2014 Recruits

[AttyAlum]

I think our biggest recruiting challenge going forward will be geography, not conference affiliation.

Even with membership in the Big East, it may be difficult (but certainly not impossible) to get east coasters to enroll here consistently. Because of this, we have to continue to recruit easterners, but the majority of our recruiting focus has to be in the midwest, (which for the purposes of this post, includes Texas as well as more obvious midwestern locales).

It would be nice if we could put on some sort of clinic for east coast AAU coaches especially those in the big cities (NYC, Philly, DC, etc). I'd like them to see our facilities, learn about our program and visit Omaha. As someone who has family living on the east coast, I know that there are certainly pockets of easterners who think Omaha is essentially a giant farm or cattle ranch and has no minority presence. It would be nice to show them otherwise. I don't know if such a clinic is allowed under NCAA rules however.

[mredle]

it's more that you've taken it upon yourself to be the asshole of the board

congrats

this place would be better without your crap

Not happening. I have no idea what I did to get your panties in a wad, but I don't much care either.

[mredle]

I think our biggest recruiting challenge going forward will be geography, not conference affiliation.

Even with membership in the Big East, it may be difficult (but certainly not impossible) to get east coasters to enroll here consistently. Because of this, we have to continue to recruit easterners, but the majority of our recruiting focus has to be in the midwest, (which for the purposes of this post, includes Texas as well as more obvious midwestern locales).

It would be nice if we could put on some sort of clinic for east coast AAU coaches especially those in the big cities (NYC, Philly, DC, etc). I'd like them to see our facilities, learn about our program and visit Omaha. As someone who has family living on the east coast, I know that there are certainly pockets of easterners who think Omaha is essentially a giant farm or cattle ranch and has no minority presence. It would be nice to show them otherwise. I don't know if such a clinic is allowed under NCAA rules however.

AA
I generally agree with your post and I agree that our base of principle base of recruiting operations will be the midwest. Membership in the BE may open doors to recruiting on the east coast because people will get to know more about us as the BE gives us greater exposure in those areas. In the end however, I'd like to see us, whenever possible, to pursue something similar to that of Gonzaga, where if we have an opening we are willing to recruit nationally or even internationally for quality kids and quality talent.

[Jaysker12]

I think our biggest recruiting challenge going forward will be geography, not conference affiliation.

Even with membership in the Big East, it may be difficult (but certainly not impossible) to get east coasters to enroll here consistently. Because of this, we have to continue to recruit easterners, but the majority of our recruiting focus has to be in the midwest, (which for the purposes of this post, includes Texas as well as more obvious midwestern locales).

It would be nice if we could put on some sort of clinic for east coast AAU coaches especially those in the big cities (NYC, Philly, DC, etc). I'd like them to see our facilities, learn about our program and visit Omaha. As someone who has family living on the east coast, I know that there are certainly pockets of easterners who think Omaha is essentially a giant farm or cattle ranch and has no minority presence. It would be nice to show them otherwise. I don't know if such a clinic is allowed under NCAA rules however.

I agree with your assertion that our coaching staff will always be at a disadvantage when landing east coast kids. I also agree with that fact that we need to focus our recruiting efforts in the midwest. However, landing kids from the "lower" midwest (Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma etc) will almost be tougher for us because, not only do we have perennial powerhouses like Okie St. and Kansas to compete with, but our conference is also an issue for players wanting to play in front of friends and family on a consistent basis. For a lot of recruits, that quality in a school is highly essential. I'd say we need to recruit the upper midwest (Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa) more so than the lower, which appears is what the current strategy is.

[mredle]

Jaysker12 the ACC doesn't seem to have the problem of kids leaving the geographical footprint where they live to play ball. Would that suggest that the better the BE conference and its individual members are the more likely kids will be to want to come to Omaha and play for for the Jays?

[gtmoBlue]

Excellent idea AA. Perhaps that is a function that can be addressed by our recruiting staff. Educate AAU and HS coaches, as they are making their appointed recruiting rounds. A clinic would be excellent.

In the meantime, the CU staff, BJC, WBR, or Scout could collaborate or individually compile a short 3-5 minute "educational" video or webcast on Omaha, CU, and the "Creighton Advantage". If made by a 3rd party this promo can be donated to the Athletic staff for their usage. LJay made a perfect list of topic items for such an educational piece in his post above. A video montage of clips addressing the topics in LJay's list and any other pertinent concerns - compiled from pre-existing vids, webcasts, etc. No need to reinvent the wheel when plenty of footage already exists, that can be used to create this video tool. An invitation to visit Creighton and to see the "Creighton Advantage" up close and in person would end such a tool.

The staff can email to the various AAU and HS coaching targets, and the staff recruiters can use the same promo in their recruiting visits, at camps, at AAU events, and when recruits and families actually visit the Hilltop, to educate these stakeholders about the "Creighton Advantage"". Recruiters also close with an invitation for stakeholders to visit CU and see for themselves the "Creighton Advantage".

A promo such as this webcast or video is an inexpensive, but dynamite basketball or multi-sport tool to promote the Jays. A lesser version of this type of tool could be a PPT presentation, but would obviously be lacking in its' dynamism as compared to a video with voice-over narration, sound, music track, visual effects, etc.

[Jaysker12]

Jaysker12 the ACC doesn't seem to have the problem of kids leaving the geographical footprint where they live to play ball. Would that suggest that the better the BE conference and its individual members are the more likely kids will be to want to come to Omaha and play for for the Jays?

The second thing you said is true. But the first, by the 2014 class' standard, is not. 8 of 9 of the Top 100 commits that the ACC has come from Florida, North Carolina, and Maryland. I just think that realigning ourselves more towards the East Coast puts us at a major disadvantage for kids from the lower midwest. We also don't have as much clout recruiting wise as the annual top 4 teams in the ACC: Duke, North Carolina, NC State, Miami

[mredle]

Jaysker12 the ACC doesn't seem to have the problem of kids leaving the geographical footprint where they live to play ball. Would that suggest that the better the BE conference and its individual members are the more likely kids will be to want to come to Omaha and play for for the Jays?

The second thing you said is true. But the first, by the 2014 class' standard, is not. 8 of 9 of the Top 100 commits that the ACC has come from Florida, North Carolina, and Maryland. I just think that realigning ourselves more towards the East Coast puts us at a major disadvantage for kids from the lower midwest. We also don't have as much clout recruiting wise as the annual top 4 teams in the ACC: Duke, North Carolina, NC State, Miami

Obviously if you can get what you need at home you don't have to leave home if you don't want to but look at the Harrison Barnes, the Trajan Langdon's, the Carlos Boozer's or perhaps the Akoy Agau's of the world. Our goal is to compete with the Duke's, the NC's, the KUs, IUs etc on an annual basis. To do so we have to go wherever the talent is that will improve our team.

[LJay]

wtf is going on?!?! All these kids are commiting without taking any official visits.

I try not to be an alarmist but damn, our list of Top 150 kids is down to about Leon Gilmore and ...................

[HandDownManDown]

Here's some food for thought on LGIII...


http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=215&f=2805&t=11659202



I hope like hell we're on top of this to the same degree that Houston seems to be.