Looking at the verbal acceptances for 2006, the North Carolina State Schools seem to be getting most of their players within the state with maybe 2-4 at each school from outside the state. Is there any reason for this like mandates by the state on how many out of state players they can recruit? Are there any other states where the state schools are limited on how much they can recruit out of state?
FWIW. It's driven largely by the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition. The soccer program's budget takes a bigger hit for out-of-state players than for in-state.
It's also nice when you have quality players that have played together since they were 9 years old that you can put on the field together. I believe the entire starting back line of UNC played club soccer together before heading to college. I think it has more to do with the quality of players available locally than the tuition. Take a look at Clemson's roster, how many SC based players are on their roster? I don't have the roster in front of me but last time I looked, I don't think there was a single South Carolinian on the roster.
Speaking for the 88 ODP players, it looks like almost no one *wants* to leave NC. The seniors on the team have committed so far to Wake, Elon (2), High Point, UNC-Wilmington (4), UNC-Greensboro (3). This is an excellent NC ODP team, too--going to play in the Nationals for the 2nd time in a row in March.
The moderate climate and quality facilities are probably a factor also in keeping players in state. However I did hear the UNC - Chapel Hill coach say that he is allowed only 4 out of state scholarship players per year (even for partials) so I am wondering if this is common across the North Carolina state supported schools or just a condition he has imposed by his school administration.
I'll still maintain that it's the impact of the cost. His use of "allowed" likely has more to do with "the budget only allows 4 out-of-state players". UNC's money sports have significant numbers of non-North Carolinians.
Which is kind of ironic because a great deal of the 88 ODP training was held at UNC-C by his assistant coach (at the time) Findley.
I'd say a big positive for Southern Conf. teams among NC parents is that they don't travel as far within their conference as other area teams such as UNCC. We can see more of their games. That was an important factor for our own decision. Many of the NC 88s are going to programs that have had an active involvement within their ODP experience at some point - staff and/or facilities at UNCC, Elon, UNCG and UNCW were all well known by the guys. I think we have a good ODP program going here in NC.
With regards to UNCC - The previous Women's soccer coach was heavily recruiting 2006 Elite players. When the new coach came in from Ohio?, all contact stopped except for 1-2 players....guess he wanted to recruit from outside the state...
Real Simple. Very Solid academic schools in-state with a cheap price tag. If a kid wants the private school with great academics always has Wake and Duke to choose. Good facilities and weather make the decision making easier. North Carolina is one of the toughest places to recruit if you are an out of state school. The state has great brand identity with its institutions, something some of the Northeast states haven't done.