THOUGHTS ON RECRUITING
...phew.
That could have been an absolute disaster. I probably scouted one or two states too many in FSS, which set me back from the get-go. Next, I got bumped off a couple of very good recruits by higher-prestige D2 schools as a harsh reminder that a B prestige, while not bad, also isn't great.
Then, I settled on two recruits: A JuCo PF, and a freshman PF from New York. A D3 school within 40 miles of the JuCo got in on him and must have spent a large share of their cash, and after a few cycles of nobody else considering the freshman, New Haven swept in and got him. Ergo, I was left with nothing, and not much money, either.
That was when I saw Schell, and I pounced. Fortunately, nobody challenged me, and I got him for cheap. Still, that only left me with about $150, so I waited until I saw someone I could live with in my starting lineup drop to me. Weiss fit the bill the best of the remaining players; I had a few others on my watch list that still hadn't dropped from D1, but if I'd waited and had a high-prestige coach challenge me, I'd be left with nothing. Fortunately, nobody else went in on Weiss, and even though I had to promise him a starting spot, it was probably worth it to have that extra body in the frontcourt.
Not knowing the potential of 3/4 of my class makes giving a grade pretty tough. I do like Underwood, even though he's a developmental player; we're losing both starters in the backcourt after this year, so he should play a good deal as a sophomore after a year of refinement. Sickels is sort of an unknown, but I've got reason to be confident in him. He knows the M2M defense pretty well, and he was recruited by a human D1 coach last year, which indicates his potential shouldn't be THAT bad. He'll see plenty of time as a backup at the 3 and 4 spots, and he probably starts at the 3 next season after Broome leaves.
Schell and Weiss are where this class will be made or broken. If their potentials are high, it's a home run kind of class; yet again, there's no indication that that's the case, especially because I wasn't challenged for either of them. At worst, though, they're solid backups down the line, and while I need to play Weiss this season, he shouldn't be horrible (though his defense is a concern).
For now, I'm giving the class a C+, since that's the worst I can see it being with regard to potential. I reserve the right to up it once the potential email comes, and I expect time to move very, VERY slowly until it does.