The ever so exciting recruiting aspect of NCAA

[sandman]

I'm in the offseason now. I have no clue what to do at the recruiting part. I never did this in 2004. The map of the states appears and where exactly do I begin. Any help is appreciated. I'm also looking for general tips to look for to lure players to your school. I did win the NC with West Virginia if that makes a difference.

I should also mention my team is in ruins right now. My start receiver is gone. My best lb is gone and so is my Heisman cadidate rb. I'll give a quick rundown of the players I am missing.

3 receivers
1 fb
2 qb
1 hb
2 lb
1 kicker
1 dl
1 de
1 cb
4 o-linemen

As you can see I am in big trouble. Most of the players at these positions were key elements of my team.

[herndo]

I always start with the prospects who are interested in your program. You have a LOT of holes to fill on your team, you you're gonna want to also focus on players from your state and surrounding states. That way you'll be able to spend a few less points on the kids hopefully.

However, finding recrutes' hot buttons was much easier in '04. I just won the NC with Clemson two days ago and could only get 11 freaking commitments. But, I didn't have a lot graduate so I couldn't play the early PT angle with them. So hopefully you can find a bunch of guys who really want to play early.

Like I said, this year if very different, so in a few days I'll finish my second season and try it again and test some new ideas.

[mad_bomber]

I'd also recommend focusing on players that are interested in your program. Since you won the NC you should have a nice list of prospects that are interested in playing for you.

[sandman]

I didn't do that well. I really didn't what I was doing, but I got a couple of good guys. I got the #5 and #6 best SS. I got this great olb with the first name scooter. He was the #3 best olb. It very hard to find receivers, fullbacks, and quarterbacks. Way too many corners were interested.

[sandman]

One aspect I didn't understand was the whole points system. How is that determined ( the amount of points you receive ). I thought it was dumb. Another point is, how can you get players who aren't even interested in coming to your school? Is it at all possible? Someone on another board mentioned that the coach can call a player who is far away, can this really happen? I'm sorry with all the questions, but I want to to learn as much as I can.

[hobbs2324]

The points are directly related to how you finished your year. If you win the NC then you have more points then other schools to recruit with giving you the advantage. I haven't gotten to this part in this game but last year if a guy wasn't interested at all it was kind of a waste to try and sign them. You could get themoccasionally but i always felt why would you want a guy when he doesn't want to play for you. It's like a holdout in Madden, just let him go

[phrozzy]

...but last year if a guy wasn't interested at all it was kind of a waste to try and sign them. You could get them occasionally but i always felt why would you want a guy when he doesn't want to play for you.

Your right in that they would sign occasionally but you shouldn't give up hope if he's not really interested. Sometimes the fact that you scouted them but didn't offer a scholarship is enough to push your school to the top of his list. I noticed that the week after I scouted a recruit, the comments on him mentioned something about my prestige and I didn't even offer a scholarship.

I use Auburn-it's in Alabama for those who don't know - and I scouted a receiver from Washington state in Wk 2. Can't really remember but he either had low or average interest. I never even looked at him again for 3 weeks. Wk 5 comes around and I noticed I'm on top of his list. Signed him without evening making the correct recruiting pitch.

The point is just because he's not interested doesn't mean you shouldn't consider him. You certainly shouldn't make him first priority but giving him a scout just might help. Of course, if he's from the other side of the country like my receiver, do ponder if you really need him or not before spending points. Scouting in the game is good way of telling the recruit your interested, but you don't have to waste a scholarship until your sure he's interested. Thats all it takes sometimes.

[hobbs2324]

All I can go with right now is my experiences on this in last years game, I just started a dynasty last night with 2005 so I'm probably a week out until I get to recruiting, anyway what I would do was put up the points maybe [1] week and see if they changed the attitude. Sometimes you can max everything out, go through the different options such as playtime, prestige, etc and not see interest increase. That is when I say let them play for someone else. I can't wait to get to recruit in this game, I've heard of the other things you must pay attention to now so I'm getting ready.

