MU offers / comitts?

couldnt disagree with more.  Recuits always look at schools list of recruits and obviously the more stars the better.  So the star rating does have a major impact.  If this kid would have been 4 star it would have been major news....but you said star rating have little impact?   This board would be lit up with exciement that MU got a 4 star to commit.  There will always be a few 2 stars that turn out to be great players and thats when great coaching like BL come into play.  Need to have the abilitiy to see talent and coach these kids up.  MU is doing a great job of recruiting with 4-5 3 stars commited already.  I hope they all stick.   

the point to be made here is that unfortunatley star ranking does play an important part of the recruiting process...right or wrong. If they didnt then nobody would talk about it... Every site, TV does etc talks star ratings....It matters. To build a stronger program you need better players, and better players have more stars....fact. Yes there are some players with no stars or one/two that end up being great players. They are too far a few to build a winning program.   MU has done a good job with 0-2 stars players....but if MU wants to dominate the SOCON and play in these FCS playoffs then they need more 3 stars to commits. 2016 looking very good so far with I think 4/5 3 stars already verbally committed? Now lets hope they all sign.

I talk to kids that are current athletes for Mercer a fair amount. Nothing I've seen or heard supports your claim that it's very much different at all from when I was a recruit, as well as when I was an Admissions Officer working with athletes.

None of those things you listed are how many stars their fellow recruits have. Coaches, facilities, success of the program. Agree all of those are factors. What Rivals or 247 says about incoming players isn't one of them. Also, the reputation of the University outside of its athletics often plays a huge part in the decision, especially at places like Mercer where Prop 48 means nothing and the University won't relax its admission standards to get good athletes. If you can't get in to Mercer on your academic merit, you can't get special consideration as an athlete. And, most every parent is pretty interested in the level of education. From what I hear, this is also a big reason why Mercer comes out on top in a lot of recruiting battles.

North Dakota State is going for their FIFTH consecutive FCS Football National Championship this weekend. As best I can find, they have about five players that were 3 star recruits coming out of high school in the last 4 years.

Below are the same recruiting rankings for Jacksonville State's starters as was previously compiled for NDSU.

Jacksonville, AL is about 100 miles from Atlanta...Jacksonville State is ranked #1 in FCS, is the #1 seed in the Playoffs, is in the Championship game...and won their semi-final game 62-10. Incidentally, JSU played 2 games vs. Chattanooga (a team that Mercer beat in 2015, as many may recall)...Chatt also lost both of those games...the first by 3 points in the season opener and the 2nd in OT in the 2nd round of the Playoffs. Chatt is really the only team that has given JSU any kind of challenge in the Playoffs thus far. So...your Mercer Bears beat a top team in FCS who played tooth & nail with, possibly, THE top team in FCS Football in 2 games this season. THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT BEARS FANS...I CAN SEE IT IN THE STARS!!! 


16 247Sports Stars for 22 Starters = 0.73 Stars / Starter
15 Rivals Stars for 22 Starters = 0.68 Stars / Starter
Average Stars / Starter = 0.70 Stars

Where my 0.70 Star Recruits at?

I guess they will be favored over NDSU in the FCS National Championship game because they have a 0.16 Star/Starter advantage over them. I think NDSU will still bother to make the trip though.

Looks like, among their starters, JSU only has 2 Non-Transfers that had any Stars at all as recruits - the RB had 2 Stars from 247, and an OG had 2 Stars from Rivals. So, not a single 3 Star recruit in the bunch that came to JSU as a FR. I don't think Mercer has quite the flexibility with transfers that JSU may have with regards to academics. Not saying anything about JSU's Xfers; they may all be 4.0 students with through-the-top test scores. Also, FWIW - Mercer Football probably could not/would not have taken the 2 transfers with past 'issues' (see links above)...and that's 5 of JSU's Stars from 247 and 5 from Rivals.

So...in CONCLUSION...does the very low number of players with any Stars, much less 3 Stars, among the 2 best teams in FCS say anything about the 'value of Recruiting Stars?' I sure think it does, but I suppose one doesn't really have to let facts get in the way when they have a strongly held opinion. Right?