Okay, so I finally got my hands on the new NCAA game, and the first thing I dove into, like always, was the recruiting. Wanted to see how it felt this year.
Getting Started with Recruiting
Fired up a Dynasty mode, picked my usual underdog team. First order of business was hitting the recruiting screen. It looked pretty familiar, but cleaner maybe? Anyway, the initial pool of recruits popped up. A whole lot of names, stars, and stats to sift through.
What I did first was try to figure out my team’s immediate needs. Looked at my roster, saw I was weak at linebacker and desperately needed a decent QB for the future. So, I started filtering. You can sort by position, state, interest level, all the usual stuff. I focused on LBs and QBs within my region first, figuring it’d be easier to get their interest.
The Weekly Grind
Then the week-to-week stuff began. Each week, you get a certain amount of points or maybe call time – whatever they call it this year – to spend on recruits. I started scouting the guys I’d shortlisted. Gotta spend some points just to uncover their full ratings and potential. You don’t want to waste time on a guy who looks good on paper but turns out to be a bust.
- Spent early points on scouting my top QB and LB targets.
- Made introductory calls to gauge initial interest.
- Tried to spread the remaining points across a few other positions, like O-line, just to get feelers out.
It felt like a balancing act right away. You only have so much time or points. Focus too much on one guy, and others might fall off your radar or get snapped up by rivals. Spread yourself too thin, and you don’t make enough progress with your top choices. This part felt pretty engaging, making those weekly decisions.
Building Relationships and Offering Schollies
As the season went on, I started focusing my efforts. Some guys just weren’t interested, no matter what. Dropped them from my board. For the ones showing interest, I started scheduling calls, maybe promising playing time, stuff like that. The goal was to get their interest level high enough to make an official visit worthwhile.
Once a player’s interest was high enough, I’d offer a scholarship. This felt like a big step. You only have a limited number of scholarships, so you can’t just hand them out like candy. Had to be strategic about it. Offered one to my top QB target pretty early, hoping to lock him down. Did the same for a couple of key defensive players.
Then came the visits. Setting up official visits seemed important. You try to schedule them for big home games, hoping a win impresses them. You also gotta spend points during the visit week to make sure they have a good time, talk about academics, campus life, etc.
Battling the Competition and Finalizing the Class
Man, the competition is tough. Saw my top linebacker target getting heavily recruited by a powerhouse school. Every week, I was checking the recruiting news, seeing who else was calling him, who he was visiting. It adds a bit of stress, trying to stay ahead or make a better pitch. Lost a couple of guys I thought I had a good shot at, which always stings.
As signing day approached, it got intense. Had a few guys committed, which was nice. But there were still several top targets on the fence. Spent the last few weeks hammering calls, making final pitches. Some guys committed right away, others waited until the very last minute. That final week is always a nail-biter.
In the end, I think I did okay for my first class. Didn’t land every single guy I wanted, especially that top linebacker who went to my rival (grrr). But I got my QB of the future, filled some holes on defense, and added depth elsewhere. It felt like a solid foundation. The whole process, from identifying needs to scouting, visiting, and finally signing, felt pretty involved. Took up a good chunk of my playtime, but that’s kinda the point of dynasty mode, right?
