Really hate the recruiting now

[jcraig33]

I am using Varsity level recruiting, and it feels next to impossible to sign any players. And before the flame throwers start:
a) I've been playing NCAA since the PS1 days
b) No, I don't go after players "out of my schools range", I am targeting players who I am no lower than 6-8 or higher on their list
c) No, I'm not targeting players I don't need, I am graduating 3 OLB's and I'm losing OLB's left and right likes of Houston for crissakes
d) No, I don't have a low level team (Arizona State, 4 star prestige)
e) No, I am not loading up my board, I only target no more than 14 players at a time

It's unreal that you CAN NOT make up ground with any players. I'm spending an hour a week, and a school like Houston or BYU where I have a significant pitch advantage and it doesn't matter what I do I can't gain ground. Apparently it's time to try Freshman level recruiting.

Really frustrated with this game, I love the gameplay but the recruiting is a real pain and now with all jacked up problems that there appears to be with player progressions in later years in dynasty, it's pretty annoying.

[canes21]

Re: Really hate the recruiting now

Freshman, Varsity, All American, etc. I don't think there is a difference in recruiting besides how many times you can switch topics. You still get the same points and all.

Also, I am having no trouble with Miami. Two 5 Stars in 3 weeks along with a few 4 stars. It seems a little harder than previous years, but not hard enough IMO. I want something like Choops 2k8.

[Imaking332]

Re: Really hate the recruiting now

There is no problems its just how you recruit. Im using 4-star Miami too and got top 5 in recruiting for four years now at All-American. Maybe you just need to change how you recruit there is no need to say it has problems because you cant get anybody.

[GopherFan]

Re: Really hate the recruiting now

There is no problems its just how you recruit. Im using 4-star Miami too and got top 5 in recruiting for four years now at All-American. Maybe you just need to change how you recruit there is no need to say it has problems because you cant get anybody.

Recruiting with a school like miami is way easier then a school like arizona

[Pacman83]

Re: Really hate the recruiting now

Maybe its who you're recruiting against? I had three straight bowl wins w/ Mizzou so i was landing better talent, at least it increased realistically with my program. I was still working for recruits, but able to land a few 4, maybe a 5 or two...know you're frustrated man, but maybe its your approach, most of the complaints are the ratings of the players coming in, not getting them.

[canes21]

Re: Really hate the recruiting now

Recruiting with a school like miami is way easier then a school like arizona

Thats how it is in real life too. Miami has a better class than Arizona the majority of the time in a bad year for them. Florida puts out more talent alone than all of the pipeline states combined from Arizona.

[ghettoqball]

Re: Really hate the recruiting now

I recruited on varsity my first season with Michigan State and ended up with the #6 class (and they are only a 3* school).

I don't understand why you are having problems, because I thought it was too easy.

[Pogo27]

Re: Really hate the recruiting now

Arizona State needs to look for future MLBers that want to play WR or something during the baseball offseason.

[dan_457]

Re: Really hate the recruiting now

It's been really hit or miss for me, in 10 i was able to pull in 1# overall recruiting classes left and right, but I've had struggles recruiting this year so I'm sticking with varsity level. My highest class was #5, but that was the off season after i switched jobs to that school, so most of the work was already done. As of now in my dynasty, I'm in week 8 of 2018 and I have the 1# overall recruiting class, for now, but it probably won't stay that way. Overall i think recruiting is more of a challenge, even on more so on varisty then it was on Heisman last year, or at least for me anyway, but i do think that's a good thing.

[The Gravy Train]

Re: Really hate the recruiting now

I'm also running an ASU dynasty.

First year of recruiting on All American I had a poor strategy. I had 20+ on my board for a while, and I'm hoping thats why my recruiting class was poor. Only signed one 4* recruit, a few 3* and a lot of 2*.

But now after a 9-4 season with a bowl win we are now a 5* program, and I have legit chances of landing the best OLB, ATH, and the 2nd QB in the country. My board only has about 12 guys, so hopefully I can land all the players I'm after.

