UNH Commits & Recruiting: 2017 and Beyond

[Dan]

BTW - in NCAA recruiting news, the sport of softball has officially voted and confirmed to end early recruiting (newly discovered loopholes notwithstanding) and as of yesterday coaches are allowed zero contact with players (or coaches regarding players) until Sept. 1 of their junior year. It will be interesting to see if this catches on...

It was also interesting to see the torrid run on 6th and 7th grade recruits in the last few days, leading up to ratification yesterday...

[QUAlum2004]

Re: UNH Commits & Recruiting: 2017 and Beyond

Oh yes. Schadenfreude is a real thing! I don't like the way UW recruits from an ethical stand point - at all. It was always obvious to anyone living in reality that they'd be kicking kids to the curb (or in this case losing kids because they couldn't live up to initial promises of opportunity). To see them losing or decommiting the 'wrong' kids has been enjoyable - ie Gildon, Becker, Cruikshank, the Krygiers, even a high-scoring season from Bliss etc...

To your first point - 13 drops to 11 if you remove Borek commitments...

In other news Northeastern - NORTHEASTERN - continues to crush recruiting landing Marty St Louis' kid. I nearly had a heart attack when I thought they landed THE Jack Hughes. If Nottheastern can recruit at this level than the excuse makers for UNH can stuff all their rationalizations. Get a coach that can truly recruit (not a friend). A good recruiter could recruit to the moon, let alone a great town, campus, school like Durham/UNH...

I for one continued to be dumbfounded how Northeastern is recruiting at this level. They have little to no prestige. Frankly Quinnipiac might have more than them with 2 frozen fours in recent times. Matthews Arena is an ok facility but there are clearly much better ones out there. For me as a QU alum I have zero problem losing elite talented kids from the State of CT (aka the Ryan st. louis and Patrick Harpers of the world) to BU and BC but when we are losing them to Northeastern to me that is unacceptable.

[Nick Papagiorgio]

Re: UNH Commits & Recruiting: 2017 and Beyond

[/B]
I for one continued to be dumbfounded how Northeastern is recruiting at this level. They have little to no prestige. Frankly Quinnipiac might have more than them

LOL keep dreaming.

[QUAlum2004]

Re: UNH Commits & Recruiting: 2017 and Beyond

LOL keep dreaming.

Northeastern hasn't sniffed a Frozen Four in over 35 years and has 6 NCAA tournament appearances in their history.

[Dan]

[/B]

I for one continued to be dumbfounded how Northeastern is recruiting at this level. They have little to no prestige. Frankly Quinnipiac might have more than them with 2 frozen fours in recent times. Matthews Arena is an ok facility but there are clearly much better ones out there. For me as a QU alum I have zero problem losing elite talented kids from the State of CT (aka the Ryan st. louis and Patrick Harpers of the world) to BU and BC but when we are losing them to Northeastern to me that is unacceptable.

It is the definitive proof that the recruiter is the critical piece to recruiting - can you sell, can you relate, can you impart a vision. Anyone who claims UNH is lacking here or there and can't offer this or that is simply making excuses. If the right guy comes along UNH (or Q) could recruit at a much higher level. Unfortunately, a number of coaching staffs limit themselves and don't dream big - NU dreams big and gets to work. And a school that was always the fourth option in Boston (in every way) is suddenly killing it...

Is it Jerry Keefe leading the charge? If so, what UNH should be doing is shelling out the cash for Keefe. Instead they're likely to hire a trustworthy buddy with zero track record of this type of recruiting. And they can't even do that in a timely manner to hit the summer circuit...

And a HUGE part of NUs success is exactly what I trumpeted earlier - they're are moving and offering FIRST. Targeting top kids, believing in what they have to offer, and being the FIRST to give them the chance to make their college dreams come true. It works, period...

[NCAA watcher]

Re: UNH Commits & Recruiting: 2017 and Beyond

Recruiting is balance between quality and quantity. At this point UNH has an odd mix of marginal quality and no quantity. Let's hope White fixes at least one of those variables.

[Nick Papagiorgio]

Re: UNH Commits & Recruiting: 2017 and Beyond

Northeastern hasn't sniffed a Frozen Four in over 35 years and has 6 NCAA tournament appearances in their history.

OK Fantasyland.

[Chuck Murray]

Re: UNH Commits & Recruiting: 2017 and Beyond

Northeastern hasn't sniffed a Frozen Four in over 35 years and has 6 NCAA tournament appearances in their history.

NU has Boston, Hockey East visibility, and the Beanpot. Now it has a Hobey Baker winner and recent hardware.

Quinnipiac has New Haven, plays in the low visibility ECAC, and has a blah campus similar to Bentley.

Nick and myself don't often agree, but this is one of those rare times we do. Take it for what it's worth.

[Snively65]

NU has Boston, Hockey East visibility, and the Beanpot. Now it has a Hobey Baker winner and recent hardware.

Quinnipiac has New Haven, plays in the low visibility ECAC, and has a blah campus similar to Bentley.

Nick and myself don't often agree, but this is one of those rare times we do. Take it for what it's worth.

