WBB: American Southwest Conference

[pistol pete 22]

thats division 3 for ya. dont have to gurantee anything to them so bring in as many as you can.

[Tennessee_papa]

"thats division 3 for ya. dont have to gurantee anything to them so bring in as many as you can."

That's just poor.  One of the things we focused on when she was going through being recruited was numbers.  You can't ask "will I get to play" because it sort of comes across as unsophisticated, and besides, until they see you play against other kids at the college level the coaches really don't know, either.

But we did ask how many players are coming back, how many are you recruiting, what's your comfortable level in terms of roster size, what if you end up with a higher number of potential players, how big do you expect your rotation to be, and so on.  And we asked what "being recruited" guaranteed her (would she be on the travelling team, etc.).  If any coach had said they expected 25 kids hanging around then they'd have been off the list immediately, unless my child really, really liked the school.

[pistol pete 22]

its not poor its smart, like you said. the coaches really dont know how good you are until they get to see you play against other kids, especially on the division three level. if you only bring in 12 kids for the whole team and 3 or 4 of em arent as good as you thought, then you cant even practice. obviously what she is doing works. bringin in 25 id guess atleast 5 are gonna quit before the season starts an then theres probably another 5 who just arent good enough an they can redshirt a year an try to play the next an still play all four years. and 25 is probably not including the kids who just show up an think they can play because its d3

[Tennessee_papa]

But isn't it the coaches' job to apply some discrimination function to roster management?  Aren't they supposed to be trying to get kids they want, even in D3?

Mine was recruited by 4 schools, and those four coaches all had a choke point between 15 and 17 players, for what it's worth.

[pistol pete 22]

So your looking at like about a 10 player difference, an some of those players are probably kids who are just coming, doesnt mean the coach recruited them.  Plus some are going to quit while others are not goin to be good enough, should be easy to get the number to 15. This isnt high school anymore, even if the coach recruited you, if there are 15 players better than you then they dont have to keep you around. thats how it goes. im sure all of the top programs do it like she did.

[Tennessee_papa]

BTW, looks like Schreiner hired their new coach today.  Got the assistant from UTD.  Given what's been accomplished at UTD, that's probably a good idea......

[Ralph Turner]

New coach at UTT

http://www.d3hoops.com/pressreleases.php?release=3156

[golden_dome]

"thats division 3 for ya. dont have to gurantee anything to them so bring in as many as you can."

That's just poor.  One of the things we focused on when she was going through being recruited was numbers.  You can't ask "will I get to play" because it sort of comes across as unsophisticated, and besides, until they see you play against other kids at the college level the coaches really don't know, either.

But we did ask how many players are coming back, how many are you recruiting, what's your comfortable level in terms of roster size, what if you end up with a higher number of potential players, how big do you expect your rotation to be, and so on.  And we asked what "being recruited" guaranteed her (would she be on the travelling team, etc.).  If any coach had said they expected 25 kids hanging around then they'd have been off the list immediately, unless my child really, really liked the school.

I see your point, but you have to look at it from a DIII coach's standpoint because there are a couple very good reasons for high numbers in my opinion.

For one, oral commitments are not binding and kids change their mind all the time at the last minute. DIII coaches who only recruit the players they evaluate in the top echelon are taking a big risk of seeing scholarship schools snatch them up just before school and you're left with nothing. It happened to one of sports at MC a few years ago with about six talented kids backing out in the summer for whatever reason, so I know it can happen.

Secondly, one of the few advantages DIII coaches have on scholarship schools is they don't have to place as much emphasis on evaluation as scholarship schools. They don't have to worry about evaluating because they can take both kids if they are close and let it play out. Coaches misevaluate kids all the time, but there really isn't a reason for that to happen in DIII if they can get both on campus.

And there really are a lot of kids who basically recruit themselves onto the team just for a shot at playing or coming along with a friend, which greatly inflates the numbers.

I would agree with you that a coach should be honest about the situation from the start and not try and deceive any player or family, but it is very risky in DIII to only bring in the number of kids you need. It can backfire in a big way and puts you at a competitive disadvantage to other schools who are playing the numbers.

[Tennessee_papa]

I understand how complicated DIII recruiting is compared to the divisions that can give athletic schoarships.  And I'm sympathetic to the complications.  It's certainly not up to me to say how many kids UTT should run throught the program in the preseason.

And I know some schools keep a whole bunch of players around, some of whom never see the bench, much less the court.  Go to Depauw's website and take a look at last year's team picture.  They've got more kids "on the roster" than they have uniforms, I think.

I still think that the coaches have to have some discrimination function working, if for no other reason than if you don't you end up with a whole lot of unhappy people hanging around your locker room, which isn't healthy.

I also should explicitly say that all four coaches that my daughter dealt with were completely honest about everything as best I can tell.  All four came across to me (and my kid) as delightfully decent folks who she'd have been happy to play for.

I did happen to discuss the situation with "walk-ins" with two of them, one after he had successfully convinced my daughter to come play and another several months after my daughter had decided to go elsewhere.  Both gave me the very strong impression that "walk-ins" don't have much of a chance to make the roster.  Obviously you'll get a surprise evey once in a while.......

[Ralph Turner]

Even at D-III, the talent has been scouted so well that there are really few surprises.

[Ralph Turner]

I saw a McMurry University Ladies In Basketball (LIB) t-shirt in a Casa Ole in Tyler this evening.

Classy looking shirt, if I say so myself (on a classy lady, too).

I am ready to defend the ASC-West crown!

[Sioux]

What are your predictions for the way the season is going to play out.

[Sioux]

Who are some noteworthy freshman or transfers at your school this year?

[SabineBBall]

It feels like basketball season again.  Looking forward to another great season in ASC and keeping up with the teams here on D3 hoops!

[Ralph Turner]

Who are some noteworthy freshman or transfers at your school this year?

Becky Taylor left UT-Tyler and transferred to HSU.