[phrozzy]

It's a little different this year. I'm sure you heard this already, but you gotta divide the school's budget among recruiting, training, and discipline. So unlike last year, where if you win the NC you get like 900 points, you get about a 3rd of that this year depending on how much you put into recruiting. Of course, if you put 100% then you'll probably get the full 900+ points. If thats the case, you'll probably be screwed if one of you players violate team rules and you can't discipline them because you have no points put into discipline. I think I'm in either the 2007 or 2008 year already and my scholarships have been cut for two years because i couldn't suspend a player for severely violating rules.

Anyway, back to recruiting. I can pull in a very uninterested recruit if within the first week I throw him the correct recruiting pitch and put the max points I can into him. So far the maximum number of points I've been able to put in is I think either 45 or 70. I probably save those points and work the kid slowly putting in about 20-30 points a week till I sign him. Pretty hard but not impossible.

I like the fact that this year the top 100 isn't all 5 stars. That's just unrealistic. Now if only EA will realize that not all Pro-Style QB's and lineman run 5.00+ 40's. In NCAA 2005, usually only the top 25 players, if even that many, are 5 stars. Kinda like rivals.com where 5 stars are impact players, and there are only a few of these each year, and 4 stars are good players, not necessarily impact but good. The 3 stars are average but have potential. Sometimes, you might even be able to land a walkon with a 78 overall rating like me.

[Edit] Sandman, if you have that many holes to fill, don't solely go after 4 and 5 stars unless they're interested. 3 stars aren't bad in this game.

[hobbs2324]

I can't wait to get to the recruiting so I can fully see what you are talking about

[djwill13]

first of all, figure out what state your school is in and start there. florida, georgia, texas, california, and new york are good states to recruit out of especially if you are located near there.

i do check my national 100 list and see who all is interested. IMO your first option is to fill all your roster spots. after that i will try and go after posistions where i see i have either a lot of seniors or juniors. that way, if a junior decides to leave school early next year, i have someone waiting in the wings.

i love recruiting athletes. i love that ea put that in there. i got 3 athletes my first year and they are monsters.

[phrozzy]

I've been able to sign a couple 5 star athletes within the past 2 yrs of my dynasty. The only thing they're good at are being athletes except for that guy who substantially increased his overall rating by playing running back.

So far I've got the said running back, a QB i'm trying to turn into a TE, an average linebacker who can dish out a licking, a pretty fast corner, and a C backing up my walkon. Sure they good but they're not stars. Role players maybe.

[orlandoPace]

ive got a couple questions about the recruiting.

if i put a lot of points on training, does it really help my team that much?

and what is so great about the athletes? i recruited 2 of them and they both were only good at being a qb, and they were not even rated that high.

i was thinking about putting a wr in at cb, is this possible and will he get better at his position?

[BamaGrad]

To be honest, I never let myself sign 5 star players... they really throw the game out of balance when they get to be So/Jrs and I end up with guys that cannot be stopped.

Getting a good 4 or even 3 star player to fill the gaps in your roster end up working out fine in this game IMHO.

I do like the recruiting aspect of the game, it's a nice touch.

[djwill13]

athletes are great because they can be used anywhere on the field. if you look into them though as if you were goin to scout them or recruit them, you can tell where they would be best playin at. some will give you acc and arm stregth, you know those are qb's.

i got an athlete and made him into a DE rated 88 his freshman year. i sat him for the next year (red shirt) so that he could build up his composure and let his stats go up again.

once you've done recruiting, you will soon go into a screen that will allow you to switch players posistions. i had a stallar running back that threatened to go to another school. i got him to stay, and moved him to fullback cause my starting halfback missed games the previous year do to academics. now i have the best one two punch in the nation.

i know last year i only recruited 3 and 4 star players, but this year, you can really tell a difference. i wouldn't recommend you do that this year