Date: Tue Apr 8 10:16:01 2008
Sender: David Smith AA
Season 53 is in the books and the Dayton Project turns to the offseason. With
4 days until season 54 initializes it is time to talk about the things that
need to be done in order to prepare for the next season. Before I go any
further though...for any new coach just reading this, here are the archived
threads for the Dayton Project, started in season 53. If you go to CBEL
Archive you can search for these threads.
The Dayton Project - Start up
The Dayton Project - Recruiting 53
The Dayton Project - Game Season 53
RECORD KEEPING
Since I am a huge proponent of history and record keeping the first thing I do
with my Louisville team and now with Dayton is to update the team success and
print a hard copy of the team page (roster, game results). For each season I
have a sheet that records the final record, final ranking, regular season
record, conference record, tournament played in (CBEL or DIT), and round
eliminated. I also record championships won and level of tournament success
(and who I lost to) Final 4, Elite 8, 2nd round, etc... I have another page
that I devote to tracking W/L at home and away for each team in the conference.
That way I can look at the history that I have with each team in my conference
both home and away. After that I update each individual players skill
attributes and statistics for the season. I record each players skill
attributes at the time of walkon/recruitment and update after each training
camp with another update at the end of the season. Back in the day players
improved both at camp and end of season and you could also track it during the
season. A while back a change was made so that players only improve during
camp, however for some reason you will also see a very slight change in a few
players at the end of season. Here are some of the highlights of post season
change for Dayton players:
B.James C Fr 4 5 1 1 6 1 6 7 100 6'10" *S C A C
B.James C Fr 4 5 1 1 7 2 6 7 100 6'10" *S C A C
F.Rogers SF So 2 2 8 3 3 5 0 9 100 6' 7" *S D C SF
F.Rogers SF So 3 2 8 3 3 5 0 9 100 6' 7" *S C C SF
C.Leverenz SG Fr 3 6 4 3 3 2 5 11 100 6' 6" *- D C C
C.Leverenz SG Fr 3 7 4 3 3 2 5 11 100 6' 6" *- C C C
Nice to see our star recruit last year, James, show some offensive improvement.
Bodes well for the upcoming season!
SET A LEGAL ROSTER
The next thing to do is make sure you have a legal roster for initialization.
That means 2 returning players at each position. It has been discussed on
these boards before that you stand a better chance of getting a good walkon if
you have a legal roster to begin with. Changing player positions in the
offseason has no impact on them at all. So feel free to change them all you
want to experiment up until training camp. Make whatever changes you need to
get a legal roster.
SCHOLARSHIP DEMANDS
Some players will demand a scholarship and if not granted they will transfer or
graduate. You have to decide if the player fits your plan. Dayton has a
player who redshirted and did not play last year who is demanding a scholarship
or he will transfer.
C.Hatcher SG Fr 4 2 7 2 3 5 3 9 100 6' 6" *- D C SF
When I do a sort on my team page the sim grades him out as my 2nd best SG (out
of returning players). I have to assume that is why he is demanding the
scholarship because he is not a good player. Since Dayton only has 2
scholarships and has a surplus of SG/PG players I think he is expendable and
will not be granted the scholarship...unless someone convinces me otherwise.
SCHEDULE NON-CONFERENCE GAMES/TOURNAMENTS
For starters I like hosting a tournament. Dayton is running a Day 1/2. I have
contacted a few coaches individually and have 2 teams set. Still in the
process of getting the final team. I usually try to email coaches of teams
that I want to play as opposed to putting out a blanket press release, although
I will do that at times as well. I like hosting a tournament because it gives
you 2 more games that you have control over who the opponent is as well as both
of them being home games. I also like to get into a day 9/10 tournament if the
situation is right. I also schedule a lot of games by simply responding back
to someone who has put out a PR looking for games. I always look at each teams
roster and see what kind of talent they have coming back in order to determine
if they are the type of team I want to play. With Dayton this year I want to
give them as much chance for success as possible. That means I will not be
scheduling any top 50 or many top 100 teams. I will be playing tier 2 and 3
schools as well. I will also probably end up scheduling a few CPU run teams.
