The Gaming Tailgate NCAA Football 11 Recruiting Central

[Rudy]

I just nabbed a bunch of 3* recruits and earned my first Switcheroo trophy for stealing a soft commit. I'm now ranked #3 or #4 on the recruiting list and I have 19 commits on Heisman. But 14 of those are 3* kids. I have two 5* and three 4*. Everyone else in the Top 10 has many more. Miami is #1 with zero 5* but 12 4* kids! Texas has 11 4/5* kids. I think I will be staying on Heisman. It will prevent me from becoming too dominant. I'm an A- team still and I don't know how much I will improve if I don't get the top kids. My last class on AA was unbelievable though so I expect they will really help through the leaner years.

[Rudy]

I did very well in the offseason recruiting to rank #2 on Heisman after the year. That ranking was inflated by 16 3* recruits but I still got three 5* and six 4* kids. A pretty good class although a couple 4* players sucked (rated in the 60s). I actually got a trophy for stealing a soft commit during the year. Had never done that yet although I had lost a kid myself.

[Rudy]

I lost my California and Texas pipelines last year but got them back. In fact, I now have pipelines into Michigan, Ohio, California, Texas, Florida and Pennsylvania and Lousiana as well. I know I'm going to lose some of them. Where can you see what state a kid came from for the kids on your roster? I know you can see it during recruiting but what about the sophomore and juniors on my team? I couldn't seem to find it.

Despite my new pipelines recruiting looks to be hard this year as I didn't get a single kid to "quick" commit. I'm going to have to work over everyone and lose some guys in the process because of it.

[morsdraconis]

I lost my California and Texas pipelines last year but got them back. In fact, I now have pipelines into Michigan, Ohio, California, Texas, Florida and Pennsylvania and Lousiana as well. I know I'm going to lose some of them. Where can you see what state a kid came from for the kids on your roster? I know you can see it during recruiting but what about the sophomore and juniors on my team? I couldn't seem to find it.

You can't.

[JeffHCross]

For an Online Dynasty, it's available through the Roster page. For offline, I think mors is right that it's still "missing".

[Rudy]

The recruiting pitches are messed up for "Championship Contender". Does the game try to look at my future talent? Right now I'm an "A" team and probably the most talented team in the country or at least Top 5. And yet I'm just an "A" in the Championship Contender Pitch while Penn State is an "A+" despite being rated only a B+ overall. What gives? I'm fighting against them for recruits and I was hoping to use it against them. Freaking Alabama is an A+ in Academics as well - is this correct? I do really like the challenge of Heisman. I can still pull in Top 10 classes but they aren't absurd. I can't get a single OLB to come to my school this year though.

One other thing, sometimes I wonder if it's best to leave a recruit off your board to stash them for later. It's very apparent to me that some recruits are recruited hard by the cpu (even 3* guys by mid or lower programs) while some guys just linger around. But sometimes I think the cpu won't recruit guys hard unless you go after them. I was going after a 4* athlete from Indiana (non pipeline) and Purdue was beating me. I was working him hard but I wasn't going to win (500 or so points behind after a few weeks) so I just give up and drop the guy from my board because a 4* or 5* recruit on Heisman demands a lot of your time (probably max time each week if you aren't #1). Yet when I check how far I fell behind the next week it hadn't changed at all. It's as though Purdue knew I had stopped trying and so they stopped spending time on him as well.

[cdj]

I don't run into it often, but here is a shot of the ever elusive Pink Diamond in recruiting:

[Rudy]

What the heck is the pink diamond? I've never seen that.

[CLW]

What the heck is the pink diamond? I've never seen that.

I think it is - you are not currently in the player's Top 10 however if you put him on your list/call him you will jump into the Top 10.

[cdj]

What the heck is the pink diamond? I've never seen that.

It was introduced in NCAA 10 and I'm guessing the same description applies:

This icon indicates that a four or five star recruit has a hidden interest in your school. Once placed on your Recruiting Board, you will be listed between 7th and 10th on their list. They will need to be recruited normally from there on out in order to sign them.

