Embree > Hawkins?

[BlackNGold]

To be fair, though, early in the Hawkins era we certainly come close on many blue chippers as well. My point is that just being there and coming close doesn't do anything. You either close or you don't, there's no moral victories to be found in recruiting. That said, I'm happy with what the staff has done thus far considering we're coming off a 3-10 season, but let's land a few of these guys and finish this class off the right way!

As you may note by reading carefully, I was very specific in my assessment of years. Here is what happened with Hawkins, from day one he was all over the country and did not build a pipeline in prime recruiting areas which is what came back to bite him in the later years. He also got very wacky on running the recruiting process, getting in on players very late, and the killer thing was he lost the team -- you players recruit for you on visits. Of course, over time it made no difference since no one was visiting.

I never claimed there are moral victories but I will say that you have to look a little deeper in evaluating the process. If you are getting consideration for top recruits and getting visit then it means that your message is being well-received by the recruits - they may not close them all now but it means they are on the right track. As oppose to what was happening previously when recruits were not even listening.

 

[Buffnik]

As you may note by reading carefully, I was very specific in my assessment of years. Here is what happened with Hawkins, from day one he was all over the country and did not build a pipeline in prime recruiting areas which is what came back to bite him in the later years. He also got very wacky on running the recruiting process, getting in on players very late, and the killer thing was he lost the team -- you players recruit for you on visits. Of course, over time it made no difference since no one was visiting.

I never claimed there are moral victories but I will say that you have to look a little deeper in evaluating the process. If you are getting consideration for top recruits and getting visit then it means that your message is being well-received by the recruits - they may not close them all now but it means they are on the right track. As oppose to what was happening previously when recruits were not even listening.

Well said. We expect immediate results... and we should. But we also have to remember that there are both short- and long-term goals in recruiting. Embree is also building pipelines and relationships that will pay dividends for CU 5 and 10 years down the road. He expects to still be our coach then, but he's also building this for the program regardless of whether he's still the guy at that point.

It's not a matter of moral victories. Some of these visits and positive relations with coaches and communities are long-term wins even though they are short-term losses.

 

[CVilleBuff]

Some of these 4* kids we're after has very little to do with building relationships for the future. The relationship/pipeline factor has more to do with some of the guys we took who are longterm projects. We're not going to be going into McKees Rocks,PA or Ramsey, NJ all that often.

 

[Buffnik]

Some of these 4* kids we're after has very little to do with building relationships for the future. The relationship/pipeline factor has more to do with some of the guys we took who are longterm projects. We're not going to be going into McKees Rocks,PA or Ramsey, NJ all that often.

Agree completely. Elite talent is about the now except a modifier for when the player comes from a program in our base recruiting region and we can use his recruitment to build some relationships with HS coaches and administrators.

Exceptions may be Washington DC and Don Bosco Prep (north jersey). We have some existing relationships in those places. Also, there may be a few places in Ohio & western PA where Brookhart has connections. With the messes at Penn State and Pitt right now, it's probably worth exploring those contacts.

 

[MtnBuff]

Building the recruiting pipelines in the traditional power areas is critical. Texas, Southern California, Hawaii for us, etc. will provide us with the bulk of our roster in upcoming years.

At the same time there are some areas that we can also build some pipelines that are worth our time and effort. These areas produce less overall talent but also have less competition for that talent. I have no problem with us pulling 2-3 kids a year out of Washington DC, 1-2 out of New Jersey, some out of Pennsylvania.

If we have contact already established in those areas and we can benefit from those contacts lets keep them up. kNU has been using the New Jersey area for key players for years. Wisconsin has a number of smaller market states that they return to year after year, when Mac was running the program he never let loose on those contacts he had in Michigan and brought us a bunch of guys who were important players.

As has been posted earlier this isn't just about this year. This class is important and they are doing well but for the program to reach the level we want and stay there this is also about next year and 5 years down the road. It always pissed me off when kNU would come into the Loveland/Longmont area and pick out kids who wouldn't give a solid listen to CU. One reason they could do this was that there were a lot of Nebraska escapees in the area, the other big reason is that they built and maintained relationships with the HS coaches in that area, brought kids in for camps, and kept the Huskers in the kids minds. They never got a lot of kids out of there but they got enough to make a difference and make it worth the time and effort.