Puzzled about commitments ????

To run the risk of getting blasted for my opinion I'm gonna give it anyway. I think the reason to committ to a SC this early is nothing more then an ego thing. A verbal committment at this stage means absolutely nothing. Everyone can still change their minds and no harm done, ecxept for the fact that some others might quit looking your way. I will say that if it is a family tradition to attend a certain college that might be a different matter.

 

Mudcat ... that's as good an answer as any. I do understand one of the early commitments. The player is the son of a JUCO baseball coach. The player may be extremely talented or it may be more of a professional courtesy. One thing is for sure.... we will probably never know.

 

Ahhhh, Clemson. I never thought I would ever say this (being an USC alumnus)......but Clemson is looking better and better to me and I absolutely love their coaches.

 

i totally agree with Mudcat here and would like to add this.............what if the prospect is to graduate early from high school and enroll in December at the university, then he would have a valid reason for an early verbal committment??

 

...given this scenario ( very rare indeed, athletically speaking)...still, why would you want to commit? An '05 hasn't had the chance to speak with coaches from all the other schools who are recruiting them. Why would you want to close your options?

Also, even if you attend one of their camps, I thought you could not discuss money (% athletic scholarships) until later.

 

Also, even if you attend one of their camps, I thought you could not discuss money (% athletic scholarships) until later.[/QUOTE]


LOL!!!!!!! the old wink and a nod? Think maybe some things are kinda understood? I know you flatlanders are not that naive. "hey boy, come to S**** C******a, you know we're gonna take care of ya."

 

I hear ya Mudcat, but I would be a pretty naiive parent to believe that remark if given to my son.

To tell you the truth, there is one major D1 school, in particular, that appears very interested and my son attended their camp. A lot of things were discussed, but never about an offer....and I believe strongly, if they thought they could, they would have.

I don't know...it just struck me as "strange" that an '05 kid is already committed to a college....but, best of luck to those that have.

 

There is nothing to prevent you from calling the college coach. Once you're on the phone asking him questions, the door is open for him to "feel you out".

When my son was a junior in hs, one coach took just such an opportunity with us. I called for follow up info concerning a "junior day" that we had agreed to attend. During that phone call, the coach took the opportunity to expain his program, their plans and expectations for the team, and how a player "such as your son" would fit in. He then went on to speak in general terms about when they could start calling us (referring to July 1), and then said "that's when we will be able to talk about the scholarship, because it's just too early now", then he paused, and said "or is it?"

Was that entirely above board on the coach's part? I'm not knowledgeable enough on NCAA regulations to say. I know it made me uncomfortable, and I probably stammered as I explained that we would be looking at all of our options before making any decisions.

Maybe I'm missing something, but I see no benefit to the player for committing as a junior.

 

I'll begin by saying that no one is more aware of the extent to which I am NOT an expert on the chapter and verse of NCAA recruiting regulations. (Nor do I care to be.) Instead, I have what I would characterize as a "good, working knowledge" of them...enough to have gotten us through the recruiting process successfully.Therefore, I could be mistaken about what I'm about to say.

Having stated that, to the best of my knowledge, there is no explicit prohibition against a coach's talking dollars with a recruited athlete prior to July 1st after their junior year (The date the colleges may begin calling recruited baseball players.) . However, the large majority simply don't do it. My speculation would be that in most cases they simply aren't sufficiently aware of their own needs to pursue individual players as assertively as the money discsussion implies.

The NCAA regulations seem to focus on contact, rather than the substance of discussions between coaches and student-athletes. This makes sense to me, since it would be relatively easier to control contact than substance. Here's a link to the NCAA's narrative around the relevant regulations:
NCAA Summary of Regulations

By the way, I got to the hyperlink shown above by going through the High School Baseball Web's NCAA Recruiting page:
NCAA Page on HSBaseballWeb

In my opinion, it is generally a bad idea for players to commit before late summer/fall after their junior year. And, yes, I agree that the pride of ego has something to do with a number of the very early commitments ...ego at both the player's and program's level.

However, I also think that a very early commitment can make sense in those exceptional circumstances when the player simply KNOWS "that's the only place I want to be." In that instance, the early commitment prevents him from going through the charade of the balance of the process; sparing both sides the fairly considerable investment of time that an active recruiting process entails.

 

I'll begin by saying that no one could be more aware of the extent to which I am NOT an expert on the chapter and verse of NCAA recruiting regulations. (Nor do I care to be.) Instead, I have what I would characterize as a "good, working knowledge" of them...enough to have gotten us through the recruiting process successfully.Therefore, I could be mistaken about what I'm about to say.

Having stated that, to the best of my knowledge, there is no explicit prohibition against a coach's talking dollars with a recruited athlete prior to July 1st after their junior year (The date the colleges may begin calling recruited baseball players.) . However, the large majority simply don't do it. My speculation would be that in most cases they simply aren't sufficiently aware of their own needs to pursue individual players as assertively as the money discussion implies.

The NCAA regulations seem to focus on contact, rather than the substance of discussions between coaches and student-athletes. This makes sense to me, since it would be relatively easier to control contact than substance. Here's a link to the NCAA's narrative around the relevant regulations:
NCAA Summary of Regulations

By the way, I got to the hyperlink shown above by going through the High School Baseball Web's NCAA Recruiting page:
NCAA Page on HSBaseballWeb

In my opinion, it is generally a bad idea for players to commit before late summer/fall after their junior year. And, yes, I agree that the pride of ego has something to do with a number of the very early commitments ...ego at both the player's and program's level.

However, I also think that a very early commitment can make sense in those exceptional circumstances when the player simply KNOWS "that's the only place I want to be." In that instance, the early commitment prevents him from going through the charade of the balance of the process; sparing both sides the fairly considerable investment of time that an active recruiting process entails.