Recruiting question

[waterhead]

I have a question about a recruiting scenario. I have heard on this board that you take what you can get when you can get it before another school comes in and takes it away.

Hypothetically, let's say Bost wants to play for UC and Mick likes Bost but he likes Fortson a little better. Let's say Fortson wants to play for Kansas but has UC 2nd on his list. Let's say Fortson is 2nd on Kansas' list of PG's and Fortson is waiting to find out if Kansas gets this other guy or not (similar to what Mick would be doing with Bost in this scenario).

First, how do you let a kid know he is your first choice when you haven't offered him a scholly yet (which seems to tell the kid you are looking at someone else)? Second, should Mick be waiting on Fortson or offer Bost while he has the chance?

This is a hypothetical situation but I am assuming something like this is going on if we already know Bost wants to come to UC. I also assume this goes on all the time so how does the coach deal with the player in this scenario. Obviously if the school wants the kid and the kid wants the school it's a no brainer. If the kid is choosing between three schools it's a salesmanship situation. When a coach is looking at a player and the player wants to go to that school but the coach isn't sure or has other prospects in mind...how does he deal with that?

[Aaron]

Good question, I guess you can look at as a new job scenario. I guess it depends on how Mick and his coaches rate these players. If they rate them close to even, then he needs to throw the offer out there, and the first one to bite on the deal is the point guard.

[IKnowMoreThanYou]

I have a question about a recruiting scenario. I have heard on this board that you take what you can get when you can get it before another school comes in and takes it away.

Hypothetically, let's say Bost wants to play for UC and Mick likes Bost but he likes Fortson a little better. Let's say Fortson wants to play for Kansas but has UC 2nd on his list. Let's say Fortson is 2nd on Kansas' list of PG's and Fortson is waiting to find out if Kansas gets this other guy or not (similar to what Mick would be doing with Bost in this scenario).

First, how do you let a kid know he is your first choice when you haven't offered him a scholly yet (which seems to tell the kid you are looking at someone else)? Second, should Mick be waiting on Fortson or offer Bost while he has the chance?

This is a hypothetical situation but I am assuming something like this is going on if we already know Bost wants to come to UC. I also assume this goes on all the time so how does the coach deal with the player in this scenario. Obviously if the school wants the kid and the kid wants the school it's a no brainer. If the kid is choosing between three schools it's a salesmanship situation. When a coach is looking at a player and the player wants to go to that school but the coach isn't sure or has other prospects in mind...how does he deal with that?


This is a common scenario because every school has certain players at the top of their recruiting wish list and has to be prepared in every case to have a fallback option if their preferred player goes elsewhere. A team could not offer a player but still be recruiting him highly for several reasons. The team could be waiting to get the player on campus before offering or an offer might not have been made if the player has some academic hurdles to clear first. Another possibility if a player is 1st choice and not having an offer could be dependent on having too many options at that position and waiting for room to be cleared before making an offer.

The second question you posed, about waiting on a school to offer despite high interest on both sides is a bit trickier. The early signing period for 2008 recruits is still 6 months away and a coach could be waiting to see how position battles shake out before determining if a particular position is a need or if the scholarship is best used elsewhere. A player could deal with a lack of an offer by playing better when he knows the coach from that school or other coaches are watching and making himself a more attractive recruit to other schools. Recruiting changes daily and hourly and is not the same with each recruit so even though the scenario you proposed is hypothetical the whole Fortson and Bost situation probably involves a lot of things we don't know about.

Not sure if this explanation helped at all but I tried.

[Corporateballa]

Mick & staff make offers to (say) three point guards. The first to accept gets the skolly. The other offers are recended after one accepts.

[waterhead]

Good question, I guess you can look at as a new job scenario. I guess it depends on how Mick and his coaches rate these players. If they rate them close to even, then he needs to throw the offer out there, and the first one to bite on the deal is the point guard.

Thanks for all the responses. The job interview seems to be a good analogy. What would I do if I were offered jobs from three companies and waiting to hear back from three others. It would depend on how good the existing offers were, how long the offers were good for, my chances at getting a better offer, the level of competition I felt I was up against, and at what point have I waited too long and missed all the offers.

I was trying to think back to when I have been interviewing for jobs in the past. What did I tell a company when I had an offer but was waiting to hear from others. I guess for the most part I told them I would be completing the interview process very soon, I am very interested in your offer, and I will let you know as soon as I have heard back from all companies out of fairness to them. If there was a deadline on the offer I guess I had a decision to make.

[BearcatJer]

The job interview analogy is very good. I can tell you that as an employer, I may give out 2 offers for a position. When an offer is made, it is made with the understanding that the offer will not remain open indefinitely, and the first to accept from the qualified candidates will get the job. If Bost and Fortson are considered nearly equal in Mick's eyes, he might offer both with the understanding that only one PG will be taken - if he would be satisfied with either, regardless of the preference for one over the other.

