Puzzled about commitments ????

I didn't realize '05's could commit to a school this soon and my other question is why would they? If a player gets hurt, the school will snatch that commitment away faster then NCBball eating his wife's last piece of cake.

Besides, until the ink dries, it's not binding....so why close all your options? or leaverage for a better scholarship offer?

 

You are obviously referring to the young men down in SC who have committed to South Carolina. One of the juniors gave them a verbal commitment in the fall, and the second this past week.

This isn't a new thing down at South Carolina, but I've only heard about it at that school. From other reports, it happens occasionally down in Florida also but I can't quote any exact circumstances. South Carolina had 3 juniors commit early LAST YEAR if my memory serves me correctly.

We need Prepster to weight into this subject.

When a junior gives an early commitment, he is locking himself to a school ... and the school has NO OBLIGATIONS since they haven't been allowed under NCAA rules to discuss scholarships with the student in question. If he has a tough Junior year, they could easily tender him a low offer.

A junior committing to a school HASN'T signed an NLI. In the absence of an NLI, he is fair game to outside recruiters (though most honor verbal commitments to other institutions). I imagine that most colleges/universities will respect the early commitment, since dropping the student could hurt their recruiting efforts in the future.

This gives ALL of the advantages to the college/university and NONE of the advantages to the prospective student-athlete. I have no idea why ANYONE would want to do it.

:laugher: Keep it up and I'll make sure none of the MP Mom's feed you cookies at the games this year !!!!!

 

I am confused as to how a junior can even "verbally commit" - I thought that basically, under NCAA guidelines, a coach or school rep could not have direct contact with a player until July 1st after their junior year. If this is true, how does the conversations happen that would get to the point the a junior "verbally commits"?

 

A coach may speak to an underclassman provided he is on campus. It can be at a camp, showcase or even on "junior days". The only limitation is the location.

A coach may NOT tender an offer in the form of a "athletic scholarship" to an underclassman.

Under the early admissions program at many Universities, academic monies may be granted for gifted students that apply early for admission, under the provision that they maintain their academic standings.

The only thing we really know about the situation is that the coach told they player they would like to have him and the player has told the coach he plans on coming to that school.

 

Thanks for the clarification. I knew that a coach could speak with a player if that player was on the college campus attending an event such as a school sponsored camp, but I also knew that if he was observing him as a scout at a showcase, the coach could not approach the player. What I did not know was that coaches actually say to players, that far in advance, that he wants the player to come play for him. If the player agrees, as was noted in this thread, he basically is agreeing to go to that school, without knowing what the school will offer him, if any, with regards to academic or athletic scholarships. That really makes no sense for the junior-that I can see - unless the junior wants to go to play for that particular school, regardless of the offer. How often does this type of thing occur with colleges in the surrounding states?

 

In the surrounding states, the ONLY place I've heard of it happening is at USC. USC dominates the state of SC (sorry Clemson). In order to get the SC kids, all they have to do is snap their fingers and the players line up.

And they also have one of the top programs in the nation, year-in and year-out.

 

Sorry, but USC does NOT get all of the top players from the state of SC. 04's Brad Chalk (Riverside), #4 ranked player in SC per Impact, and Taylor Harbin (Travelers Rest), #3 ranked player in SC per Impact and MVP at the PG WWB tournament in Jupiter last fall, are both headed to Clemson.

 

I know they don't get them all ... and Clemson has a fine program and gets great players from within the state. It just seems that USC snaps their fingers and the players line up.

 

...so based on the answers so far, you guys are as puzzled as I am why a '05 would commit at this stage

 

That pretty much sums it up...... It makes little to no sense unless he intends to attend USC whether he plays baseball or not.