I have not recruited in D1-AA for a long time I just realized. Some questions if anyone can help.

1. When searching for recruits and and using the D1-AA filter I see lots of recruits being recruited by D1 Sims. Are these battles I can win?

2. Generally speaking, what is the normal amount of attention your program needs to give a recruit to be in the mix? How many CV? Scouting? Etc?

So, my two cents …

Looks like you’ll have recruiting money for 10 open slots, and no carry-over and no tournament money. Your program has very high vision. Also, you are in the middle of a recruit-rich environment. Each of those things makes a difference.

My goals for the first season would include (1) filling roster holes that absolutely need to be filled (i.e. meet your own minimums for bodies at each position), (2) filling all remaining openings with guys with good enough FIQ so they won’t hurt you, (3) saving as much money as possible for next season, (4) avoiding battles in general (due to low funds) but definitely avoiding any battles with D1A schools from any conference.

Some coaches make a lot of use of tx calls to undecideds, trying to get some lower-level players green to them cheaply, but at upper level D1AA (like your program) that has very limited utility in my opinion. If you’ve been doing this at D2 or D3 you could give it a bit of a try here to get a feel for the difference.

How many of each recruiting activity it will take to get a guy green will vary widely based on your prestige and the quality and position of the recruit. That is what you are going to feel out for your program in the first season or two. During that time, you will also learn a lot about the recruiting practices of coaches around you, both D1A and D1AA, particularly important in a crowded area like you are in.

Good luck.

In some future season, you could try to knock off a sim from one of the little D1A conferences and see how expensive that was or wasn't, for your program. Then after that, try a D1A school from one of the big conferences, and you'll see that is even more expensive, quite a bit more, almost not sensible to try except in a special situation. My own attitude with high vision at D1AA was that I didn't battle, I either took a recruit or I didn't.