[Mick's Da Man]

If I'm a coach making offers to two players I want at the same position and both players are really good but player A is slightly better than player B, but player B would commit now while player A wants to wait awhile to decide and possibly check out other offers?.........I take player B in a heartbeat. You could end up missing out on both in the end if say player B feels like he was ready to commit but you held him off while waiting to see what player A is going to do. And then Player A goes elsewhere and Player B is ticked off and signs with some other program that wants him.

[levydl]

Mick knows more about this recruiting game than certainly anyone of us, and probably about as much as anyone out there.

If he's holding out on giving Bost a scholarship to see if he can snag Fortson or Theodore or whomever he thinks is the best among them, Mick must have calculated the odds that if he does miss out on the others, he'll still get Bost. He might even have an approximate date in mind as to when he has to give up on the others and scoop Bost up, I don't know.

But I do know that Mick knows what he's doing, both with scouting and rating players, and with getting them to commit.

[MicksTheGuy]

I would say with the crapshoot that is playing the recruiting game that you put offers on the table out for both. Whoever signs first gets the scholarship. I remember a couple of guys that were 2nd choices like Logan and Lofton that turned out to be okay players.

If Bost wants to sign now then I would do so. The only way I don't is if I really like another point guard a lot more for some reason. I would need to really feel like he was going to come here. However, I don't like to play the what if game and would sign the first point guard that wanted to come here. As a side note I would only put offers out for 3 point guards who I thought were all close in talent.

In this case I think they are all close enough that I take anyone that wants to sign. Besides nobody says he can't take two of them if he really wants them and they both want to come.

[Bearcat Fan Since 1958]

I have a question about a recruiting scenario. I have heard on this board that you take what you can get when you can get it before another school comes in and takes it away.

Hypothetically, let's say Bost wants to play for UC and Mick likes Bost but he likes Fortson a little better. Let's say Fortson wants to play for Kansas but has UC 2nd on his list. Let's say Fortson is 2nd on Kansas' list of PG's and Fortson is waiting to find out if Kansas gets this other guy or not (similar to what Mick would be doing with Bost in this scenario).

First, how do you let a kid know he is your first choice when you haven't offered him a scholly yet (which seems to tell the kid you are looking at someone else)? Second, should Mick be waiting on Fortson or offer Bost while he has the chance?

This is a hypothetical situation but I am assuming something like this is going on if we already know Bost wants to come to UC. I also assume this goes on all the time so how does the coach deal with the player in this scenario. Obviously if the school wants the kid and the kid wants the school it's a no brainer. If the kid is choosing between three schools it's a salesmanship situation. When a coach is looking at a player and the player wants to go to that school but the coach isn't sure or has other prospects in mind...how does he deal with that?

I'd take first ready to commit. Huggs did that with Leonard Stokes in 1999. And many others.

[richard k.]

I asked Huggins this question directly and his response was simple - unless you are waiting on a "franchise" type of player you take the first one to commit - if you don't think they can play for you why offer in the first place.

[waterhead]

If all of these recruiting thoughts above are the rule rather than the exception I could assume one of a few things.

#1 Bost is not ready to commit to UC as some say he is. #2 Mick is not sold on Bost as being equal to other point guard(s) in the mix. #3 Something else is risky with Bost other than talent such as grades.

Can someone clue me in on what the answer really is?

[Bearcat98]

If all of these recruiting thoughts above are the rule rather than the exception I could assume one of a few things.

#1 Bost is not ready to commit to UC as some say he is. #2 Mick is not sold on Bost as being equal to other point guard(s) in the mix. #3 Something else is risky with Bost other than talent such as grades.

Can someone clue me in on what the answer really is?

#2 hands down... Mick wants Kemba Walker, If Walker commits elsewhere, Bost will get a scholarship offer....

[waterhead]

#2 hands down... Mick wants Kemba Walker, If Walker commits elsewhere, Bost will get a scholarship offer....

Okay thanks. I wouldn't have been guessing Walker. I haven't heard much on him. Does Walker play with Theodore?

[IKnowMoreThanYou]

Okay thanks. I wouldn't have been guessing Walker. I haven't heard much on him. Does Walker play with Theodore?

They share the same backourt in AAU ball for the New York Gauchos and Walker plays for Rice HS and Theodore for Paterson Catholic I believe. Supposedly Mick wants Walker and Bost also has some legitimate grade concerns. Both could be May visitors to campus also.

[Bearcat98]

They share the same backourt in AAU ball for the New York Gauchos and Walker plays for Rice HS and Theodore for Paterson Catholic I believe. Supposedly Mick wants Walker and Bost also has some legitimate grade concerns. Both could be May visitors to campus also.

Yep... Bost is a 2007 guy who is going to prep school next year to get his academics together, then come to college in the class of 08'. He'll be playing prep ball at Hargrave Military Academy next year.... Same prep school James White attended.