The quest to win a national title with Western Illinois in “College Hoops 2K8.”

The College Hoops 2K series is one of the great forgotten gems of sports gaming at the end of the of the ‘00s. While the NBA 2K franchise seemingly grows in popularity every year and exists as one gaming’s biggest annual releases, its college counterpart was discontinued after the 2K8 edition amid a licensing battle with EA Sports before the O’Bannon lawsuit eventually shut down college sports videos game as we know them.

College Hoops 2K8 has Greg Oden on the cover. It features the likeness of Stephen Curry as a sophomore on Davidson, Derrick Rose as a freshman on Memphis, Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook on UCLA, James Harden on Arizona State, and Tyler Hansbrough on North Carolina.

The rosters alone would make this a fun time capsule of one of the strongest college basketball seasons in recent memory, but the game itself is so much deeper than that. There’s an incredible amount of detail packed into this game, from shooting lines before tip-off to a studio show hosted by Greg Gumbel to impressive game play that stands the test of time more than a decade later.

The real gold mine of College Hoops 2K8 is found in career legacy mode, where you start off as a poorly-rated coach with the choice of only low-major schools to take over at the start of a 40-year career. As you go through the game, your coach gains attribute points as you accomplish certain goals, and eventually bigger schools offer you a job.

I have played through way too many dynasties in this game since it was released at the end of my own college years — never actually playing the games, but simming through the seasons and doing the recruiting. Typically, that ends with you taking a job like North Carolina or Kentucky or UCLA. What if you never left the school you started off with?

That spawned the idea that we’re presenting today: this is the start of a running series attempting to turn the Western Illinois Leathernecks into NCAA champions, a team that has never made the NCAA tournament and has one above .500 finish in the last 22 years. In a world where March Madness is canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, there’s no better way to get your college basketball fix in.

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Let’s start off by answering some basic questions about the game.

How does recruiting work?

The game generates a ton of new recruits every year. There are typically about 25 five-star prospects, and the rest of the top-100 players are four-star prospects. There are also JUCO players and international players rated on the same scale.

There are four basic options on how to recruit: visiting a player, scouting a player, calling a player and sending an email to a player. A player’s interest is measured on a scale that goes up to 100 percent. Once a player gets above 75 percent interest, they can tour the school, which is the most effective recruiting tool and can only be used once.

Why is this going to be challenging?

Low-major programs get the fewest recruiting points. The two most effective ways of recruiting — visits and scouting — cost the most points. For elite programs, coaches can get in five visits or scouting trips per week. For a school like Western Illinois, you only get two plane trips to visit or scout per week. That makes it difficult to land quality players, especially in classes where you have four or five open scholarships to fill.

Each recruit has three different priorities that are revealed the longer you recruit them. One of them is “playing at a big program” — which basically automatically disqualifies a school like Western Illinois. The other priorities — feeling wanted, being close to home, getting good coaching, getting playing time — could still work in favor of a school like WIU, depending on the circumstances.

Staying at one school for the entirety of the legacy also means there will be certain coaching goals that can’t be reached, so that’s one less attribute point to eventually improve my coach. For example: “get hired by a larger conference team” and “get hired by a power conference team” are both automatically off the table. It’s also going to be damn hard to hit “coach a team to the No. 1 ranking” or “sign a five-star recruit” or “win the national championship” — among others.

So you won’t be playing any of the game — just simming them?

That’s right. I reserve the right to watch the computer actually play the simulated game though, especially if it’s in the NCAA tournament.

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OK, finally, let’s get to it.

Year One

The first thing you have to do after creating a coach is assign the five coaching attribute points. I’m choosing to put all of mine into charisma, because that’s the category that helps you land recruits.

Call me Ricky Charisma. After hiring my assistant coaches and locking in the schedule for the season, it’s time to check out the roster.

It ain’t pretty.

