The dark side of recruiting...

A few things I’ve learned along the way. This may vary slightly by school.

-Terms of the NLI are easily changed by having the kid sign a new agreement when they step on campus.

-It’s highly unlikely the coaches who recruited your DD will still be around when she graduates college.

-Four year deals are for a fixed dollar amount. They don’t increase with increasing tuitions or other expenses.

-The “Full cost of Attendance” increases aren’t necessarily money your kid will see. It may just give the softball coach more money to work with.

-Any increases to the four year deal are year to year. If a new coach comes in, you’re back at square one.

-The scholarship process isn’t “fair”. You can only worry about you DD, not what anybody else’s kid is getting.

riseball said:

That is certainly a new one. I would tell her yes! This ranks up there with convincing kids that the proper way to break in a glove is to rub it with horse dung and leave it in the sun.

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This is how I'm going to tell girls who buy the $20 K-Mart specials to break in their gloves. If you're gonna buy crap, it may as well smell like crap.

JAD said:

I would think a signed NAIA letter would obligate the school for at least a year.

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I guess not - she was signed and it was literally a month before she was scheduled to report. Luckily our TB coach made some phone calls and found her a home at an excellent JUCO. That's why it is so important to have the grades - DD just started her freshman year playing at a NAIA school and the bulk of her money is from academic scholarships. She picked the school because of the quality of their nursing program - the opportunity to play softball was a "bonus" and so was the money that they gave her athletically.

sbmom19 said:

I guess not - she was signed and it was literally a month before she was scheduled to report. Luckily our TB coach made some phone calls and found her a home at an excellent JUCO. That's why it is so important to have the grades - DD just started her freshman year playing at a NAIA school and the bulk of her money is from academic scholarships. She picked the school because of the quality of their nursing program - the opportunity to play softball was a "bonus" and so was the money that they gave her athletically.

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Glad to hear it worked out!

We have all seen or heard of these circumstances happening at all levels of SB. We also know that the NCAA and NAIA could make all of this crap go away. Personally, I like riseball's recommendation from another thread. Make recruiting possible down to the HS Freshman level. There are no verbal commitments allowed; only LOI that have been signed and make them binding for all 4 years of college with the increases in tuition inclusive. This would put a huge screeching halt to all of the early recruiting BS in a heartbeat.

Where my twins do some training at is run by a former NCAA coach. during a Q&A about recruiting, to try to get a % verses flat amount.

That way when school goes up so does scholarship money. Dont always get it, but worth trying.

sbmom19 said:

I guess not - she was signed and it was literally a month before she was scheduled to report. Luckily our TB coach made some phone calls and found her a home at an excellent JUCO. That's why it is so important to have the grades - DD just started her freshman year playing at a NAIA school and the bulk of her money is from academic scholarships. She picked the school because of the quality of their nursing program - the opportunity to play softball was a "bonus" and so was the money that they gave her athletically.

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DD wants to get into nursing and pretty much why she is giving the game up after her senior year. For her she feels the time commitment for studies and ball would leave her zero time for anything else. I've supported her decesion.

FP26 said:

And coaching changes, which seem to be happening more and more frequently, further complicate this entire process. If you are verballing in 9th grade, and plan to play 4 years in college, you are counting on that coach to be in place for the next 8 years. And if that coach is gone within the next 4 years, there is no guarantee that the new coach will feel the same way about your place with the program.

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This puts the student athlete in a hard spot. How can she be expected to commit (9th/10th grade) when the money is available AND be able to predict if the coach will be present or the offer will not be rescinded?
Realistically speaking, is this decision on her future a shot in the dark (risky gamble)?

riseball said:

That is certainly a new one. I would tell her yes! This ranks up there with convincing kids that the proper way to break in a glove is to rub it with horse dung and leave it in the sun.

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You beat me to it.


Pitch Perfect baby!!

Lwlemasters said:

This puts the student athlete in a hard spot. How can she be expected to commit (9th/10th grade) when the money is available AND be able to predict if the coach will be present or the offer will not be rescinded?
Realistically speaking, is this decision on her future a shot in the dark (risky gamble)?

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You can look at how long they've been with a program, success on the field and in the classroom, do they have ties to the area? do they have children in area schools? how much time is left on their contract? Even then its a crapshoot. One coach leaves for a "dream job", retires or gets fired and their vacancy triggers a domino effect of coaching changes. Stanford>Minnesota>Iowa State>Montana or Auburn>James Madison>TBD.