There is a lot of “luck” in university fencing.
Luck in having one or two world class juniors turn up at freshers.
Luck in having a university that includes athletic clubs in the admissions process.
Luck in having facilities, coaches, grants etc that can attract higher level fencers.
Or indeed lucky enough to join a fencer programme at y1 that will help them become strong team players by Y3/4.
For a coach, the bottom line is that you have to work with what you get at the beginning of each academic year.