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It was enjoyable listening to some of the coahes who reouned as recruiters yesterday laugh at the recruiting services. One from Fla St said he read one on occasion just for sport to laufgh about who they should be recruiting because the guy was so good. He called them a joke and said much of the info coming from these services was provided by recruiting experts across the nation but when you looked at who these experts were, the were a bunch of house painters etc. He thought they were a total joke but begrudgingly admitted that the Top 10 rated classes were probably better than #'s 30-40. He said the validity probably was less certain for #40 being better than #60. Maybe some schools use them but the guys I was listening to thought the were only for amusement.

you shouldn't rely on them as talent evaluators-what most people rely upon them for is the fact they talk with the top recruits weekly during the height of the recruiting season so that you can determine which players are getting visits and offers from top schools. But what is even more STUPID than relying on the recruiting services as evaluators are those that discount the importance of recruiting information (ex. that a Recruit might have 10 top Division 1A offers(Henderson) or 25 top Division 1A offers(Chase)) after those players have evaluated by the professionals-the college coaches. Those are facts from which observers can draw logical, reasonable conclusions.

Is that how they get their ratings? I thought they all started out with a rating from Rivals or whoever ie the house painter rating. They then tended to move up and down based on the info you stated. However, if a guy committed really early, he might slide down the service's rating especially if he committed to a school like SMU vs say UT. Do I misunderstand how the initial ratings get set?

No you are correct-they do attempt to "eye-ball" the recruit on film and try to rate him based on the comments of College coaches, high school coaches and players as well Nike and other camp results and accomplishments on the field. Then the player may move up or down based on interest, visits or offers. I'm not suggesting that these guys are any more expert than your average weekend fan, but thay generally do have some pretty reliable information about the recruitment of the top players. Oh and that stuff about the Coaches ignoring the recruiting services-well MANY including our Phil Bennett meet with the services and use the services themselves.

<small>[ 02-06-2004, 01:41 PM: Message edited by: Stallion ]</small>

Thanks I really don't know how that works to get to be among the "chosen". The Fla St guy said he would never look at the services to see who they should go after. Is this what Bennett is using the service for? I thought one of his great qualities was his and his staff's great connections with the HS football coaches in the area. Those would be the guys I woued think he would call and listen to re who they might have who is worth recruiting. I'm sure he gets info from all directions but I would think that would be his primary source.

Tom Lemming came down to harvest the Texas crop last year as specifically mentioned he met with SMU coaches to discuss the prospects. No coach should ever offer based on the opinion of a recruiting services. But finding those nuggets is all about covering every source of information. You talking about a big state with literally thousands of potential prospects. I think this is where the recruiting services might offer some information that might be of interest.