In Reply to: Onions? posted by ClockBlocker on May 01, 2024 at 09:10:42
And the way in which he wielded his control was to limit it. Chip didn't want his staff "wasting time" doing what is needed to effectively recruit HS talent from one cycle to the next, and the staff knew that no matter how much they liked a kid, they couldn't extend an offer unless Chip agreed to do his 300 point analysis and determined the kid was Chip material, by which time, even if he did decide he wanted the kid, it would by then be too late in the cycle to have any real shot at getting them - so what was the point of even making much of an effort in the first place.
Staff at most programs has a far greater level of autonomy than Chip's assistants were given. When coaches from most programs go scouting, if they see someone that is clearly a player that the program needs, they typically would meet with the coach, discuss character, grades and such, and if everything checks out, extend an offer on the spot and then spend the next several months trying to reel them in.
Chip's philosophy was to essentially flip the script. He didn't like the idea of recruits being in control of the process, so rather than giving them several months to years to mull things over while also requiring his staff to stay engaged, he instead took the entire cycle deciding who was deserving of one of his magical offers, seemingly imagining that scarcity would somehow make them appear more valuable, so much so that nobody would refuse, except that most did, and those that didn't were most often kids that weren't being heavily recruited by anyone else. And in Chip's world of circular reasoning, if a kid did decline, as most did, it only proved that they weren't a good fit for the program, too needy, wanting too much attention