[JDFSSS]

Re: Really hate the recruiting now

(cliff notes at bottom)

I'm not great at recruiting, but I can give you some basic tips that should allow you to hold your own in recruiting. I think you have to really like recruiting to be able to properly recruit. It's very time consuming, and there are a lot of factors to consider. I recruit on All-American, but the tips I give should apply to any difficulty level.

How to set up your recruiting board:
Fill it up. You gain points just by having a prospect on your board, you don't even have to call him. I only call 15 guys a week (which gives you an average of 40 minutes per recruit), so I think of my board as two different boards really.

The top 15 are going to be 15 players I'm actively recruiting, and calling every week until they either commit or I have to drop them for whatever reason.

The bottom 20 is filled with players I would like to recruit after I sign or lose some of the guys in my top 15. Since I won't be calling the guys in the bottom 20, I look for guys that won't be heavily recruited. For instance, if I see a 3 star player who's top 10 schools are all powerhouse programs, he would be a good candidate for my bottom 20. Those powerhouse programs will likely be recruiting better players, and will not recruit the 3 star guy unless they have to. I don't want my bottom 20 (or my top 15) to be filled with a bunch of guys I have no shot of ever getting because I'm 700 points behind their #1 school who has been spending 60 minutes on them since week 1.

The call:
This is pretty straightforward. It's all about doing whatever you can to maximize points. Always keep that in mind.

In the early stages, try to find out the recruit's interest level in all the strong points of your school. Try to avoid pitching the weak points of your school as much as you can. If you have to talk about a weak point, just make the pitch and maximize points. Don't bother finding out his interest level. It doesn't matter what his interest is, because the only time you will be talking about a weak point is if you have no other option.

I don't really use the sway interest level option very much. If I do, it's in the early stages of recruiting when I can reap the benefits of swaying his interest level for many weeks to come. When he's almost ready to commit the option becomes useless.

Don't use the option to recruit against a school if a player is still in the early stages of his recruiting process and you don't know how hard other schools are recruiting him. It's best to do a standard pitch and maximize points. Recruiting against a school becomes useful late in the recruiting process, when a recruit has it narrowed down to your school and 1 or 2 other schools. Obviously don't use the option if you have the same grade, worse or only a slightly better grade than the school you plan to recruit against.

When to offer a scholarship:
When you offer a scholarship is a very important part of recruiting. The reason why is because of instant commits, so I'll start by telling you how instant commits work.

A player will only instant commit to your school if he has your school #1 and you have offered him a scholarship.

A player is most likely to instant commit at the moment you offer him a scholarship (of course he has to have you number 1 on his list).

Also, one player on your board will be selected at random, every week, to instant commit provided the following conditions are met:
1. You have offered him a scholarship
2. He has you number 1 on his list
3. You called him that week
These are the only times a player will instant commit. Ever.

In terms of gaining points, the best time to offer a scholarship is the week of the recruit's visit (this applies to the school visits during the season, and also the in home visits during off season recruting). However, you also have to consider instant commits to know the optimal time to offer a scholarship.

If a player I am recruiting has my school at #1 I will offer him a scholarship immediately. This will maximize the chance of an instant commit. Even if he doesn't commit right away, I will still have a chance of him instant committing every week after that as long as he still has my school at #1 and I call him.

If a player has my school lower than #1 then it's really quit simple to know when to offer. Since there's no chance of an instant commit, the only thing that matters is maximizing points. The best way to do that is to offer him a scholarship on the week of a visit. I've heard some people say they like to offer scholarships early to make up points, but then that will put you in a bad position later on in the recruiting process. If you have to offer a player a scholarship to stay in the running, then you are probably too far behind, and should consider removing the player from your board.

Scheduling visits and how to maximize points from a visit:
The best time to schedule visits is late in the recruiting process. The recruit should be almost ready to decide when he comes to visit. This gives you a good chance to pick up a soft commit or hard commit from the recruit.