Because no one really cares about how “SG No. 1” plays, my writing during this first season is going to primarily focus on recruiting (there will be more focus on the games, the rankings, and the standings moving forward). We need to add some talent to this program. Fortunately, I have four open scholarships to work with.

I’m not even going to waste my time looking at four- and five-star recruits. My best bet here to find three-star players, ideally ones who are ranked in the top-200 of their class. It won’t be easy in the opening season, but my coach’s B+ charisma should help.

Because of the limited recruiting points I’m going to have, it’s vital to hit on the first recruits I reach out to. My first visit goes to 6’7 power forward Bud Richards out of Madison, Wisconsin, which means he’s a regional recruit for me. He’s ranked No. 133 overall and the No. 43 power forward. I also fly out to visit point guard Bert Bronson, the No. 168 overall recruit, in Aurora, Colorado.

After the first week, neither seem like a good bet. Bronson has significantly more interest from Wyoming, while Richards has both Northwestern and Iowa State in front of me.

In better news, I win my first game against Morehead State.

My target list of recruits is looking dire going into the next week. Every player has more interest in a bigger school after one week than they do in Western Illinois. I notice Wyoming also has interest in another point guard on my target list who is ranked even higher than Bronson, so I decide to not give up on Bronson yet and fly out to recruit him again before sending him an offer. I’m bailing on Richards. Instead I fly out to see Ferdinand Thompson, a 6’8 power forward out of Atlanta ranked No. 173 in his class. My man hit 40 percent three-pointers on the AAU circuit, so I’m thinking he could possibly play three different positions for me if I get him.

I also throw out offers to Alvin Cable, the No. 9 overall center from Aurora, Illinois, and Jerimie Sommerville, the No. 17 center from Pembroke Pines, Florida, as insurance if I don’t get Cable. I need bigs.

Cable gets an offer from Illinois State immediately. He’s much more interested in them, so I’m pulling my offer. I am sitting pretty with Thompson. Bronson looks like a possibility too as I continue to lead.

Miami has a big lead for Sommerville, but they haven’t offered him yet, and I’m in second with his only offer. I have to hope they don’t offer him all year and I’m able to land him in the spring. My final scholarship offer now goes to Elijah Meyer, a 6’ shooting guard out of Savannah, Georgia, ranked No. 143 overall.

I win my rivalry matchup with Eastern Illinois the next week. This is Leatherneck country, baby. A win over Radford makes it 3-0 heading into signing week. Thompson is up to 85 percent interest, but he’s likely not signing early. Bronson will also have to be a spring signing in a best-case scenario.

Recruits can commit during two periods — the early signing period at the end of December, or during the offseason. No one commits on the first signing week, but I have a big lead for Thompson. Bronson is looking up too, after Wyoming drops off his board completely. I’m the only school on there, even though it’s still far from a lock at 65 percent interest. Miami still hasn’t offered Sommerville and Meyer remains a long shot.

Well, hell: Sommerville gets the Miami offer and signs with the Hurricanes at the end second week of signing period. Damn.

I guess Coral Gables sounds a little nicer than Macomb. I decide to use that scholarship offer on Marvin Cisse, a 6’5 shooting guard out of Roanoke, Virginia, who is ranked No. 182 in his class (and the No. 32 shooting guard). I figure I can move him to small forward in the unlikely event I land him and Meyer. I also start looking for centers as backup options.

Damn, a new challenger appears for Bronson: Colorado. Given that his second priority is “playing at a big program,” I am getting worried I’ll lose him. Maybe his first priority being “feeling wanted” means I still have a chance?

Also, Meyer gets an offer from another school who was already above me in interest, so I drop out. I use my scholarship to offer another point guard, Utah’s Hesse Gosley, ranked No. 146 overall and the No. 40 player at his position, as a backup plan to losing Bronson.

Meanwhile, I beat Youngstown State and ride into conference play at 5-3.

