I don’t think top kids are giving us enough of a look. I realize we are considered a little bit of a perennial doormat, but man it just ticks me off to see teams like Kentucky, Minnesota, Maryland, and even Purdue just flat out, out recruit us. They are no better than us as a program. It’s not for a lack of effort from our staff and we know those guys are good recruiters because we have done better, but we just don’t get many looks from guys above 3-star range. I feel the same way about Illinois. They can’t get anybody but Lovie is a pretty good guy and coach.
A thought about our recruiting.
- Thread starter fkfootball
- Start date
I agree, it appears our staff works as hard as anyone. Hopefully one day our fortunes will change where we get more serious looks from higher rated kids.
just imagine how much worse you’d feel if your name was ‘fkbasketball’ and thats where your IU passion was instead...that’s where the downward spiral is...football seems to be on the upswing...
Excuse me? My post has nothing to do with the job IUs players or staff is doing. I’m just asking why the 4 star kids don’t seem to want to give IU a look? Even rival fans see us on the upswing. I just don’t get it. Heck, UK landed a top250 kid about an hour ago.
I kind of disagree with the premise of the question. For one, I'd rather have a high 3* that's bought in than a low 4* that hasn't. Of course, I'd probably rather have a high 4* that hasn't than a low 3* that has. But they're recruiting consistently higher than they have since the ratings era began.
But to answer the question:
I think IU lacks any of 5 things that can give a recruiting boost.
(1) School Tradition - Notre Dame could have a horrid season and still sell "who they are," or at least were.
(2) A "name" coach. I love CTA and what he's doing, but he's not a national hot up-and-comer, splashy hire, or otherwise doesn't have name ID.
(3) A signature win. IU's had some good wins over the last several years. But no big upsets against the big boys in conference (excluding the MSU game before they imploded). So they're still selling potential.
(4) Stadium atmosphere. I can only point to the end of the 2018 PSU game when they had a chance to win on a hail mary with about 15 people in the stands.
(5) Local talent that can carry a program. Indiana HS produces lots of very good talent. But it doesn't produce enough top end talent that might naturally gravitate to home based schools. There are enough 4 & 5 stars in TX, FL, & OH, that the state schools (particularly OSU as the only P5 school in the state) can live entirely off of local talent.
Like I said, I believe in what CTA is doing. Success breeds success and it looks like he's recruiting "program" guys. And tack on another 8 or 9 win season and it's going to keep trending up.
But to answer the question:
I think IU lacks any of 5 things that can give a recruiting boost.
(1) School Tradition - Notre Dame could have a horrid season and still sell "who they are," or at least were.
(2) A "name" coach. I love CTA and what he's doing, but he's not a national hot up-and-comer, splashy hire, or otherwise doesn't have name ID.
(3) A signature win. IU's had some good wins over the last several years. But no big upsets against the big boys in conference (excluding the MSU game before they imploded). So they're still selling potential.
(4) Stadium atmosphere. I can only point to the end of the 2018 PSU game when they had a chance to win on a hail mary with about 15 people in the stands.
(5) Local talent that can carry a program. Indiana HS produces lots of very good talent. But it doesn't produce enough top end talent that might naturally gravitate to home based schools. There are enough 4 & 5 stars in TX, FL, & OH, that the state schools (particularly OSU as the only P5 school in the state) can live entirely off of local talent.
Like I said, I believe in what CTA is doing. Success breeds success and it looks like he's recruiting "program" guys. And tack on another 8 or 9 win season and it's going to keep trending up.
As far as UK goes, their staff has been there a long time. They've built those relationships with kids and also has the allure of the SEC. They've had winning seasons as well, something that we haven't had until last year.
Give this staff some time. We've got one four star pulled in right now. Jones is on the cuff of four staff. We've got a chance for a couple other four star quality kids. Gone are the days of bringing in mac level classes. We compete with the rest of the B1G now.
I'm disappointed as well in the results so far, but hardly surprised. I agree with everything TMFT & Baller have said, and would add that this year's coaching turnover has probably set us back quite a bit. We know about McGraw, which I see as a big loss. But there are probably some others we've lost contact with due to the changes. Fortunately, CTA appears to have done a really good job restructuring his staff under the circumstances....so perhaps it will only effect us this year.
As to the other schools........NW & Iowa are having good years....but they have 15 years of success behind them.
Maryland has a good class so far.......an AA coach well-liked in the the area....all 3 4*s are from MD or DC. Rutgers is doing fairly well. Again, a local legend as coach.......a big name in the area. Much better than the last 2 years, but will still be a bottom 3 BT class. Fleck is also an unusual situation......a salesman who also can coach.
If I was a Purdue fan, I'd also be disappointed........7 commits, all 3*s to this point. At this point, at least, not a great class. Tubby at Illinois has only 2 recruits....both 3* guys.
Back to our class.....I don't see us doing better than 12th in the BT unless we have some of the success we had in Florida in Penix' class........we have a ton of offers how to Florida kids, especially WRs & DBs.......we need to get 5-6 there or it will end up being a disappointing class.
FWIW, here are the recruit #s as of today:
OSU................18
MN...................16
IOWA...............14
MICH................13
MD....................13
PSU..................12
RUT...................12
MSU..................11
WIS...................10
NW.....................8
NEB....................7
PUR....................7
IU........................6 (including the JC)
ILLINOIS.............2
I
IU has never been an early school for getting big recruiting classes, but it is interesting to see the difference and how fast other schools get out of the gate. We have a small # to give this year, so they are potentially wise to hold out for their internal "top picks" and I feel like given the uncertainty of the upcoming season, some big IU wins or some HS players who didn't get to camp places but have breakout senior years, might lead to having the ability & flexibility to add some key pieces later. But as improved as we are seemingly becoming, it's an arms race out there and the other schools are playing hard in this mix as well, so we do need to have some breakthroughs both on the field and in the recruiting wars too.
IU has never been an early school for getting big recruiting classes, but it is interesting to see the difference and how fast other schools get out of the gate. We have a small # to give this year, so they are potentially wise to hold out for their internal "top picks" and I feel like given the uncertainty of the upcoming season, some big IU wins or some HS players who didn't get to camp places but have breakout senior years, might lead to having the ability & flexibility to add some key pieces later. But as improved as we are seemingly becoming, it's an arms race out there and the other schools are playing hard in this mix as well, so we do need to have some breakthroughs both on the field and in the recruiting wars too.
I think no campus visits hurts us, because a lot of what CTA is selling is team chemistry, LEO et al, and how can you get much of a sense of that if you can't visit? Also, obviously the campus this time of year looks great compared to Illinois, Rutgers, Purdue.....
So.....bottom line....in a year you would think we'd have a lot going for us.....we've got a lot working against us.....
There's so much competition for Midwest kids. Most Southern Kids are just now starting to kinda get serious about recruiting. We are casting a wide net this season. Let's see how the crumbs fall before saying we are getting overlooked. It's still only May, and it's a screwed up year with the virus.
Similar threads
Latest posts
-
-
-
SIAP: great article on Rice and how he fits IU...- Latest: Aloha Hoosier
-
Dookies not immune to this portal madness- Latest: Chicago-bound Hoosier
-
