Regarding Gulibon...didn't he beat Cory Clark in a post HS all star event or am I remembering that wrong? If so, I think it illustrates that "5 star" recruits don't always turn out the way one would think.
Nevertheless, you have to have many top level recruits and then realize that not all of them are going to translate into high level D1 success.
Guilbon and the Altons. Evans was a 3X AA but never won a title. However, we were getting one top ten every four years. Easier to have a Guilbon when 8 of your other guys are top ten. Less likely you'll miss on one.
Asked it another thread but it bears repeating in here: What if we had 9 Kemerers? Kemerer came to us already being very good (person and wrestler). At this point, it's how you manage the kid vs developing them depending on their character and motivation levels. For example:
Level 1-Needs micromanaged in the room and academics; Needs to be taught good habits. May have talent but lacks the physical and mental maturity to exploit
Level 2-Understands basic concepts about the sport, program and life. Is able to manage self on campus but still needs work in the room maintaining weight, conditioning etc
Level 3-Shows self discipline, works hard etc but still needs a little bit of push mentally. Has good grades outside of the room and no behavioral problems
Level 4-Needs very little guidance. Is a team leader. If left alone, can work with self and others to improve self. Performs at one of the higher levels in the room and on the mat. Now just fine tuning.
This is just crude example of evaluation criteria. Obviously, you want kids that are in the 3 & 4 range. Not every kid coming in is going to start out at 1 or 2 because their parents, prior coaches and self have already taught this part. The hard part is not treating everyone the same but recognizing that you may have some building to do with one while showing respect to the others.
Met a 3X State Champion and a D-1 kid the other night...some of you might recognize his name. Was very good in a non traditional state but then chose a high academic but smaller school. After speaking to him for five minutes, knew he was a mess. Bragged about beating this guy or that etc in high school and about how he wanted to transfer schools...he knew it all. We didn't ask...he volunteered this info to complete strangers. I vaguely remembered his name and googled it and sure enough...found out he had been arrested for various issues.
I guess the key would be to identify those kids like a Nolf, Kemerer, etc who are already at 3 and 4 to begin with...get as many as you can so you can spend the time on the 1s and 2s without it being a deficit to your program. Sometimes they bear fruit big time. One can posit that a guy like Cenzo was at a 2 when he got to PSU. He missed weight a couple of times during his RS year for whatever reason but then took a year to
develop and you know the result. With year around wrestling and their talent already pretty much known, the biggest issue to early success IMO would be getting them on campus and off to a good start with the guys and academics.