As I start conference play, Colorado passes me for Bronson before even offering him. I’m gonna ride it out until he has an offer. On the court, I go 0-2 in the first week of conference play. Not great. Then I lose the next two conference games as well. Even worse. Also: Bronson gets an offer from Colorado. That’s devastating. Gosley gets an offer too, this one from Weber State, so I drop him as well.

Armed with freshly available scholarships, my first offer goes to ... Bud Richards, the first player I visited in this class back in the first week. DePaul and Northwestern both have maxed out interest for him, but neither have offered. Hoping I can sneak in come spring if neither have an available scholarship for him. Next offer goes to center Jerry Gooden, ranked No. 359 overall and No. 26 at his position. Jacksonville is already maxed out in interest for him but he doesn’t have an offer. I’ll give him his first.

On the court, I win three straight in conference. I spend the next few weeks trading off wins and losses, and hit my first achievement point when I get to 10 wins in a season. Woo!

I’m using all my flying points on Richards right now. Going for the miracle grab with DePaul and Northwestern still maxed out on his interest without an offer. I’m also sitting pretty with my power forward Ferdinand Thompson and it’s looking up with Cisse, as well.

Regular season is over, and so is the in-season recruiting period. I’m heading into the conference tournament at 14-12 overall and 10-8 in the Summit League. That draws me a first round matchup with IUPUI in the conference tournament. My Leathernecks are a 69 overall, they’re a 74. I reassemble my rotation based on my players’ mid-season improvements. I start using my pep talks to boost their confidence.

And I lose, 73-59.

Year one is over. At least I finished over .500 at 14-13 overall. That’s another achievement point. I also get an achievement point for going a full season without an unhappy player.

North Carolina wins the national title behind Tyler Hansbrough as a junior. He’s a 91 overall, which feels low. Sheesh, those are some gigantic numbers, even better than what he actually put up as a junior. Bill Self now has no national championships :-(

I get three achievement points to add to my coach and put them all in charisma. A+ charisma y’all. That should help recruiting.

Spring recruiting

I sign Ferdinand Thompson right away. That’s my first recruit. No. 173 overall and No. 47 power forward. Huge. The nice thing about power forwards is that you can typically switch them between the 3-4-5 without losing too many points on their overall rating. I’m a little worried about his ability to move to center given these block numbers, but the scoring, rebounding, three-point AAU stats are encouraging. He’ll be good.

I lose out Gooden. But oh shit, Richards now has no other suitors. DePaul and Northwestern must not have had an available offer for him. We end up offering another center, Vasilis Scheer, No. 27 at his position. Seems like a long shot.

Richards signs with Western Illinois the next week. Hell yeah. My second power forward, this one 6’7, 204 pounds. No. 133 overall and No. 43 power forward. My bad scouts tell me he has B+ potential. Good enough for me.

I pull the offer from Scheer with two bigs on board and offer Andre Wiedemann, a 6’2 point guard out of LA who is ranked No. 288 overall and the No. 84 point guard. Just trying to get some guards in here.

I sign Cisse the next week. Dope. Shooting guard ranked No. 182 overall and No. 32 at his position. Look at these monster AAU stats:

Five rebounds and five assist per game with 1.1 blocks and steals with solid scoring? King. We’ll worry about the outside shooting later.

I land Wiedemann to close out the week. Western Illinois ends the offseason with four recruits in my first year, all three stars. Great start.

After I set my schedule, let’s take a first look at the new roster.

Hell yeah. My three best players are freshmen and four of my top five.

Richards is by far the best player on the team right away at 75 overall, with C+ potential, the highest of anyone on the roster (everyone else is C or C- potential). Richards also already grew an inch, up to 6’8 now. We’ll move Thompson to center — easily big enough for the five in the Summit League at 6’8, 252 pounds — and a starting front court for the next four years. My guy Ferdinand has style:

Cissie moves to the three and also maintains his overall rating of 69. Four freshmen in the starting lineup, y’all.

Onto year two, with four more open scholarships to fill.

To be continued.