Monday, May 22, 2017

Does talent matter more today?

There was a day when coaches could recruit kids who had potential, knowing that they very likely were going to have four years to develop their gifts (and for a time they wouldn't even be eligible for their freshman year). With One-and-done and the plague of constant transfers these days, coaches probably feel fortunate if they have a player for two years, let alone four, or five with a redshirt season (the ideal for player development). No wonder coaches feel the pressure to recruit. The future is NOW. There is no future. Raw talent probably matters more now because there is much less of a chance to teach, since the players may not be staying long.

Of course, you cannot force a player to stay at your school, but I wonder if schools below the elite level are putting more of a premium these days on the likelihood of a player to stay at the school. How you measure such a thing, I don't know; but if you could somehow factor in loyalty, it would be worth something to coaches in recruiting. "He is not a world-beater now, but he appears to have potential, and he probably will stay with us, and he might be pretty good by his senior year."

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