Recruiting Notes 5.0 (The Summer of the Hazmat Suit)

Seems to be a break out candidate we are on early in the process, seems like a long shot if he gets a Marquette offer, sounds like that's where he wants to go

 

The staff still does and has shown to recruit great talent. With that going I will always be on board

Excited for any new high school recruits they try to bring in


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Lovely.

 

It isn't news, and it's the reality of the situation. I think few understand just how hard it is to recruit at a Big East level with the budget/resources that Butler has right now. I hear this type of sentiment about the program a ton from people I talk to at or around various programs in the country. The 2020 recruiting class remains incredibly impressive by this staff.

The article also quotes another Big East coach as stating the following: "They're fighting an uphill battle from a resources standpoint, the finances. They had great success with Brad Stevens, the Final Fours. But if you're a kid from outside the state of Indiana, and it's down to Butler or anywhere else in the Big East, you're picking another school. The resources, the NBA players, Butler doesn't really have that."

I won't post more of the article/Butler section since it is behind a paywall and I respect that, but I thought the quote was relevant to the discussion.

 

The realization is "no one does more with less than BU".

 

Lukas, I know that there is a lot of discussion about this, including talk that the numbers are at least somewhat skewed by the fact that expenses for some schools include facility rental. Are there any sources available that pull those numbers out of the expense equation? I'm sure Butler would still rank pretty much where they are now, but it would be interesting to see how much different it is.

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Lots of thoughts here, but when you say “recruit at a big East level” are you talking the actual tracking/relationship building process of recruiting or are you saying it’s hard to convince kids to pull for Butler because we are missing some bells and whistles that other programs may have? From what I can tell, there’s just a few areas we can’t/haven’t yet been able to compete:

1) Coaching salary—no doubt the biggest obstacle to consistent success and needs to be a priority.
2) Dedicated practice facility. EFG reno helped a great deal but still need to aspire to more. Not sure what the BE comps are here though—are we really that far below?
3) NBA arena? That’s not gonna change obviously.
4) Player only dorms, etc. That’s not happening for a variety of reasons. And again, what are the BE comps?

In what other categories does BU fall behind? Seems like most everything else is comparable that I can come up with.

The Coach quoted above comes across very superficially re: Butler. Love to know why he thinks non-Indiana kids shun BU and what he’s basing that on. He throws out “resources”—but I want more as to what specific resources and how it’s impacting results.

 

Athletes only dining hall.

Also I think there may be other general campus stuff/vibes that impair us.


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75% female has to help as a selling point, there's areas I think we do very well in terms of selling points, i.e. home court advantage

 

I honestly don’t know if it does. I can’t see anyone choosing to go play basketball at one place that has 50% women and another having 75%.

Butlers campus vibe is decidedly less of a scene than some other places like Dayton, Miami etc. Doesnt mean it’s worse, but it’s likely a harder sell.


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I guess that would be an opinion...I loved summers on campus, being downtown in less than 15, running the canal paths, the clock tower... maybe it was just me

 

The greatest obstacle along with coaching salaries is an more lucrative travel budget for recruiting expenses. The rest is merely fluff and bares little substance. IMHO After all, some coaches are vastly overpaid from where I stand.

 

Don’t underestimate how much 16-18 yo kids love fancy, flashy facilities. There’s literally zero reason Oregon should be good at football. Campus is in the middle of nowhere. No hotbed of talent. Tons of other great choices for kids (Wash, USC, etc). They worked Bc of Phil Knight and Nike gave them incredible facilities that wow’d kids. There’s a huge arms race in football. Kids love swag.

Butler has the least Swag of any major conference school. I’m old-school so I like that, but they need to try to have both their traditions and values and a bit more swag.

A state-of-the-art practice facility matters.

FYI Penn State football had a “training table” (dedicated place for meals). Every other sport ate in the regular dining halls.

 

For what it's worth, I do think there is some minor stuff in the works that could potentially help in the area of building more of a brand that is relatable to recruits. Above all of the flash, though, building strong relationships is the most important part of recruiting for a school like Butler and this staff has done that well.

I think it is more challenging for Butler's staff to recruit at a Big East level than others in the conference based on the resources they have - I do not think the coach's comment about recruits from out-of-state being more likely to choose another school is wrong...but then the staff also landed five out-of-state recruits in the 2020 class - many of which with other high-majors in pursuit. Just because it is more challenging doesn't mean they cannot do it. They have, and deserve more credit for that than I think some have given. Regarding the coach being "superficial", his thoughts are likely the general consensus from players/coaches about Butler prior to receiving more information - the staff really has to sell what makes the school special.

I don't really want to dive into the differences between BU and other high-majors in a forum post (more words than I care to write right now, maybe I'll write about that in an article this summer) but the fact is this isn't the only time it has been brought up and nor will it be the last. As much as I love Butler and see the positives after four tremendous years there as a student, perhaps those are rose-colored glasses as compared to what a recruit sees at first glance.

 

There' a lot to unpack in that article and it's hard to disagree with something that's based on other's perceptions. But one thing that jumped out at me is that the only Big East teams with more active NBA players this season than Butler are Villanova (9), Marquette (5) and Connecticut (5). Georgetown also has three. Creighton, DePaul, St. John's and Xavier each have two, Providence and Seton Hall one.

I suppose people don't think of Butler as a school sending palyers to the NBA because of the four who've made it in recent history, only one was a first round draft pick. But I think Kelan Martin and Sean McDermott's path to the league speaks volumes about the Butler work ethic.

 

I know many have been wondering about Butler's recruiting activity heading into this summer. With the dead period coming to a close soon, I wrote up nearly 4000 words on ~30 prospects that appear to be on Butler's radar based on public reporting and other information. This is (obviously) not fully comprehensive but hopefully provides a look into some of the names worth monitoring in the coming months. It is currently only available to patrons but attempts to tackle as much as I feel able to say. Sorry about the paid plug but I thought some would be interested - *might* make it free-to-read, or publish a less-detailed version, in the near future. I'm headed back home to Wisconsin this weekend, though, so that wouldn't come until next week.

Article ($): https://www.patreon.com/posts/51223659

 

Is Omar going with you?

 

His highlights kind of remind me of Brandon Crone.

 

I actually thought the exact same thing about his highlight reel. I wonder when he’ll be visiting this summer.


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Ugh we've been in contact with Charlie Williams from Carmel. The last big from carmel who was a true "project" hasn't worked out so well. Please stay away, LaVall. I beg you.