So far I have 3 games for Dayton:
AT Oregon (home and home return)
AT New Hampshire (home and home return)
Both were scheduled out of my control a year ago, but I like them.
HOME Virginia - CPU team...so no guarantee that I will get them.
The tier I teams that I schedule will be teams that were very low this year on
the team rating page. While I feel confident that Dayton will be improved this
year we are still in the very early stages of turning over this roster and it's
talent level. Therefore getting victories, no matter who they are against, is
key to raising the recruiting prestige for the following year. The A-10
schedule will be brutal so I don't need to go out and put together a macho
non-conference schedule which will bury us.
ROSTER CUTS? MAKE ROOM FOR MORE WALKONS?
That is the decision that I need to focus in on right now. In fact I open it
up to discussion so give your opinion if you want. There are only 2 seniors on
the team and 1 transfer therefore 2 scholarships available for recruiting and 3
roster spots open for walkons. After allowing the transfer of Hatcher there
are 4 nonscholarship players that could be cut to make room. I have to think
that we are going to need some luck in walkons to really turn this program
around. Therefore I am of the mind to cut at least 1 more player and maybe 2.
The candidates are:
A.Bryant SF Fr 5 4 4 2 2 2 3 10 100 6' 7" *- D C PG
C.Leverenz SG Fr 3 7 4 3 3 2 5 11 100 6' 6" *- C C C
A.White PG Fr 6 2 0 5 4 2 1 9 100 6' 1" *- D C PG
E.Haviland PG Fr 5 4 0 1 5 4 3 10 100 6' 3" *- D C PG
I think Bryant should be cut.
I am leaning toward keeping Leverenz. The sim values him as our best PG and
SG. Dayton's defense was horrible this year and that is his strength.
White/Haviland - One of them stays and the other gets cut. I tend to lean
toward White staying and probably being the starting PG next year. While
Haviland has better defense and scoring/shooting I like White's 5 intel much
better!
If Bryant and Haviland are cut and Hatcher is allowed to transfer along with 2
graduating seniors Dayton will have 5 open roster spots for walkons. I think
that is a solid plan.
One further thought. The 2 remaining nonscholarship players look like they
will play significant roles this season. Therefore they will demand
scholarships next year which is fine because Dayton has 5 scholarship seniors
that will graduate at the end of season 54. We can give the 2 scholarships and
have 3 left for recruiting. It would also give us some room to accomodate a
strong walkon. Both players are freshman and would team with James to give us
3 scholarship players in that class which is perfect.
Date: Fri Apr 11 11:48:23 2008
Sender: David Smith
"I have to think that we are going to need some luck in walkons to really turn
this program around."
Prophetic? Or just stating the obvious? Whichever, lady luck shone down on
the Flyers today. Here are the 5 walkons:
K.Tobias SF Fr 7 1 6 4 5 4 4 9 100 6' 9" -- B A SF
M.Garrity C Fr 5 4 0 2 6 1 4 5 100 6'10" -- C A C
M.Jackson PG Fr 2 6 9 3 1 2 2 7 100 5'10" -- C B PG
A.Brogdon PF Fr 1 5 2 3 5 4 2 7 100 6' 5" -- D C PF
M.Gordon PG Fr 4 2 7 2 2 2 1 6 100 6' 0" -- D C PG
Dayton's talent rating skyrocketed from #269 at the conclusion of last season
to #183 at the start of this season. Of course that is still the 3rd worst
team in tier 1 but it is an improvement. Now we have to bring in 2 good
recruits and this program is looking up!
Date: Thu Apr 17 11:22:26 2008
Sender: David Smith
With invites for season 54 being run in less than an hour I thought I would
explain Dayton's thoughts on recruiting for this season.
First off Dayton had a great walkon class. In fact using the sortable list
function 2 of them rank as best at their position while the other 2 rank as 2nd
at their position based on current position assignments. One of them (Brogdon)
will most likely get moved down by one of our SF's moving to PF.
M.Garrity C Fr 5 4 0 2 6 1 4 5 100 6'10" -- C A C
Ranks as 2nd best center. Could demand playing time this year based on his
camp.
