So, How Does Star System Work?

[MHS Rebel]

Are the kids rated against some metric? Are they rated against others in their class? How does attending camps figure in? Can you compare, say, a 5* CB from 2022 to a 5* in 2025?

 

[LittleVol]

Are the kids rated against some metric? Are they rated against others in their class? How does attending camps figure in? Can you compare, say, a 5* CB from 2022 to a 5* in 2025?

Good questions

 

[TAF]

A small group of last picked for kickball in grade school "wannabes" follow 15-18 year old boys and "grade them" via "analytics", performance stats and "film study".

 

[LouderVol]

Its like Whose Line is it Anyway. the points are made up and the rules don't matter.

 

[Scot Harvath]

I trust this staffs opinions over the rating system. The rating system may be a good place to start, but Heupel and staff have proven to know what they are looking for and are able to identify it early. My 2 cents, but it ain't worth much usually.

 

[LouderVol]

each recruiting website has their own "experts" who grade each player. each expert doesn't grade each player, even within one website. There are typically local "experts" who grade their region, and their region only. so there are going to be differences in the metrics/weightings.

there is no objective rules. being bigger, taller, faster, more stats, all help. but there is no set value to each. each "expert" determines their own values.

also each website admits that who is recruiting a player goes a long way to determine how they are graded. a 5'-10" 140lb, 4.6 40, WR with 10 catches and 1 TD recruited by Bama is going to be borderline 5 star, while the 5'-10" 140lb, 4.6 40, WR with 10 catches and 1 TD recruited by Vanderbilt isn't even going to be a 3 star.

they will never admit it, but they will also slide guys up who haven't announced yet, but are leaning towards big schools, even if their stats or measurables don't justify it.

competition: division (A - AAAAAA), including camps, out of state games and the like go into to. and then the certain academies, like IMG, tend to also get favorable bumps.

and the NFL preferences on positions also seems to come into play. there will be a good number of edge, OT, QBs, WR, DTs, CB/S, 5 stars, but fewer IOL, LB, RB, TE.

once the expert determines a kids score, someone nationally will take all the data and start ranking them from the best player to the worst. the score determines their star rating, but how they stack up to others determines if they are 80th player in the nation or 150th.

they update periodically. to complicate matters, several sites do weighted rankings, taking all of the sites scores, and ranking everyone that way too. these "composites" will vary from the host websites score.

 

[MHS Rebel]

A small group of last picked for kickball in grade school "wannabes" follow 15-18 year old boys and "grade them" via "analytics", performance stats and "film study".

Makes sense.

 

[B81]

The key is that these sites really are not scouting these players. They are consolidating info from many sources, and at the end of the day they are also a business that wants to produce revenue.

Having said that, they are the only system we have, and have proven to be a decent indicator of quality of prospects.

 

[Exiled]

Are the kids rated against some metric? Are they rated against others in their class? How does attending camps figure in? Can you compare, say, a 5* CB from 2022 to a 5* in 2025?

The bottom line is….the “analysts” pretty much use the dartboard method and then adjust for who is recruiting the kid.

 

[firedog28]

I've been reading for months that Konanbanny was a 4 star prospect,and now the day of his decision I just read an article and the first words were 3star O.Konanbanny. Nobody can explain this phenom!

 

[VolBallGuy]

Sun Mercury Venus Earth, etc.

 

[VolInNW]

I've been reading for months that Konanbanny was a 4 star prospect,and now the day of his decision I just read an article and the first words were 3star O.Konanbanny. Nobody can explain this phenom!

Simple, he has decided not to commit to Bama or uga. Loss of 1 star by default.

 

[Sundeanvol]

An athlete is rate a 5*. He commits to UT. ESPN immediately downgrades to a 4*.

 

[livefaith]

The only thing that really matters if our recruits get bumps from 3to4 or 4to5 stars. When that happens it's impressive how much better each one is after they get a bump. So keep you fingers crossed until the final ratings come out.

 

[kemotoe]

Baes on what I know of the process it breaks down like this.

1. The Sacred Coin Toss: First, the ranking committee—consisting of former mascots, retired referees, and that one uncle who “knows a guy”—gathers around a table. Each player’s name is written on a golden football. The head ranking guru then flips a coin. Heads, the player gets an extra star; tails, they have to wrestle a bear (metaphorically, of course—this involves wrestling with tough questions like “Do you prefer turf or grass?”).
2. The Astrological Draft: The committee consults a horoscope to see if the player’s zodiac sign is aligned with “winning vibes.” If Mars is in retrograde, they drop a star. If their sign is Leo (because lions are fierce, obviously), they gain two stars.
3. The Snack Bribery Test: Coaches submit their favorite snacks. A player whose snack choices match the committee’s preferences gets a star boost. If they prefer kale chips or anything “healthy,” they lose a star on principle.

 

[Devo182]

They attempt to align it to the NFL draft.

That's why there are typically ~32 5*s.

Year-to-year is not a perfect 1:1 comparison. Just like there are good and bad draft classes, there are good and bad recruiting classes.

 

[rekinhavoc]

If it was Butch Jones recruit a 4 or 5 star was a 2 or a 3.

 

[9876543vol]

Are the kids rated against some metric? Are they rated against others in their class? How does attending camps figure in? Can you compare, say, a 5* CB from 2022 to a 5* in 2025?

It is all very arbitrary, the recruiting sites modify their rankings according to what drives traffic to their sites ($$$)