sdufsuidf wrote:
I love how people call going international "going the easy way". it is not necessary easy to go international. Those kid can take more effort to recruit and a lot of the time are more fun to coach because they know they are being brought in to do a job "run fast", instead of american distance runners who can tend to be a little entitled.
Not mention the fact that it would be next to impossible to get any good american to go to Lamar. they maybe could get some 4:20/9:20 guys, but lets face it those are very average times and getting seven 4:20/9:20 guys can not get a team to NCAA's without some miracles happening. You need some studs!
That's because it(going international) IS going the easy way. I know because I WAS a D-I coach at a mid major, and I saw what the realities were of recruiting during the just under 10 years that I was a college coach. Many of these coaches go international because they don't know how to turn a 4:20/9:20 kid into that "stud" you are talking about. If I was able to do it, then any capable coach can do it. My athlete had similar times as mentioned above out of high school and he ended up being a sub 8:00, sub 13:50, sub 29:00 guy who qualified for cross nationals three times.
If a coach is willing to do the work to go and get the numbers of 4:20/9:20 guys needed(by the way, it is easy b/c THERE ARE MORE OF THEM and they are begging to be recruited!) then it should be no problem turning them into a team of 24:00/30:30 cross runners if you are competent. I don't care what region you are in, you will make it to nationals with a team like that b/c YOU WILL beat people.
If you don't believe me look at Rob Conner at UP. Sure, NOW he is landing some primo talent(and losing it to the same school that he always has), but he didn't always have the luxury of picking from sub 9:00 types, all he used to be able to land were your standard 4:20/9:25 athletes, and he built his reputation and his program with them.
I think the bigger problem is that coaches are not patient and want the payout in the first 2 years. That is incorrect thinking when dealing with young people in athletics. You have to be willing to stick with an athlete all the way to the end. I have had numerous athletes that had to work five years(with strategic redshirting etc.) just to make it D-I nationals 1 time in their final season of eligibility.
By the way, just to be clear, I too was given the directive from my head coach to recruit foriegn athletes, and I did. Sure, there is a little extra paperwork and follow through to get one into the country. But the bigger issue is cost. For that one full ride, you get one shot. You could get 4-5 bodies with that same full and have 4-5 more chances of team success AND have depth within your training group. Just for the record, my foriegn athlete was a top 3 placer at the D-I meet, which made my head coach very happy and netted us 6 very valuable team points at the big meet.
So my long winded point is that coaches who blow off the value of the developmental athlete are either making a huge mistake or are by default admitting that when push comes to shove, they really can't get it done, despite all their bravado on the recruiting trail.
END OF RANT!!!