K.Tobias SF Fr 7 1 6 4 5 4 4 9 100 6' 9" -- B A SF
Ranks as best small forward and best talent on the team. He will most
certainly demand playing time this year.
A.Brogdon PF Fr 1 5 2 3 5 4 2 7 100 6' 5" -- D C PF
Surprisingly the 2nd best player at PF but could get bumped with Gregory moving
to PF. The Gregory move is possible due to Tobias assuming the starting SF
job.
M.Jackson PG Fr 2 6 9 3 1 2 2 7 100 5'10" -- C B PG
Ranks as best PG.
It seems almost certain that all 4 will be in position to demand a scholarhsip
either after this season or next. Redshirt decisions will be based on whether
or not they demand playing time. With this large class and only 1 junior on
the team I have decided on the following strategy...
1) With a very good walkon class to fall back on I am going to be very
aggressive in round 1 inviting and invite almost all CB type players. Last
season about half of my invites were DC rated players.
2) With 2 scholarships 1 of them will be used to target a junior PG that can
play right now and PT will be promised. The other will be used to target a
freshman PF/C type player that could redshirt.
Here are the invites. Hopefully a few will visit...
In-Region Invitations
C.Amphlett C Fr 2 4 7 2 5 1 4 9 100 6' 9" -- C B C
T.Annaloro C Fr 5 5 0 3 5 1 6 7 100 6' 8" -- C B C
T.Burnes C Fr 5 6 5 1 3 2 2 10 100 6' 8" -- C B C
L.Kalamasz C Fr 5 4 3 4 3 1 1 9 100 6' 9" -- C B C
M.Drennen PF Fr 2 2 4 2 7 2 2 4 100 6' 9" -- C B PF
P.Farberow PF Fr 3 2 5 3 4 1 7 9 100 6' 9" -- D C C
F.Horton PF Fr 3 3 8 1 5 3 4 7 100 6' 7" -- C B PF
C.Mikovec PF Fr 1 5 6 2 5 2 1 8 100 6' 7" -- C B PF
T.Hamner SF Fr 3 6 5 4 3 3 3 8 100 6' 7" -- C B PF
P.Lynch SF Fr 5 6 5 4 1 2 3 9 100 6' 8" -S C B C
C.Norman SF Fr 6 2 8 2 2 2 4 10 100 6' 9" -- C C PF
A.West SF Fr 5 4 1 4 3 3 4 7 100 6'10" -- C B C
E.White SF Jr 5 2 7 6 2 1 6 13 100 6' 6" -S C C PG
I.Goodman SG Fr 3 7 2 4 1 6 6 11 100 6' 3" -- C A PG
E.Bourbon PG Jr 8 4 0 2 5 5 2 10 100 6' 5" -S C B PG
E.Branscum PG Jr 6 4 7 4 2 3 1 9 100 6' 6" -S C B PG
S.Byrnes PG Fr 4 4 7 3 3 4 8 9 100 6' 3" -- C B PG
T.Diaz PG Fr 5 5 2 3 5 1 0 6 100 6' 4" -- C B PG
C.Doyle PG Fr 6 2 3 4 3 4 2 8 100 6' 2" -- C B PG
E.Little PG Fr 5 1 6 2 3 7 4 9 100 6' 1" -- C B PG
P.Munro PG Fr 6 2 5 4 7 3 1 11 100 6' 0" -- C A PG
R.Routon PG Fr 4 3 3 3 6 6 1 10 100 5'10" -S C B PG
No-Region Invitations
D.Medina SF Jr 7 3 3 5 7 3 1 16 100 6' 7" *S B B PF
T.Casler PG Jr 6 3 0 6 2 3 4 13 100 6' 2" *S C C PG
J.Serracin PG Jr 5 2 0 4 2 10 1 16 100 6' 1" *S C C PG
All players were offered a scholarship and all but Norman and Farberow were
given an extra point. Dayton had 42 recruiting points this year and a 10
recruiting prestige. Last seasons prestige was also a 10 but Dayton had just
40 points a year ago. 25 invitations were sent and we will have 16 points left
for round 1 recruiting having spent 26 for invites.