The particular game during the week in which you schedule him to come visit is also very important. Make sure it's a conference and/or rivalry game. Also try to schedule him for a game you can win. Losing and/or scheduling him for an unimportant out of conference game will result in bad visits.

Sometimes it won't be possible to schedule him for the ideal time and the ideal game, and that's okay. It doesn't mean you won't get the recruit if he had a bad visit.

Managing your recruiting board:
All 35 players on your board should be guys you have a realistic shot (or at least a small chance) at signing if you were to begin recruiting them. If a player on your board has you several hundred points behind his top school and that school is actively recruiting him each week, don't hesitate to remove him from your board even if you really wanted that player. Just like in real life, if a kid really wants to go to a school, and that school would really like to have him, it's going to happen. Just accept it and drop the guy from your board. You're not going to get every player you would like to have. It's especially important to not waste your precious 10 hours of phone time on a player in this category. Take him off the board, and add another player to your board.

If you had to remove a player in your top 15, or if one of your recruits committed, now you can put a new guy in your top 15. Look through your bottom 20 (or less than that depending on how many commits you have) and pick the guy you want to begin actively recruiting.

Make sure you look through your entire board every week for players that you obviously won't be able to sign and replace them.

Signing that guy who doesn't have you on his top 10:
It is possible to eventually sign that recruit you would love to have who doesn't have you in his top 10. I usually have 2-3 players like this on my board. As long as the player's interest level stage (or whatever it's called) is still at top 10, you have a chance at sneaking into his top 10 and eventually signing him down the road.

The way I usually do it is I put this type of player in my bottom 20 and if he is interested in my school, my school will rise into his top 10 a week or two later without calling him. Then I can then add him into my top 15 and begin actively recruiting him.

If there are less than 15 players on my board who I feel can make an impact on my team at some point, I'll put one of these types of guys in my top 15 and begin actively recruiting him. There's no point in wasting phone time and actual time recruiting players who will surely get cut. However, if he has been on my board for 2-3 weeks and still shows no interest in my school, I'll drop and replace him.

cliff notes:
-Fill your board. You gain points just by having a recruit on your board.
-Only call about 15 guys a week
-Always try to maximize points every call
-Offer a scholarship as soon as a player has your school at #1. If he never has your school at #1 during any point, offer him a scholarship during the school or in-home visit
-Schedule visits late in the recruiting process
-Schedule visits during games that are conference and/or rivalry games
-Schedule visits for games that you can realistically win
-REMOVE AND REPLACE PLAYERS ON YOUR BOARD YOU HAVE NO SHOT AT SIGNING
-You can take a shot at trying to recruit a guy who doesn't have your school listed in his top 10 as long as his interest level stage (or w/e it's called) is still at top 10.

[12]

Re: Really hate the recruiting now

(cliff notes at bottom)

I'm not great at recruiting, but I can give you some basic tips that should allow you to hold your own in recruiting. I think you have to really like recruiting to be able to properly recruit. It's very time consuming, and there are a lot of factors to consider. I recruit on All-American, but the tips I give should apply to any difficulty level.

How to set up your recruiting board:
Fill it up. You gain points just by having a prospect on your board, you don't even have to call him. I only call 15 guys a week (which gives you an average of 40 minutes per recruit), so I think of my board as two different boards really.

The top 15 are going to be 15 players I'm actively recruiting, and calling every week until they either commit or I have to drop them for whatever reason.

The bottom 20 is filled with players I would like to recruit after I sign or lose some of the guys in my top 15. Since I won't be calling the guys in the bottom 20, I look for guys that won't be heavily recruited. For instance, if I see a 3 star player who's top 10 schools are all powerhouse programs, he would be a good candidate for my bottom 20. Those powerhouse programs will likely be recruiting better players, and will not recruit the 3 star guy unless they have to. I don't want my bottom 20 (or my top 15) to be filled with a bunch of guys I have no shot of ever getting because I'm 700 points behind their #1 school who has been spending 60 minutes on them since week 1.

The call:
This is pretty straightforward. It's all about doing whatever you can to maximize points. Always keep that in mind.

