verbal to a college

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Oct 18, 2009
19
0
Gilroy, Ca
I have just been asked to move up to our High School varsity after 15 years of FS and JV ball. One thing that I am working on now is the recruiting aspect.

I have seen quite a bit of the ballplayers (Jr's) saying they have verbaled to certain colleges in the area. Does this mean they have spoken with the coaches and those coaches have said yes please come we will take you or is this the student/athletes saying yes we want to go there?

Just seems the verbal is only as good as the paper its written on. And they shouldn't stop looking.

Thanks for any advise or insight.
 

sluggers

Super Moderator
Staff member
May 26, 2008
7,133
113
Dallas, Texas
A "verbal" means that the college coach has made the player a verbal offer for a scholarship. It is not binding on the player or college.

BUT (and this is a big but): College coaches live and die by their reputations. If they renege on a verbal, then their ability to get future players will disappear. (Their fellow coaches would be telling every player they meet not to trust Coach X because he doesn't honor his commitments.) So, college coaches honor their verbal commitment unless something big changes.

Something big would be:

(1) A college coach might rescind a verbal due to academic problems, a major violation of HS rules or some major indiscretion on the part of a player. (Drunk driving, for example.)
(2) Coaches do get fired. If a coach does get fired, the verbals of her/his precedessor may not be honored.

Sometimes, girls think they have a verbal when the coach didn't really make an offer. You should be asking questions about the specifics of the offer to make sure that the college coach actually committed.
 
May 12, 2008
2,214
0
If you want to understand the recruiting process, and good for you by the way, I'd suggest buying a copy of Cathi Aradi's book. That should give you a good overview.
 
Jun 22, 2008
3,731
113
There are 2 different verbals. The coach can make a verbal offer, and the player themselves can verbal. Neither means a thing until it is on paper and signed by all parties.

I have seen more than a few times girls that really want to play for a particular school and will announce they have verbaled wether the coach is really intersted or not. I was at a college camp with my daughter and they had a recruiting seminar with the head team scout. The topic of girls early verbaling to schools was brought up and the scout was asked if they meant anything. He paused and said he was choosing his words very carefully. He said, "just because a girl has committed to us, does not mean that we are committed to that girl."
 
Feb 6, 2009
227
0
I disagree entirely. My daughter just got 4 VERBAL offers at the DII level. She accpeted one of them in early November (before the signing period). Most offers starts verbally. You can only sign the NLI for a week in Novemeber and then from April on so offers are given verbally and accpeted quite often and then if there is scholarship money, a national letter of intent can be used. As Sluggers said, the coaches reputation is at stake and they need to honor there offers. Also, when playing DIII, there is no NLI because there is no athletic scholarship money so all you have is the coaches word. It's not like you ever sign a contract to play DIII.
 
May 12, 2008
2,214
0
I think what he was pointing out is some kids announce they have verbaled to XYZ when the coach at XYZ has said nothing about any kind of verbal offer. Legit verbal offers from schools and commitments from young players is a different matter.
 
Feb 6, 2009
227
0
I understand but in reality a girl can't "verbal" to a school without an offer. The process starts with a coaches offer, and although that's not binding, it's the way the process starts.
 
May 12, 2008
2,214
0
Well we could pick at definitions. I can verbal right now to the University of Texas business graduate school but no one cares. Of course the verbal from a player without an offer means nothing and is probably just a cover because she is embarrassed to be the last one without a verbal in her group. Your portrayal of the process is entirely correct when it runs like it is supposed to. But people are people.
 
Feb 6, 2009
227
0
I think it all goes back to the original post. If he hears kids saying they verbaled to a college, in reality it should be after an offer was made. I think you and I understand that. But the concept that a verbal is only as good as the paper it's written on isn't true. Kids who truly have accepted a verbal in reality should stop wasting other coaches time. You should not accept a true verbal offer and continue you're recruiting process because it waste's everyone's time. My daughter had a few colleges on her list. She got a few offers but there were two at the top of the list she was waiting on. We were entirely up front with the other coaches telling them she would be done with the process within a month and she would let them know. She didn't accept any offers and keep talking to the other coaches. In fact, after she did accept the verbal, she wrote all the other coaches thanking them for the interest but she accepted a verbal elsewhere.
 
Oct 18, 2009
19
0
Gilroy, Ca
thanks for replies

Hey thanks for the info. I will certainly make the book purchase and continue to research this and the other aspects of recruiting. So it appears that our head coach will handle this but I don't want to be standing there like a deer in the headlights if asked a question by a student or parent.

We currently have one senior and seven returning juniors with only two stating they have a verbal (both juniors). The senior is good enough to play at a upper level but not sure what her recruiting status is. I do know she is a 504 plan student/athlete with a 3.75 GPA.

I guess thats another aspect we wll get into ! Again thanks for the help. That was my first post and i wasn't sure how it was going to play out.

THANKS!
 

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