Playing time was offered to the following:
Warning: 1267 E.Bourbon is ignoring playing time promise
Warning: 503 E.Branscum is ignoring playing time promise
Warning: 29 D.Medina slightly doubts playing time promise
Warning: 60 T.Casler is ignoring playing time promise
Warning: 18 J.Serracin is ignoring playing time promise
You have 16 unused points
I decided to go ahead with the promise offers even though all but one was
ignoring.
Date: Thu Apr 17 11:47:17 2008
Sender: Alex Whiteman
How good could Jackson be at PG considering his passing skills aren't that
good? I just don't see him being that good as of now. Good defender but not
much else
Date: Thu Apr 17 12:21:34 2008
Sender: Jay Schlegel
It will be an interesting experiment with Jackson at PG. He could turn the
ball over A LOT. He could also force A LOT of turnovers himself and shut down
an opposing scorer.
Date: Thu Apr 17 17:22:39 2008
Sender: David Smith
Jackson's poor passing and intel is the reason I made a big effort to bring in
an experienced PG during recruiting. I recruited only PGs and PFs.
Date: Fri Apr 18 11:00:27 2008
Sender: Brian Steinberg
I would think Jackson as a SG/SF may be viable if you think you can get scoring
elsewhere. Sometimes I use a non scoring SG as it's otherwise sometimes
difficult to get proper scoring distribution among your other positions with a
good scoring SG. This guy will play D and may rebound well from a mid range
setting.
Date: Fri Apr 18 11:08:30 2008
Sender: Scott Kramer
But at 5'10" he is just a little guy...even though he is pretty aggresive,
would his small size make it difficult to compete against small forwards that
maybe a half foot taller than him?
Date: Mon Apr 21 13:53:33 2008
Sender: David Smith
Dayton had a good turnout for recruits. I am recruiting 18 players with 2
scholarships. I targeted a higher calibre of player this year as mentioned
previously. As a result 2 players need to be cut. Gordon is an easy decision,
but White was a tougher one. In the end there was not much difference between
the group of PG's on the roster and with just a few nonscholarship guys to
choose from it comes down to White.
A.White PG Fr 6 2 0 5 4 2 1 9 100 6' 1" *- D C PG
M.Gordon PG Fr 4 2 7 2 2 2 1 6 100 6' 0" -- D C PG
Here are the recruiting orders for Dayton...round 1.
Group A - sign 1 (8 points, 1 schol, 1 PT) of:
T.Annaloro C Fr 5 5 0 3 5 1 6 7 100 6' 8"-- C B C 8 Y -- 2
T.Burnes C Fr 5 6 5 1 3 2 2 10 100 6' 8"-- C B C 8 Y -- 2
L.Kalamasz C Fr 5 4 3 4 3 1 1 9 100 6' 9"-- C B C 8 Y -- 2
M.Drennen PF Fr 2 2 4 2 7 2 2 4 100 6' 9"-- C B PF 8 Y -- 2
C.Mikovec PF Fr 1 5 6 2 5 2 1 8 100 6' 7"-- C B PF 8 Y -- 2
T.Hamner SF Fr 3 6 5 4 3 3 3 8 100 6' 7"-- C B PF 8 Y -- 2
D.Medina SF Jr 7 3 3 5 7 3 1 16 100 6' 7"*S B B PF 8 Y TY 2
A.West SF Fr 5 4 1 4 3 3 4 7 100 6'10"-- C B C 8 Y -- 2
P.Farberow PF Fr 3 2 5 3 4 1 7 9 100 6' 9"-- D C C 0 Y -- 0
C.Norman SF Fr 6 2 8 2 2 2 4 10 100 6' 9"-- C C PF 8 Y -- 0
The first number on the second line is the number of points spent for each
recruit. You see that it is 8 for all of them as the 16 remaining points were
split between this group and the next. All were given a scholarhsip (Y), and
the final number is the priority given.