In the early stages, try to find out the recruit's interest level in all the strong points of your school. Try to avoid pitching the weak points of your school as much as you can. If you have to talk about a weak point, just make the pitch and maximize points. Don't bother finding out his interest level. It doesn't matter what his interest is, because the only time you will be talking about a weak point is if you have no other option.

I don't really use the sway interest level option very much. If I do, it's in the early stages of recruiting when I can reap the benefits of swaying his interest level for many weeks to come. When he's almost ready to commit the option becomes useless.

Don't use the option to recruit against a school if a player is still in the early stages of his recruiting process and you don't know how hard other schools are recruiting him. It's best to do a standard pitch and maximize points. Recruiting against a school becomes useful late in the recruiting process, when a recruit has it narrowed down to your school and 1 or 2 other schools. Obviously don't use the option if you have the same grade, worse or only a slightly better grade than the school you plan to recruit against.

When to offer a scholarship:
When you offer a scholarship is a very important part of recruiting. The reason why is because of instant commits, so I'll start by telling you how instant commits work.

A player will only instant commit to your school if he has your school #1 and you have offered him a scholarship.

A player is most likely to instant commit at the moment you offer him a scholarship (of course he has to have you number 1 on his list).

Also, one player on your board will be selected at random, every week, to instant commit provided the following conditions are met:
1. You have offered him a scholarship
2. He has you number 1 on his list
3. You called him that week
These are the only times a player will instant commit. Ever.

In terms of gaining points, the best time to offer a scholarship is the week of the recruit's visit (this applies to the school visits during the season, and also the in home visits during off season recruting). However, you also have to consider instant commits to know the optimal time to offer a scholarship.

If a player I am recruiting has my school at #1 I will offer him a scholarship immediately. This will maximize the chance of an instant commit. Even if he doesn't commit right away, I will still have a chance of him instant committing every week after that as long as he still has my school at #1 and I call him.

If a player has my school lower than #1 then it's really quit simple to know when to offer. Since there's no chance of an instant commit, the only thing that matters is maximizing points. The best way to do that is to offer him a scholarship on the week of a visit. I've heard some people say they like to offer scholarships early to make up points, but then that will put you in a bad position later on in the recruiting process. If you have to offer a player a scholarship to stay in the running, then you are probably too far behind, and should consider removing the player from your board.

Scheduling visits and how to maximize points from a visit:
The best time to schedule visits is late in the recruiting process. The recruit should be almost ready to decide when he comes to visit. This gives you a good chance to pick up a soft commit or hard commit from the recruit.

The particular game during the week in which you schedule him to come visit is also very important. Make sure it's a conference and/or rivalry game. Also try to schedule him for a game you can win. Losing and/or scheduling him for an unimportant out of conference game will result in bad visits.

Sometimes it won't be possible to schedule him for the ideal time and the ideal game, and that's okay. It doesn't mean you won't get the recruit if he had a bad visit.

Managing your recruiting board:
All 35 players on your board should be guys you have a realistic shot (or at least a small chance) at signing if you were to begin recruiting them. If a player on your board has you several hundred points behind his top school and that school is actively recruiting him each week, don't hesitate to remove him from your board even if you really wanted that player. Just like in real life, if a kid really wants to go to a school, and that school would really like to have him, it's going to happen. Just accept it and drop the guy from your board. You're not going to get every player you would like to have. It's especially important to not waste your precious 10 hours of phone time on a player in this category. Take him off the board, and add another player to your board.

If you had to remove a player in your top 15, or if one of your recruits committed, now you can put a new guy in your top 15. Look through your bottom 20 (or less than that depending on how many commits you have) and pick the guy you want to begin actively recruiting.

Make sure you look through your entire board every week for players that you obviously won't be able to sign and replace them.

Signing that guy who doesn't have you on his top 10:
It is possible to eventually sign that recruit you would love to have who doesn't have you in his top 10. I usually have 2-3 players like this on my board. As long as the player's interest level stage (or whatever it's called) is still at top 10, you have a chance at sneaking into his top 10 and eventually signing him down the road.

