)

Dave, you sound like a young Barbara Walters. Nothing surprising here - assuming I had no returning players, I would look for: PG - ball handling SG - perimeter SF - perimeter or low post PF - rebounding C - low post Obviously it wouldn't be that simple - there are too many ratings which are tied together. I'm a big fan of balancing offense with defense. I LOVE it when I see my next opponent is playing man to man and they have a "1" defender. Guess who's going to get abused?

Will a top notch recruit accept a redshirt as long as no minutes or starting spot are offered? (lavidalarson - Hall of Famer - 7:51 PM)

Good question - the better the player, the less likely he's going to be happy about being redshirted. If you made promises while recruiting, he's almost certainly NOT going to like the redshirt option.

I know in real life recruiting situations, other recruits that already signed with a program may influence an undecided recruits decision to attend a particular school. Is there any effect like this in HD. (AceCards - Hall of Famer - 7:54 PM)

Yes, HD takes this into consideration. If you just signed a PF, the other PF may now take more convincing for him to sign with you.

What tangable skills does athleticism effect? Does it make your guy smarter, faster, shoot better, play defense better or all of the above? (jerico18 - Hall of Famer - 7:55 PM)

Smarter? No. Just about everything else is in some way affected by a player's athleticism - that's not to say that you can't have great players who aren't good athletes (Steve Alford) or great athletes that aren't good basketball players (Carl Lewis).

I heard in upcoming improvements there will be a recruiting service to help in recruiting like Simmy Simpkins helps with Job apps. When is this coming and how will it work? (preule - Hall of Famer - 7:56 PM)

True, but I don't have any details which I can share at this time other than it will be something that you'd have to pay for out of your recruiting budget.

my reputation has fallen to a D, how much will this affect my recruiting? I pulled a schollie and lost a player and another left because I benched him. Thanks (Henchmen - Hall of Famer - 7:58 PM)

It's not going to help, but it won't kill you with regards to recruiting - if you have good success, experience and loyalty, that can do a lot to make up for it. If you're in a dead heat with another school and all else was equal, the other program would have an edge. Reputation heals with time.

Do you make new recruites available after the recruiting session has started? IE Like day 2 or 3? (twmiles - All-Star - 8:00 PM)

No, all recruits are made available at the beginning of the recruiting period and no more are added.

Lets talk bribes,(not that i use them!). How effective are they really? Can it turn a d1 recruit into wanting to go d2? Finally, what percentage of those who send out bribes dont get caught? (nyisles2004 - Pro - 8:01 PM)

Yes, the right "gift" to the right player can get you a player who is out of your league - it's happened before.

is it more of an advantage to recruit a player hard at the begining of the recruiting period rather than at the end? (drewconrad - Rookie - 8:03 PM)

It's a double-edged sword, if you go hard early, you may find out something you don't like about the recruit but you're committed at that point. If you wait, you may be leaving the door open for another school to sneak in a swipe your targeted recruit. That's what makes recruiting so challenging (and fun)!

Is there an advantage to doing recruiting in a logical sequence? For example, would it be beneficial to do an eval in a cycle prior to offering a scholarship, or is this insignificant? (anux - Hall of Famer - 8:05 PM)

Yes, if for no other reason in that you want to know as much as you can about a recruit before you bring him into your program. This will be especially true once dilemmas are added.

If a player is the subject of a bidding war, but one of the coaches was on the considering list first, does he have the advantage if the money is spent equally the rest of the way? (udflyerfan - All-Star - 8:07 PM)

Yes, assuming all else is equal, if you were one of the first programs to make contact with a recruit then you would have an advantage. It's very rare though that recruiting battles are exactly even.

Is it easier to sign Junior College players near the end of the recruiting period...i.e. are they getting desperate and will sign with less contact? (bmbou - Hall of Famer - 8:08 PM)

Yes, but that's true of all the players - the closer you get to the end of the recruiting period, the more eager they are to sign.

why are all recruits not available for viewing (hockey_brian - Hall of Famer - 10:40 PM)

Last one - all recruits are not necessarily available to all coaches. This is by design. Some recruits may consider playing at (for example) at DII powerhouse or playing at a very low level DI school. They would not consider playing at a DII school that was 4-23 the previous season so in order to save those schools the time, money and aggravation of going after a recruit that would never play for them, the recruit will not show in their recruiting search.
If I didn't get to your question, I apologize. Hopefully this was helpful and we'll be scheduling the next HD coaching clinic very soon!

Thanks for taking the time to chat with us and thanks for supporting WhatIfSports!

Search Options

View Upcoming Chat List

This chat session has ended.

For more information or to start your dynasty, visit the Hoops Dynasty home page.

Hoops Dynasty

Terms of Use Customer Support Privacy Statement

© 1999-2024 WhatIfSports.com, Inc. All rights reserved. Use of this website (including any and all parts and components) constitutes your acceptance of these Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. WhatIfSports is a trademark of WhatIfSports.com, Inc. SimLeague, SimMatchup and iSimNow are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts, Inc. Used under license. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.