Interesting article on recruiting

From the Chicago Tribune. Northwestern football coach Pat Fitzgerald pulls scholarship offers from recruits who visit elsewhere after verbally committing. He recently did so for two four star twin brothers. His theory is pretty simple. You either want us or you don't. When you are ready to commit, do it.

This is football of course, so there are some differences. More kids getting scholarships, more players playing, so less likelihood that one player is going to turn your team around, and others. But Fitzgerald has done pretty well at Northwestern, keeping his team competitive in an extremely tough conference despite a number of big recruiting disadvantages. So how would such an approach work at a place like Marquette?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports...,3917151.story

Football is a lot different in that respect. Others likely know more than I on this, but in hoops it seems once committed to a school other coaches move on.
In football it seems everyone continues to recruit until signing day. Look at Melvin Gordon from Madison, he verbally committed to Iowa but the Badgers kept recruiting him and he eventually changed his mind. Happens all the time in football. Seems Fitz isn't a big fan, but you are right UJ, could put him at a further disadvantage.

Only know a little about basketball recruiting from what I've read and talked to a couple assistant coaches/players. Most schools back off, but some schools don't when a recruit signs. I talked to DJO once and he said that he continued to get let calls and letters after signing with Marquette and I heard same thing happened with Eric Williams. Rick Majerus told me until you see a recruit sitting in a class, you worry about whether he'll show or not.

PS. Majerus may have been downbeat, because I sat next to him on a plane and talked to him right after the Scooter McCray incident.

I am not sure that is where the difference lies. Of course, football is kind of like the Wild West until signing day. I remember a story of one kid who sent in his LOI but the fax machine jammed, and before he could send it again, some other coach poached him. But recruiting after verbals clearly does go on in basketball. Despite the complaints of our neighbors to the west, Buzz did not go after Vander until he reopened his commitment. But you can be sure other coaches did. I recall a player Crean recruited early on. He wanted to keep his scheduled recruiting visit to Tulane. My feeling was who could blame a kid for wanting a free trip to New Orleans during Mardi Gras, but Crean told him he couldn't go, and he didn't.

The thing is, Fitzgerald does not seem to think this approach puts him at disadvantage. Northwestern really does have them. Size, academic standards that are as high as our neighbors to the west think theirs are and which apply to athletes, and the absence of a state-wide fan base that cheers for the team even if they never went to college. He also has some advantages. Absolutely nobody expects Northwestern to compete for a national championship, few expect them to compete for the Big Ten title, although they get very excited when they do, and if the team finishes with three or four losses and plays some good games against big name teams and goes to some bowl somewhere, the fans are genuinely happy. But keeping the team competitive is no easy task, and Fitzgerald seems to think he can and should lay down a hard line for recruits, even big name ones.

So what does this say about a school like Marquette? We want to remain competitive in basketball. The expectations are lower than some places, like the blue blood programs. There are some challenges in being a relatively small school in a non-football conference, and we have all discussed many times the difficulties in competing directly with a large state university. But we still want to remain competitive. So does a similar hard line take-us-or-leave-us approach work in basketball for a school like Marquette?

Football is a cesspool compared to basketball and that's saying something.

It is very tough for football in some regards.

Basketball - Kids play multiple games per week, then have the spring and summer AAU season. Coaches get dozens and dozens and dozens of opportunities to see them play and to build relationships. Most kids commit before their senior year of school ever starts.

Football - Kids get about 10 games per year. On Friday nights, the night college coaches are preparing for a big game the next day. Also, unless you grew/developed early, many football players don't even get the chance to see significant time until their senior year, then they explode - it is a mad rush to recruit them, especially by coaches who have never seen them play other than film, and have never had the chance to build a relationship. It is crazy.