How much does weather affect midwest/Big Ten recruiting?

[SilvioDante]

Wondering this as I note the glamour programs these days in football and basketball - Florida, USC, Duke and North Carolina, Texas, UCLA, etc., etc., etc.

Meanwhile, it seems schools like Purdue, Indiana, Michigan State and Notre Dame have difficulty recruiting in one sport or both.

Are elite kids today not tough enough to play in the Big Ten??

 

[beefncheddar]

Are elite kids today not tough enough to play in the Big Ten??

Not tough enough?

Let's see. I've got a choice to freeze my ass off and play in the Big Ten, or I can play in the SEC (or ACC or Pac-10, for that matter). Not really that tough a choice, unless I grew up cheering for a Big Ten school.

 

[Ellis Redding]

Duke is a "glamour program" in football? UNC?

Weather is a selling point, but it's not the be-all, end-all.

 

[Flying Headbutt]

It doesn't help that most Big 11 coaches in both sports play styles that would be considered torture under the Geneva Conventions.

 

[SilvioDante]

It doesn't help that most Big 11 coaches in both sports play styles that would be considered torture under the Geneva Conventions.

But I would think that's directly an effect of the kind of athletes they get.

 

[Flying Headbutt]

You're right, coaches always adjust their styles to cater to the athletes that they recruit, instead of forcing players into their "system."

 

[Piotr Rasputin]

Are elite kids today not tough enough to play in the Big Ten??

Not tough enough?

Let's see. I've got a choice to freeze my ass off and play in the Big Ten, or I can play in the SEC (or ACC or Pac-10, for that matter). Not really that tough a choice, unless I grew up cheering for a Big Ten school.

No sh!&. I'd say they're "not glutton for punishment" enough.

If I'm a football recruit the moment USC/Florida/LSUTennessee/Cal Berkeley calls, the decision is made. So much to offer over a college town where you spend a third of the year trying to keep warm.

 

[SilvioDante]

You're right, coaches always adjust their styles to cater to the athletes that they recruit, instead of forcing players into their "system."

Well then why the hell is Eric Gordon going to Indiana? You really think Sampson will be playing the same style next year?

 

[zizzer]

It doesn't help that most Big 11 coaches in both sports play styles that would be considered torture under the Geneva Conventions.

But I would think that's directly an effect of the kind of athletes they get.

It's a little difficult to throw all the time in the Big 10 in football - snow tends to make that kind of game a bit tough. Hoops, there's no explanation.

You're right, coaches always adjust their styles to cater to the athletes that they recruit, instead of forcing players into their "system."

Well then why the hell is Eric Gordon going to Indiana? You really think Sampson will be playing the same style next year?

$$$$$$$

 

[Cadet]

A third of the year? You've clearly never spent time along Lake Michigan. October to May is legitimate teeth-chattering season.

 

[Piotr Rasputin]

You're right, coaches always adjust their styles to cater to the athletes that they recruit, instead of forcing players into their "system."

Well then why the hell is Eric Gordon going to Indiana? You really think Sampson will be playing the same style next year?

He's from Indianapolis. And he won't have to deal with Bobby's temper or Mike Davis' lack of coaching acumen.

I guess we have conclusively identified the newest Big Ten fanboy here.

Cadet: Is it true that in Canada, what is called summer elsewhere is simply called "two weeks in July"?

 

[Cadet]

Not being Canuckistan, I can't say for sure. But I swear lakefront areas get two or three weeks of nice weather in May/June, a blanket of humidity through September, two or three weeks of nice weather in October, and then the cryogenic freeze sets in.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

Meanwhile, it seems schools like Purdue, Indiana, Michigan State and Notre Dame have difficulty recruiting in one sport or both.

Which of those teams has ever been elite in both football and basketball at the same time in the first place? Notre Dame's recruiting efforts aren't hampered by the weather but by high recruiting standards. And I'll still take their athletic program over Duke's.

Ohio State has no problems. Michigan has no problems attracting people; its hoops program has been hurt by probation. Wisconsin's been a major player in basketball and football for a few years now.

Has the Big Ten ever been more than OSU and Michigan on a long-term basis anyway?

 

[micropolitan guy]

Take away the top 10 percent of recruits who attract national attention, and schools recruit against their conference peers for about 90 percent of their players, I'd estimate. Not that much difference weather-wise between the Big Ten schools.

Same with the ACC, except for Boston College, and the Big 12 North plains/cold), and Big 12 South (Texas, Okieland), and the SEC. For the most part, consistent weather.

Biggest difference might be the Pac-10, with remote Wazzu, where snow isn't unusual; the Oregons and UDub, in the November-April rain belt, and the California/Arizona schools, which have some of the best weather in the country nine months of the year.

 

[STLIrish]

There's also just the fact that so many elite high school players come out of Fla., the South, Texas and southern California (I'm talking football here). The weather doesn't help, but most of those people aren't going to go North in the first place. Why would they?