[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by MoonlightGraham

October 1, 2011

I had forgotten how exciting the recruiting "minigame" in FBCB could be!

We're still on the pole in the race to land James Sanders. Fordham (34 prestige) and Marist (37 prestige) are still in contention, and James has offers from all three schools in hand.

Who is Coach Sims up against here? Fordham relies on a talented assistant, Chris Sellers, to lead their recruiting team. How about Marist? The Red Foxes' head coach, Gus Barros, has ZERO points in recruiting (!!). I'm envisioning Coach Barros saying things like this:

"I recently learned that Division I college basketball teams offer scholarships to players. I wonder if offering a scholarship to a player makes it more likely he'll decide to come to Marist?"

Coach Gus does have an assistant who understands the process. Rudy Kirkland isn't as highly rated a recruiter as Graham is, but he's no pushover.

Both Coach Sims and assistant Coach Manion will visit James this month. Let's lock this big man down.

While I'm feeling pretty good about our chances with Sanders, I'm starting to worry about John Spitzer. John has narrowed his choices to two: Rider and Lafayette...and now we're his second choice. Should I concede the battle to Clarence Bigley and the Broncs? I'm not impressed with the other point guards we've evaluated. None of them have the defensive chops I'm looking for, or the potential to acquire them.

Faint heart never won fair lady. Nor did it win talented point guard. I'm pulling out all the stops here. Both Coach Sims and Coach Manion will visit John and his family this month. I'm adding another PG or two to my call list, just in case we need a Plan B.

Our overtures to Arlen Brown were well-received. He still names Wagner as his top choice, but we're now right behind them. He's interested in Providence, too, but the Friars haven't offered him.

Now we can invite Arlen to campus, and we're doing so. We're also sending Coach Sims and Coach Manion to visit him.

Good King Venceslás apparently remains a secret to every Division I program besides ours. We don't have enough money left over to send a coach to Spain this month. If we can get a commitment from at least one of the other players in October, we'll have money in our budget to spend on our pursuit of Castillo.

Time to press "Sim Month." Wish us luck!

For those European players, I always just toss them a scholarship first so we end up on their interest radar because I can always pull it later if they're a dud, so that I can get the edge on them before someone else can.