Group B - sign 1 (8 points, 1 schol, 1 PT) of:
I.Goodman SG Fr 3 7 2 4 1 6 6 11 100 6' 3"-- C A PG 8 Y -- 2
S.Byrnes PG Fr 4 4 7 3 3 4 8 9 100 6' 3"-- C B PG 8 Y -- 2
T.Diaz PG Fr 5 5 2 3 5 1 0 6 100 6' 4"-- C B PG 8 Y -- 2
C.Doyle PG Fr 6 2 3 4 3 4 2 8 100 6' 2"-- C B PG 8 Y -- 2
E.Little PG Fr 5 1 6 2 3 7 4 9 100 6' 1"-- C B PG 8 Y -- 2
J.Serracin PG Jr 5 2 0 4 2 10 1 16 100 6' 1"*S C C PG 8 Y TY 2
E.White SF Jr 5 2 7 6 2 1 6 13 100 6' 6"-S C C PG 8 Y -- 0
T.Casler PG Jr 6 3 0 6 2 3 4 13 100 6' 2"*S C C PG 8 Y TY 0
Date: Tue Apr 22 05:35:53 2008
Sender: David Smith AA
Dayton signed 2 players during round 1 recruiting...
C.Doyle PG Fr 6 2 3 4 3 4 2 8 100 6' 2" -S C B PG
T.Annaloro C Fr 5 5 0 3 5 1 6 7 100 6' 8" -S C B C
The 2 man class was rated #133 by DEL but was much higher at #35 by DSPN.
Doyle was graded as an A player by DEL and was the #40 player to sign.
Annaloro was graded as a B. Hopefully he will be better than that. I think
this was about as good as Dayton could have hoped for. The great (by Dayton
standards) walkon class allowed us to gamble on recruiting a higher caliber
player than a year ago, despite having the same recruiting prestige (10). The
gamble paid off as 18 out of 25 players visited and we were able to sign 2. We
are probably done with recruiting as the 5 non-scholarship players are
currently in our future plans. We will send out some invites and see what
happens, though we are out of scholarships for this year. Training camp will
be extremely important for the Flyers this year. It will ultimately determine
who plays this year as it is possible that a couple players could come out of
camp demanding playing time. This of course would affect the plans to
redshirt.
Final note. Dayton's talent level at initialization was #269 which jumped up
to #183 after walkons. Dayton is currently #189 after recruiting...last in the
A-10 and second from last in tier 1. This team still has a ways to go but
there is light at the end of the tunnel...if the young talent improves!
Date: Tue Apr 22 09:20:38 2008
Sender: Chip Caruth
How do you know he was the 40th player signed? Is there another secret
"Recruiting Results" page I don't know about?
I just found out about the "inviting results" page last year.
Date: Tue Apr 22 09:44:47 2008
Sender: Tom DeSanctis
The email that you receive called "CBEL: Recruiting Results" has the order that
each player went. Just count down from the top.
Date: Tue Apr 22 09:46:57 2008
Sender: Jay Schlegel
The order that players are listed in the recruiting results email is the order
that they sign in.
Date: Tue Apr 22 12:02:07 2008
Sender: David Smith
You can also find it under "Recruiting"..."Transactions" on your team page.
Date: Tue Apr 22 20:01:06 2008
Sender: David Rogers
DSPN (My Rating) has a nice solid Dayton class.
35 1.2883 Dayton
Not top 25 but certainly on the way. With #189 talent on the court this kind
of a recruiting class will be a big help.
When building a program I like to play my best guys immediately (rather than
red-shirting) since I believe that in 4 seasons i will be recruiting much
better athletes.
Date: Tue Apr 22 20:12:18 2008
Sender: Darrell Johnson
What is a DSPN rating and how do you find it???
Date: Wed Apr 23 04:34:54 2008
Sender: Jay Schlegel
David posted his DSPN recruiting rankings in another thread and in a PR-email
on Monday.