The way I usually do it is I put this type of player in my bottom 20 and if he is interested in my school, my school will rise into his top 10 a week or two later without calling him. Then I can then add him into my top 15 and begin actively recruiting him.

If there are less than 15 players on my board who I feel can make an impact on my team at some point, I'll put one of these types of guys in my top 15 and begin actively recruiting him. There's no point in wasting phone time and actual time recruiting players who will surely get cut. However, if he has been on my board for 2-3 weeks and still shows no interest in my school, I'll drop and replace him.

cliff notes:
-Fill your board. You gain points just by having a recruit on your board.
-Only call about 15 guys a week
-Always try to maximize points every call
-Offer a scholarship as soon as a player has your school at #1. If he never has your school at #1 during any point, offer him a scholarship during the school or in-home visit
-Schedule visits late in the recruiting process
-Schedule visits during games that are conference and/or rivalry games
-Schedule visits for games that you can realistically win
-REMOVE AND REPLACE PLAYERS ON YOUR BOARD YOU HAVE NO SHOT AT SIGNING
-You can take a shot at trying to recruit a guy who doesn't have your school listed in his top 10 as long as his interest level stage (or w/e it's called) is still at top 10.

Great info.

At what point do you give up on a recruit? I created Kasen Williams, a real-life WR recruit from Washington. I'm trying to get him to commit to the Dawgs. I'd say I average 40 minutes with him each week. I am not in his top 10, but I did just recently offer him a scholarship. I am only in week 5 of my dynasty and am 3-0 with a #16 overall ranking.

I have a few other guys on my board like him as well. Not showing much interest yet but I do have the full-court press on. I am hoping to crack their top 10 soon. One RB recruit (Brendon Bigelow) recently showed no interest but after my home win against Nebraska, I got in his top 10.

I am calling about 18 guys per week so I might need to drop it down so I can give some of these other guys more time.

That's some great info though. Thanks for the advice.

[JDFSSS]

Re: Really hate the recruiting now

Great info.

At what point do you give up on a recruit? I created Kasen Williams, a real-life WR recruit from Washington. I'm trying to get him to commit to the Dawgs. I'd say I average 40 minutes with him each week. I am not in his top 10, but I did just recently offer him a scholarship. I am only in week 5 of my dynasty and am 3-0 with a #16 overall ranking.

I have a few other guys on my board like him as well. Not showing much interest yet but I do have the full-court press on. I am hoping to crack their top 10 soon. One RB recruit (Brendon Bigelow) recently showed no interest but after my home win against Nebraska, I got in his top 10.

I am calling about 18 guys per week so I might need to drop it down so I can give some of these other guys more time.

That's some great info though. Thanks for the advice.

Sounds like you might need to consider dropping Kasen Williams from your board then . In my experiences if you don't crack their top ten within 2-3 weeks it's not going to happen, even if no other schools are recruiting him. However, I haven't tested this out thoroughly enough to say it's impossible.

[StormJH1]

Re: Really hate the recruiting now

Great stuff, and consistent with other writeups I've seen. The thing about not filling up your board all the way is a myth--recruits don't get mad if you RECRUIT other guys, they get mad if you SIGN a guy at their position. So obviously you want that board full.

Another tip in the middle weeks is to look for 3/4 star guys where the points in the top 10 are evenly distributed and no scholarships are offered. This is an indicator that nobody has recruited that guy, and you can move up quickly if you just put him somewhere on your board.

[rjsuperfly66]

Re: Really hate the recruiting now

Two other important things...

1. You need to remember that you could have a superior team, but if you are not recruiting in your pipeline state, you are walking into someone elses backyard. If you are from Texas trying to recruit from Maine, it is not going to be easy. Try to stick to only recruits near/around your pipeline.

2. Make sure you only have players on your board who are realistic targets. Going after that 5-star guy with no interest is just going to waste away minutes on your recruiting board.