And, apparently Madigan now has a persuasive recruiter.

One difference now between Bentley and QU is that the Bobcats' arena, as nice as it is, is a shuttle bus ride from campus, much like the JAR was for the Falcons.

[QUAlum2004]

Re: UNH Commits & Recruiting: 2017 and Beyond

And, apparently Madigan now has a persuasive recruiter.

One difference now between Bentley and QU is that the Bobcats' arena, as nice as it is, is a shuttle bus ride from campus, much like the JAR was for the Falcons.

Students live on the campus where the Arena is located. They live on main campus as well.

[NU_Husky]

Re: UNH Commits & Recruiting: 2017 and Beyond

Speaking purely from the NU point of view, and not knowing enough about QU or UNH recruiting (other than what I've read here):

Jerry Keefe is the main recruiter at Northeastern. He is absolutely tireless on the trail, and many players have come to NU specifically to play for him. I cannot sing his praises enough. He loves the school, loves the area, and loves the kids he brings in. He is the architect of the NU powerplay, which has been stellar the last 3-5 seasons. And he works predominately with the forwards, which has seen multiple players grow and develop in their time at NU, leaving campus better than they arrived. Gaudette, Sikura, Stevens, Stevens, Aston-Reese, Roy, McMurtry, Pimm, and even guys like Pond and Jamieson who didn't produce much at NU but now are having productive professional careers, they all left NU better players because of the development they had under Keefe, Madigan, and Smith. A high-end teenage forward has to like the look of that.

Speaking of Madigan, no one loves Northeastern more than he does. People wanted him to replace Roby as Athletic Director. He's passionate about the school from an academic perspective, social perspective (being right in Boston), and the athletic perspective (conference, Beanpot, rivals, as were all noted below). He's the first one to trumpet NU's postiive points, and he has done so as a coach, a fundraiser, and also just as a keynote speaker at events. Madigan and Keefe both have the ability to schmooze and talk all day about their passions in a way that connect to the players and fans when we get to interact with them. I can easily see how kids find this appealing and want to come and grow and learn from these gentlemen.

NU certainly doesn't have the best facilities, but Matthews does have its charm. Some players like the idea of playing in a historic arena- Greg Cronin used to mention that when he was asked about recruiting, it's a strength. A lot of these kids are hockey junkies. History appeals to some, but not all of course. But the arena, the recent success, the track of development shown by the coaches the last 4+ years, and the opportunities to play the Big Name Teams like BC and BU, both in conference and for the Beanpot, are all factors (certainly leaving out some that I missed) that I think have helped NU have the recruiting success that they've had over the last few years. And this is without getting into the opportunity to live in Boston and go to a premier private institution (again, don't know how NU matches up against QU or UNH in different fields or overall ranks).

Dan also mentions offering first, and that does play into it. I've spoken to a couple recruits for the blog, and they've mentioned how NU was the first to offer them. Might not be the only ones, but being first does matter to a teenager. It shows you believe in them, you want them, you know they'd be a good fit. I'm sure that has helped NU as well in some cases recently.

[techtodenver]

Re: UNH Commits & Recruiting: 2017 and Beyond

NU has Boston, Hockey East visibility, and the Beanpot. Now it has a Hobey Baker winner and recent hardware.

Quinnipiac has New Haven, plays in the low visibility ECAC, and has a blah campus similar to Bentley.

Nick and myself don't often agree, but this is one of those rare times we do. Take it for what it's worth.

It's 2018, there's no such thing as limited visibility for any professional team. The ECAC is only below HE because of 3 schools, BC and BU, oh and then Brown who doesn't give a flying **** about any athletic program.

[Nick Papagiorgio]

Re: UNH Commits & Recruiting: 2017 and Beyond

NU has Boston, Hockey East visibility, and the Beanpot. Now it has a Hobey Baker winner and recent hardware.

Quinnipiac has New Haven, plays in the low visibility ECAC, and has a blah campus similar to Bentley.

If you gave a 14-17 year old hockey player a map of the US and asked them to point to the state where Qpac is located almost no one would know. Maybe a few would guess correctly. Prestige!

[Snively65]

If you gave a 14-17 year old hockey player a map of the US and asked them to point to the state where Qpac is located almost no one would know. Maybe a few would guess correctly. Prestige!

I do not think that would have been the case the years that the Bobcats were killing it in the post-season.

[JB]

Re: UNH Commits & Recruiting: 2017 and Beyond

The key to recruiting to any position (NCAA sport, or professional job) is passion about what you are doing and focusing on what you have. Matthews isn't old or dated, it is historic. UNH's campus isn't remote, it is classic and bucolic. BU's campus isn't concrete, it's location is exciting right in the city.

If you are an established entity it is continuing excellence.
If you are starting a new department (which I am doing) it is about building the future. This is also true of starting new <- Hint, hint, UNH coaching staff.

I sold my new hires on helping me build the future. If that didn't excite them they were wrong for the job anyway.

It is classic battlefield thinking. If I am the smaller force it isn't we are small we are going to loose. It is we are small so we are nibble. We are more flexible and can out manure them. There targets are bigger and exposed... easier to find, etc. etc.