Recruiting
 

Good job on the recruiting info guys.

Having said that, I think it needs to be changed a little bit. Going into the 2011 section, there are currently 7 pages of recruits and that will only grow as time goes on. I imagine that people go into the section and read a few threads before becoming completely overwhelmed and giving up.

You already have snapshot threads showing how likely a player is to commit to UC. I think that needs to be taken further and have the somewhat likely players (say maybe the fair and up) in their own section (or something like that. I had initially thought stickying them but that is for the commits).

If you have all the recruit threads of players that we have a legit shot at and only those players in one place, more people would end up using the info.


Just a thought. I for one have found myself exiting the recruiting section after clicking several threads and reading them and asking myself why I wasted 15 minutes on players that I know arent coming to Cincy.

Recruiting information can be overwhelming, in many respects. There are thousands of players hoping for a BCS offer, close to a hundred offers by UC, and others who may get offered late in the year.

I decided when we began to put out as much info as possible on players of interest to UC. Even those who don't get a UC offer, but might. A guy like Alex Fine is a perfect example. Under the radar player in Michigan, but who spent time at Moeller, and is known to the coaches. He could camp at places in the summer and get offered by some big time schools, thus attracting more interest by others.

The UC sites were sparse with recruiting info (at least what was free to view) and I wanted to change that, and so we did. Is it too much at times, absolutely. However, following a player from recruit to commit is a whole lot better than digging up info after the fact. Some people are recruiting junkies, and some could care less. I guess I fall in the former category. Everyone we have a thread on had at least some interest in UC, or vice versa.

The question for each member here, is who to follow. This is why I have written two snapshots. One in March, and the other fairly recently. Most sites will do this later in the year as few people like to be proven wrong. However, I thought it would provide some guidance in a sea of information.

As recruits commit to other schools, or their interest in UC wanes, we tend to stop digging up information on them, and they will slide to the back of the recruiting forum. Essentially, the players in the first four pages either have a chance to come to UC, or there is just more info available. However, there are some players in pages 5-7 that could see an offer late, so keep that in mind.

Essentially, we're doing the best that we can to provide as much relevent info as possible, keep our members aware of our chances with the 'Snapshots', and let those with no chance of going to UC to 'drop off the books'.

I'm gonna look at cleaning up some of the stuff on the basketball side too over the next 2 weeks. The next 2-3 months will really tell who the Bearcats are serious about.

I hate to do it on the football side, I'm considering it.

Maybe the way to make it a bit easier on everyone is to sticky any player with the offer (on the football side). Any player that commits elsewhere can be un-stickied and drop off the face of the earth. I know that is still a bunch of players but recruiting can change so fast and you don't want to delete players who could possibly end up at UC and have to dig all the info up again.

The other possible option (if feasible with the site) is to break out the players by position and not just class. Maybe under 2011 recruits there is a page for QBs, RBs, WRs, etc and also a page for commitments?

I thought about 'pinning' the players with offers, but then members are looking for a guy in two sections with multiple pages, not just one.

Here's my thing, I almost posted on Pat Martin and another player. Fact is, Pat Martin ain't coming to UC, so why bother. Within weeks he'll be in the back and members can focus primarily on the first 4-5 pages. Not that much actually, as other sites have much more than we do, but I'm trying to keep it balanced.

I guess we can just stop posting any info on kids who will almost definitely not be a Bearcat. If Coach Jones pulls a quick one, we could be scrambling though.

It always calls for some judgment, but it's still very early.

We tried this in our basketball forum. Thread list made the forum a nightmare to read.

It's not that bad, and I sift through it daily. The first four pages are where the bulk of info goes. I could always archive the commits to other teams, but then you lose those that UC offered. I just don't see it as a huge problem. For those who love recruiting, it's not that much. For fans who don't want to wade through the mud too much, just follow the updates when they occur.