Article on early recruiting...

[quincy]

Why do strong players commit so early? Is it fear that nobody else will want them so they better take it while they can get it? We haven't had to deal with any of this yet since they're not actually trying to get verbal commitments from 9 year olds yet...

Neighbor is all that, she can go to any school in the country. She goes to the football games and has a blast.

 

[MTR]

Old argument. This is far from news. The NCAA already has rules in place governing verbals, they carry no legal weight. How can you legislate control over something that is no recognized as part of the system?

The coaches keep blaming the NCAA when it is them who have total control over the situation. They need to cowboy up and take control, not blame it on the NCAA

 

[Jquick823]

I don't have a problem with players committing early. The talk about them not being mentally prepared for this decision seems wrong. If they aren't prepared then why are we showcasing them at 12U and up? Why aren't we the TB community hiding them from the monsters that are the D1 and D2 coaches? Because we also have to keep our teams, girls and orgs moving in the right direction and keep up with everyone else. It's really not an issue for UCLA to verbal a 2020 but I bet Oregon doesn't like it because they didn't get her. It's an issue for small D1's because they get leftovers and they don't like that. I say let the process continue and enjoy your free football games on those unofficial visits.

 

[Rambler34]

I would be proud if my 12U 7th grade DD started getting some attention from coaches but I can only imagine the pressure the kids feel thinking they have to make a decision so they do not get skipped over. I also know my daughter could not make a good decision on her future within the next couple of years. She has no idea what she wants to be in life. The academic side is so important for them. Programs and the level of education varies so much from school to school. Some may offer a top engineering program while another is a great journalism school.

 

[Daddylawman]

Football and basketball coaches also continue to recruit players who are verbally committed to other schools, unlike sports like softball where there is an unwritten "coach's code" to back off players that are verballed.

IMHO there is the key. If coaches take the position that they will not recognize verbals, and just continue recruiting, more girls will flip. Once coaches realize the verbal doesn't hold weight anymore they'll stop offering them so early.

 

[BobInMadison]

I would be proud if my 12U 7th grade DD started getting some attention from coaches but I can only imagine the pressure the kids feel thinking they have to make a decision so they do not get skipped over. I also know my daughter could not make a good decision on her future within the next couple of years. She has no idea what she wants to be in life. The academic side is so important for them. Programs and the level of education varies so much from school to school. Some may offer a top engineering program while another is a great journalism school.

THIS.

I had no idea what I wanted to be when I was a freshman or sophomore. I had some inclinations by my junior year of college. My DS is attending an engineering school, where the students are accepted by their majors as freshmen. At least he knew by the end of his jr. year in HS. Earlier he wouldn't know.

There is one thing about some of the massive state universities: many of them are just so big they offer just about every option. But not EVERY option. For example, the University of Wisconsin has its architecture program at UW Milwaukee, which has no softball team. UW Madison has a B1G softball team, but no architecture program. So, a girl who committed to UW Madison but later decided to study architecture would be out of luck.

 

[riseball]

A year or so ago I was sitting and talking with the HC of an SEC program. Their phone rings and they step out to take the call. After about 5 minutes the coach returns, clearly frustrated and tells me the call was from an 8th grader that they were working very hard to recruit. The recruit had called to say that she had elected to go to another SEC school. When asked why she selected one school over the other all she could say is she really liked the other school. When pressed further with regard to the differences in the softball program, academics, location, etc. All she could say is that she really liked the other school. It sounded to me like a typical conversation you would have with a 13 year old.

 

[goinglefty]

Why do strong players commit so early? Is it fear that nobody else will want them so they better take it while they can get it? We haven't had to deal with any of this yet since they're not actually trying to get verbal commitments from 9 year olds yet...

I dont know if its that no one will want them but everyone has different reasons. In our area there might just be a handful of kids who have given a verbal early and I don't really blame them... I blame the coaches/schools for making the offer. It can be very hard to turn down in some cases esp if its a big name "dream" school and a decent amount of money that most families could use to help pay for tuition. If they want to wait a few years to decide I think the thought is the coaches will move on and find someone else to offer so if it really is one of their "dream schools" why wait?

In my limited experience I've seen that as players get later in the recruiting process the less athletic money there is available for certain types of schools. Of course there are exceptions, but for those who aren't throwing 65 mph+ or hitting balls 250' regularly the options can sometimes get less and money has been promised away.

I know more than a few juniors speaking to coaches with no roster spots or very little/no athletic money left. While I'm sure a lot of schools still have money for juniors/seniors, schools that were some of these current juniors "first choice" schools were probably done with money by the time they were sophomores or even freshmen. I know for a fact that some mid major schools are only looking at sophs/freshmen right now. I was speaking to a Pac 12 coach last month and he was looking at an 8th grade pitcher. He said every Pac12 school is looking at the same kid and trying to get her.

All that being said... not committing early or not being in a position to get offered early can be a blessing in disguise by opening the door to some great schools they might not have looked at before.

 

[Easton33]

I would love to see some hard #'s on success/fail rate for these girls that verballed early. It is my opinion that they are offering little percentage to these girls and it's no big deal if they wash out or not. If someone would compile numbers I bet there would be a strong argument why this practice should not be allowed.
If colleges are saying their money is promised away, kinda sounds binding to me.

 

[ian]

Old argument. This is far from news. The NCAA already has rules in place governing verbals, they carry no legal weight. How can you legislate control over something that is no recognized as part of the system?

The coaches keep blaming the NCAA when it is them who have total control over the situation. They need to cowboy up and take control, not blame it on the NCAA

How can we legislate control? Easy, first we need to write a law making verbals carry legal weight and then we write another law that makes it illegal. Problem solved. No more 12 yearolds thinking of college... and thats uhhh... good thing... I think.