Date: Wed Apr 23 07:31:33 2008
Sender: David Smith
David makes a great point about the redshirt/play right away dilema that you
face when building a program. Typically the scholarship guys you recruit in
the early stages of your program are with a low recruiting prestige. Therefore
you get guys that are DC/CB calibre. That has certainly been the case for
Dayton. Last year we got a DC and a CB player. The CB guy went to CA during
camp and the DC guy had a bad camp. I played the DC guy in order to move him
through in 4 years. I did however redshirt the CA player. This year Dayton
brought in 2 CB players. As your team becomes more successful and you do the
things that increase your prestige (win, send PR, vote in polls) you put
yourself in the hunt for the CA/BA player that begins to put you on the elite
level map. Therefore moving the DC/CB scholarship guys through in 4 years
clears scholarships for the expected CA/BA players. The only thing that I
might do different than coach Rogers is try to plan out a balanced distribution
of scholarships by class. I like 3 or 4 player (scholarship) classes the best
but have had them grow to 5 and 6 at Louisville at times with early pro
departures and good walkons that improve and demand scholarships. Here is
Dayton's current scholarship breakdown by class:
Senior 5
Junior 1
Sophomore 4
Redshirt Freshmen 1
True Freshmen 2
There are also 2 true freshmen walkons (Garrity and Tobias) that are all but
guaranteed for demanding scholarships as early as next season. Another
(Jackson) is a good possibility and a fourth (Brogdon) could also at some
point. A fifth (redshirt freshman Leverenz) could play this year and then
demand one. This creates a very probable 5 man class of freshmen that will be
sophomores next year and could go to 8 if I played Jackson, Brogdon, and
Leverenz (and then granted the scholarship demand at the end of the season).
M.Garrity C Fr 5 4 0 2 6 1 4 5 100 6'10" -- C A C
K.Tobias SF Fr 7 1 6 4 5 4 4 9 100 6' 9" -- B A SF
M.Jackson PG Fr 2 6 9 3 1 2 2 7 100 5'10" -- C B PG
A.Brogdon PF Fr 1 5 2 3 5 4 2 7 100 6' 5" -- D C PF
C.Leverenz SG Fr 3 7 4 3 3 2 5 11 100 6' 6" *- C C C
It appears as though I am going to have to sit on Brogdon, Jackson, and
Leverenz to see if they can improve during camps over the next year or two to
deserve a scholarship...or turn down the request. Jackson is the tough one
right now because there is no way I am paying a scholarship for a PG with this
current skill set...even though I like the defense.
Opinions???
Date: Wed Apr 23 08:48:55 2008
Sender: Jay Schlegel
About Jackson, if you say you won't give him a scholarship, then why not play
him this season and see what he can do? You could always turn around and
redshirt him as a sophomore, though there is some chance he might demand PT
next year if he develops (probably demands a scholarship first though). And he
might not demand a scholarship unless/until he jumps to B/A anyway.
I too try to balance out my distribution of players across classes. I also
always try to hold on to at least one scholarship for recruiting (ideally 2-3).
I have not had to make too many tough decisions over the years to keep this
intact (perhaps due to the poor talent level at Williams Arena the past two
decades??), though I know I had to let someone graduate/transfer once whom I
would rather have kept.
Aside, though based on the earlier comments about playing Jackson at SG or even
SF -- what are people's thoughts on playing people out of position? A
third-string backup of mine this season will likely be asked to play C/PF/SF --
I am thinking of putting him at PF so he is midway between positions, instead
of C which he might see more PT at. Dunno if position makes as much difference
as actual-talent does, I suspect the latter is more important (which is why
this is mostly only an issue for bench-warmers, though last season I did have
starters playing other positions too).
Date: Thu Apr 24 14:24:34 2008
Sender: Neil Stickels
Jay,
I have played players out of position as backups frequently, and have had
reasonable success at it. I will often times use a guy as a backup at both pf
and c or sf and sg, etc, and I will typically him at whichever position he will
get the majority of his pt, but even when he plays the other, I don't see any
real difference in his numbers. I haven't drilled down specifically over the
course of a season to measure, but just on a game to game basis it all seems
reasonable.
Neil
Arizona
Date: Fri Apr 25 09:13:27 2008
Sender: Brian Steinberg
Unless the player is a stud it's usually their JR or SR seasons that they will
ask for a scholly. That said, if the player *starts* he will typically ask for
it the next year regardless. I typically keep my middling younger players to
bench usage only to prevent giving out schollies sooner when possible.
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