[AustinWolv]

Yep, paid off at times in '10, but with recruiting being harder in '11, it isn't quite the little gem that it was.

[JeffHCross]

it isn't quite the little gem that it was.

It can still pay off, but only if you get it early enough. I've gotten it far too often on a recruit that I'm some 700 points behind on.

I don't run into it often

That's 'cause every week you get one of four things:
1. x2 on 3 players on your board
2. Unlocked pitches on 2 or 3 players on your board
3. Pink Diamond on a 4* or greater recruit
4. One player that you're #1 on and have offered a scholarship to will commit

You can guarantee a pink diamond by not having anyone on your board, and you can practically guarantee it by having less than 3 on your board. Not that it would be necessarily worth it in that case.

If I've gone through enough players on my board (in a given week) that I'm reasonably sure I won't get x2 or Unlock, then I'll go to All Players ... sort on Status (that way I'll get the "blank" players first rather than the committed or interested players) ... then I go down to the last 4th star ... hit to get "More Info", then hold up on the right stick to scroll through. Eventually I'll see a pink diamond flash by, and I'll look at the player.

[oweb26]

You actually have the little gem more than you think. Your recruit advisor doesn't even tell you every time you have it on a recruit. The downside of that is you have to manually bump into it, so its not exactly time efficient. I have found players that I have the little pink diamond and my recruit advisor is talking about he unlocked some pitches.

Now if you dont have the recruit advisor then you will just have to bump into it.

[Rudy]

I just scored a 1109 score for a recruit AND handed out -393 points to MSU. A total of just over 1500 points!

[cdj]

That's 'cause every week you get one of four things:

My problem is that I am loyal (to a fault) when pursuing recruits as I will stick with them almost no matter what, so I don't go through the board enough to find the Pink Diamond.

I just scored a 1109 score for a recruit AND handed out -393 points to MSU. A total of just over 1500 points!

Wow - that's pretty impressive, Rudy! Where did you rank on his board at the time and where did you move up to afterwards?

[JeffHCross]

My problem is that I am loyal (to a fault) when pursuing recruits as I will stick with them almost no matter what, so I don't go through the board enough to find the Pink Diamond.

I find myself with extra hours on a regular basis.

Plus, if I don't have the x2 or unlocked pitches, then I know it's either an instant or Pink Diamond.

oweb, I've never seen a week with two of the "bonuses" ... you sure you actually got both and it wasn't just a bug?

[Rudy]

Wow - that's pretty impressive, Rudy! Where did you rank on his board at the time and where did you move up to afterwards?

I was #2 on his board and I stayed #2 because he's now a soft commit to MSU. I picked him up very late on the recruiting trail and was 700 points behind to begin with. Because I had extra unused time I figured why not go for him. He's only a 3* athlete but he was from Michigan so I got pipeline, X2 and everything went right on that call. I did a comparison test on 5 of the calls.

[Rudy]

Last year I didn't get a single quick commit and it hurt me all year. I got some great recruits in the offseason but the in-season recruiting was tough. This year I scored 5 quick commits in week 1! And these weren't lousy players either. I got the #1, 5* FS and #1 5* SS to sign with me. I also got another 4* and two 3* kids to commit right away. This will help tremendously as I lost a ton of talent in the offseason (it was the senior class of my last great AA recruiting class).

Seriously, 5 was the most I've ever gotten. Anybody ever get more than 5 quick commits (and these were all week 1 too)?

[cdj]

I usually get 2-3 a year and it hurts me when I don't get that during the course of a season. Right now, in the PS3 OD I have just three verbals and no quick commits on the season and I think we are about 10 weeks in or so.

[JeffHCross]

Anybody ever get more than 5 quick commits (and these were all week 1 too)?

I got 4 or so the other day in a test Texas dynasty. It was borderline ridiculous.