Ronk,
I'm at VCU and we're in the CAA, not the ACC, so more mid-major than major, but being a DI assistant has been a good experience. The coaching aspect has been the same, basketball is basketball, the game doesn't really change. Alot of what people run offensively and defensively is the same as what we played against at King's. It's just that now we're facing a different athlete - bigger & quicker. 6'4" & 6'5" post players instead of 6'0" & 6'1" and 6'0" & 6'1" guards instead of 5'9" & 5'10".
The recruiting is one of the biggest differences. At D3, most of the recruiting is focused on seniors. If a kid is good enough to be noticed as a soph, so to speak, she's probably going higher than D3. At the DI level nowadays, most kids are deciding before their senior season starts. We can start calling juniors in April, and from then until Sept is the big recruiting period. Last June I was talking to a very good friend of mine, a D3 head coach, and we were talking about recruiting, and he said he hadn't done any since mid-April. He had had his class locked up. His recruing had ended and mine was just beginning again. Scheduling is much different as well. You can agree on a game and a date with an opponent, but until you have a signed contract in hand, you can't count on anything. Yes, the Mike Lonergan game plan would be great to follow. I do miss being a head coach and will hopefully get to be one again someday.
Hope that's informative. If there is anything more specific you are interested in, please feel free to ask and I will be more than willing to answer what I can. GO MAC!!!
I'm at VCU and we're in the CAA, not the ACC, so more mid-major than major, but being a DI assistant has been a good experience. The coaching aspect has been the same, basketball is basketball, the game doesn't really change. Alot of what people run offensively and defensively is the same as what we played against at King's. It's just that now we're facing a different athlete - bigger & quicker. 6'4" & 6'5" post players instead of 6'0" & 6'1" and 6'0" & 6'1" guards instead of 5'9" & 5'10".
The recruiting is one of the biggest differences. At D3, most of the recruiting is focused on seniors. If a kid is good enough to be noticed as a soph, so to speak, she's probably going higher than D3. At the DI level nowadays, most kids are deciding before their senior season starts. We can start calling juniors in April, and from then until Sept is the big recruiting period. Last June I was talking to a very good friend of mine, a D3 head coach, and we were talking about recruiting, and he said he hadn't done any since mid-April. He had had his class locked up. His recruing had ended and mine was just beginning again. Scheduling is much different as well. You can agree on a game and a date with an opponent, but until you have a signed contract in hand, you can't count on anything. Yes, the Mike Lonergan game plan would be great to follow. I do miss being a head coach and will hopefully get to be one again someday.
Hope that's informative. If there is anything more specific you are interested in, please feel free to ask and I will be more than willing to answer what I can. GO MAC!!!