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I’m not sure how long we’ll be doing this NCAA 14 dynasty replay. Maybe we’ll stop it after this first year, but maybe we’ll keep it going. With that in mind I figured it would be important to recruit like I was going to be playing for multiple years.
The EA Sports crew made recruiting an integral (duh) and fun part of the game over their years of releasing the NCAA series. As a younger, super cool dude I would sometimes just simulate all the games and only focus on recruiting. The fact that I have anyone who loves me is pretty incredible once you add up all of these odd things about me tbqh.
Anyways, recruiting in NCAA 14 is challenging, although starting at a program like Wisconsin makes it easier than when you start at, like, Georgia State. Here is our first recruiting update for this dynasty complete with the 18 players we are currently scouting.
NCAA 14 Week 1 Recruiting Board
| Player | Position | Position Rank | Rating/Stars | Height | Weight | Hometown |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Position | Position Rank | Rating/Stars | Height | Weight | Hometown |
| Josh Green | WR | 11 | 81/4-stars | 6-foot-5 | 190 | Tallahasse, Fla. |
| Patrick Mitchell | ATH | 1 | 80/5-stars | 6-foot | 210 | White Oak, Md. |
| Julian McDuffie | ATH | 12 | 78/4-stars | 6-foot | 201 | Moberly, Mo. |
| Scott Hart | DT | 23 | 78/3-stars | 6-foot-3 | 293 | Greenfield, Wis. |
| Marvin Francis | OT | 15 | 78/4-stars | 6-foot-5 | 290 | Rockford, Ill. |
| Chad Watson | DT | 2 | 78/4-stars | 6-foot-5 | 300 | Texas City, Texas |
| Brian Bradley | OT | 13 | 77/4-stars | 6-foot-6 | 298 | Port Lavaca, Texas |
| Courtney Lott | OLB | 12 | 76/4-stars | 6-foot-2 | 223 | Wilson, N.C. |
| Wesley Rogers | CB | 5 | 75/4-stars | 6-foot-2 | 192 | West Hattiesburg, Miss. |
| Kevin Griffin | DE | 25 | 75/4-stars | 6-foot-2 | 252 | Fayetteville, Tenn. |
| Marcus Holland | OG | 7 | 75/4-stars | 6-foot-5 | 305 | North Platte, Neb. |
| DJ Bailey | ATH | 24 | 74/4-stars | 6-foot | 178 | Appleton, Wis. |
| Steven Parrish | QB | 13 | 73/4-stars | 6-foot-4 | 220 | Atmore, Ala. |
| Chris Avery | MLB | 40 | 68/3-stars | 6-foot-3 | 235 | Waldorf, Md. |
| Charles Butler | OLB | 83 | 68/3-stars | 6-foot4 | 214 | Lauderdale Lakes, Fla. |
| Blake Singleton | RB | 29 | 67/4-stars | 5-foot-10 | 202 | Alvin, Texas |
| Ryan Burns | MLB | 52 | 67/3-stars | 6-foot-3 | 224 | Radnor, Pa. |
| Jesse Hodges | OLB | 81 | 67/3-stars | 6-foot-6 | 230 | Palos Hills, Ill. |
Some background information first:
- our pipeline states are currently Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan; to get a new pipeline state you must have five players from said state on the roster
- Josh Green, Scott Hart and Marvin Francis were all “hidden gems” meaning that after we scouted them they went up more than four points in their rating
- the current “needs” for the team are only at OLB and MLB
Recruit rich states like Florida, Texas, California, etc. are great to get as pipeline states. It is tough, being in Wisconsin, to do so, but you still have to try. The Badgers have a fairly young team, all things considered, and thus this class will be good to load up on positions that we don’t necessarily need, but will later. That’ll give us the chance to redshirt players and have them ready to assume starting jobs earlier.
I’m a sucker for the “ATH” position because they are the ultimate mystery box. They could play any position! It also gives you a good buffer if you miss out on a position during recruiting but have a handful of ATH that you can convert to WR or S or CB, or whatever. There are a whole bunch of other recruiting tips and tricks, but I won’t bore you with that minutiae.
We’ll also be working on improving Paul Chryst’s recruiting skill tree because that will make things easier for us moving forward.
Who do you think we should go after the hardest? What kind of players do you think the virtual Badgers should be recruiting?