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I've been a big proponent for recruiting locally at the small college level. Let's face it, the average fan who is not tied to the school probably isn't driving to your game. They have to be connected. These are regional state colleges and small private schools. For private schools they kind of have to get who they can because of cost. For state schools there's not an excuse to ignore your state.
I went to the Western Oregon- Cal Poly Humboldt women's game on Saturday. It was a pretty good game, and thought Western Oregon played well in the 10-point victory. I know the coach has had her issues in Monmouth, but she did a fine job on Saturday. That said, by far Western Oregon's best player is from Beaverton. She's really athletic and can shoot it.
Most of the team is made up of Californians, like our men's team. If you've checked the records of both programs of late, this recruiting philosophy has been a colossal failure.
But what also caught my eye on Saturday was a player from Camas, Washington, on Humboldt's team, who had about 20 of her relatives and friends showing up. That may not sound like much but when there's only a 127 at the game, that's a pretty good number.
A couple years ago the Saint Martin's men rolled into Western Oregon with three players from Salem on their team, who all scored nearly 20 points or more, and they brought about a hundred people with them, as well as destroying the Wolves on the scoreboard. This makes a difference.
Western Oregon went division 2 about the turn of the century. We had a lot of growing pains, assuming we could win with hardly any scholarships in any sport. I think that philosophy's changed, but we are still behind the eight ball. But one of the worst things they did was really focus on the states of Washington and California and often ignoring Oregon. Previous football coaches did this to their detriment. Our current and long time football coach gets it. He understands recruiting the state of Oregon, one year signing all Oregon kids. He also does well in getting some out of state guys who can contribute immediately. He has some nice connections in the Bay Area, where there's no small college football. I applaud this.
I'm not against recruiting out of state athletes I just think the focus needs to be local. I'm getting long-winded here, happy holidays to everybody.
I went to the Western Oregon- Cal Poly Humboldt women's game on Saturday. It was a pretty good game, and thought Western Oregon played well in the 10-point victory. I know the coach has had her issues in Monmouth, but she did a fine job on Saturday. That said, by far Western Oregon's best player is from Beaverton. She's really athletic and can shoot it.
Most of the team is made up of Californians, like our men's team. If you've checked the records of both programs of late, this recruiting philosophy has been a colossal failure.
But what also caught my eye on Saturday was a player from Camas, Washington, on Humboldt's team, who had about 20 of her relatives and friends showing up. That may not sound like much but when there's only a 127 at the game, that's a pretty good number.
A couple years ago the Saint Martin's men rolled into Western Oregon with three players from Salem on their team, who all scored nearly 20 points or more, and they brought about a hundred people with them, as well as destroying the Wolves on the scoreboard. This makes a difference.
Western Oregon went division 2 about the turn of the century. We had a lot of growing pains, assuming we could win with hardly any scholarships in any sport. I think that philosophy's changed, but we are still behind the eight ball. But one of the worst things they did was really focus on the states of Washington and California and often ignoring Oregon. Previous football coaches did this to their detriment. Our current and long time football coach gets it. He understands recruiting the state of Oregon, one year signing all Oregon kids. He also does well in getting some out of state guys who can contribute immediately. He has some nice connections in the Bay Area, where there's no small college football. I applaud this.
I'm not against recruiting out of state athletes I just think the focus needs to be local. I'm getting long-winded here, happy holidays to everybody.
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