FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What does RSCI stand for?
A: Recruiting Services Consensus Index.
Q: How can you pronounce an acronym like RSCI which is sorely lacking in vowels?
A: “Risky.” Given the relative subjectivity of the underlying rankings, this seems to be an appropriate pronunciation.
Q: When will you be updating the RSCI rankings?
A: Whenever I can get my hands on enough updated rankings from the real experts. Typically, rankings are produced at the beginning of the summer and updated: 1) after the summer camps, 2) at the end of the summer, 3) at mid-season, 4) after the all star games. Pre-summer camp rankings tend to be highly unreliable and often only include a top 50, so RSCI often skips them. You can help with the other, though, by sending any top 100 rankings from the experts you run across to jeffc@nc.rr.com.
Q: How are the RSCI rankings calculated? What is the magic formula?
A: See How it’s done.
Q: What qualifies you as an expert to produce the RSCI rankings?
A: Nothing. The RSCI rankings involve a completely objective calculation based upon the underlying rankings by the real experts. The only skill needed to calculate the RSCI rankings is the ability to run a spreadsheet.
Q: What’s so special about the RSCI rankings if a simpleminded spreadsheet jockey can produce them?
A: The beauty of RSCI is that it combines the opinions of a number of different experts from across the nation to arrive at a single, consensus ranking representing the best thinking of them all.
Q: Why isn’t <insert player’s name> included in the RSCI rankings?
A: You’d have to ask the experts. The RSCI rankings are a purely mathematical calculation (see How it’s done) based upon the top 100 lists from the guys that actually rate these players for a living.
Q: Why doesn’t RSCI just use the average ranking for each player based upon the underlying rankings?
A: Averages would work fine if all the players appeared in the top 100 lists for all of the experts. The fact that they don’t makes this calculation meaningless in many cases. For instance, take a fictional player, Johnny Jumpshot, who is ranked #25 in one service, #50 in another, and #75 in yet another. His average ranking would be #50 (i.e. (25+50+75)/3=50). Now take Sonny Slamking who is ranked #25 in one service, #75 in another, and is unranked in the third. His average ranking would also be #50 (i.e. (25+75)/2=50) if you only considered the two services for which he made the top 100. This would make it seem that the two players are equal but would ignore the fact that Sonny failed to crack the top 100 in the third service -- meaning he might really be anywhere from #101 to #300. Clearly, if you added in the ranking from the third service his average would be significantly lower than Johnny’s. However, since not all the services rank beyond the top 100, you end up compares apples and oranges if you include the top 300 from one service with the top 100 from another. The bottom line is that averages simply won’t work for all the players in the top 100 but where they do, RSCI includes them beginning with the class of 2002 for your reference.
Q: Why are some 5th year players ranked so low on RSCI?
A: Unfortunately, not all the experts include 5th year players in the top 100 lists for the current class. All RSCI can do is denote the 5th year players and let you factor this in as you interpret the rankings. The average rankings added in 2002 help by providing an alternative number for comparison, though.