How do you build a recruiting network?
After watching the tape of Juwan Howard's press conference this morning, I started wondering about the logistics of building up a recruiting network. Howard mentioned that he hasn't decided yet on a specific strategy in terms of targeting all 5* players or going the Beilein route of trying to develop rising 3* and 4* types.
Then, I saw Magnus's post asking about the top football talent in the state of Michigan. And now I'm wondering if there are analytics involved with trying to consider shifting population demographics, geographical areas of talent concentration, etc.? I know Howard isn't starting this process entirely from scratch, but it's pretty close. Just wondering if anyone has insight into whether there is any cutting-edge, "Moneyball" type approaches to recruiting these days?
Yes - Generally, the bigger the bag for the bagman, the higher the recruit garnered.
Except for Michigan. No bag = UM sales job.
Now that Beilein is gone, everyones got a bag. It has been, and always will be about recruiting and relationships
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Bag? Check.
End of list.
To get the 5-star recruits, you have to be very adept at the analytics of cash payments.
What about being in an area where a parent of 5* recruit can find a lucrative job that fits their "skill" set.
I suppose the contents of the bag don’t necessarily have to be in the form of direct cash. A job offer could be in the bag along with the deed to a house and a new car.
Outside of bagmen, I would assume the perks like personal chefs (Kentucky) or NBA-like training facilities would help land 5* guys. One and done guys probably think a nice education and a Final Four appearance is cool, but they care more about developing their body and game for the next level. Promise them that, plus a run in March, and even if the McDonald's AA types pass us up, the next level guys would be more interested.
I see facilities and perks only as things that might take away from your pitch, not really an advantage. All major schools have great facilities and perks these days, so it's more of a baseline. Beyond the bag, I think it matters more where you have ties (AAU in basketball, coaches & high schools in football) and some of the ancillary hanger on types who "facilitate" connections as we've seen in the FBI trial this year. But its mostly the bag for elite tier kids, and for everybody else it's connections, legacies, and hard work.
LinkedIn Premium
I want a good basketball program but I’ll be damned if I’m paying for premium.
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New Bag = Bitcoin & Litecoin
My answer to everything...
Hookers and blow...
Username checks out
Rick Pitino? Is that you?
Identify areas of focus, ie specific high schools, cities etc.
Build relationships with power brokers in those scenes.
Set up an operation similar to organized crime money laundering.
.
Profit?
All of the answers so far deal with how to sign a recruit once you've identified them as a target, but where I think the "moneyball"-type approach would come in is in actually identifying which recruits you want. The coaches aren't just going on 247 and choosing from top247 at random. They have their own talent evaluation and identification procedures. There are a lot of high school football players in this country; how does one go about deciding which of the millions of them they want to even evaluate as a possible target?
Guessing it's similar to music...
Demo tape
Money, trickery and deceit. Subtlety is a plus.
Hookers and Blow
You aren't fooling anyone, Chris Ash. We're not divulging our tactics.
Simple steps to building a recruiting network:
1) Be a key part of the most famous college basketball recruiting class ever that just happened to occur during the formative years of all of the parents of today's high-schoolers.
2) Go on to be a NBA star for nearly 2-decades
3) Coach players like LeBron and D-Wade and have them vouch for you.
4) Profit
Parents know him already, NBA players vouch for him, and everyone says he excels at building relationships. We may not know anything about his recruiting abilities, but I would say he is set up to succeed, with the obvious issue of having to fend off the bagmen.
Coach Howard will sell Michigan’s World class academics and phenomenal Library System to the 5 Stars
You know it's all about bag as long as Lawrence Kansas and Syracuse New York and Lexington Kentucky keep drawing in 5-star city kids.