verbal committments for 2006's

verbal commitments for 2006's

how binding (? choice of wording here) are they? I have heard some stories of players verbally commiting early and when time came to sign something had changed in their offers. how is it looked at by colleges if a 2006 would make a very early verbal committment and for whatever the reasons the player or college changes their mind?
also what if the player verbally commits bc he feels it is a good offer and likes school...when word gets out do other colleges stop recruiting him?

any and all info and advice is always highly appreciated from members of this board... if there is already a thread on this please point me to it

 

Verbal Commitments.

The old saying goes that they are worth the paper they are written on, but there are a few things you can say about them.

• When they are broken, it's usually the player who does the breaking. Their situation changes or they perceive that they have a different/better opporunity either in terms of playing time or size of school.
• If a college makes a verbal to a player (makes an offer and the student tells them they accept the offer), then the college/university will usually live by the offer. If word gets out that a college offers players and then backs out of it, it could hurt their recruiting efforts for years. Only time that a college may back out of it is if a character issue or grades issue surfaces.
• Other colleges honor the verbal, regardless of what year it's for. USC probably has 5-6 juniors that have given verbal commitments for next year. This is great for USC. They don't have to spend the "recruiting dollar", time and effort to beat the bushes and find good players. If the player in question didn't seem to be a good fit, the college wouldn't make the offer before he reached the summer after his Junior year of HS.
• It does shut down other opportunities. Colleges, once they find out a player has given his verbal commitment will back down on any recruiting efforts. If a player doesn't inform a recruiting institution that he has made a verbal commitment to another insitution, it sets off a red flag about his character. As a junior, you have an offer in hand, but it may not be the best offer you could get. Proper etiquette requires that, if a coach from a different college comes and talks to you that you immediately inform him of your verbal commitment and politely end the conversation.
• Very rarely, a player will announce his verbal commitment to a college that hasn't made an offer. He's just announcing he's going there in that case. If there isn't an athletic offer made from the school that will lead to an NLI (National Letter of Intent), then nothing is really binding on either end.
• You run into schools, D1 & D2 who are offering a roster spot, but are out of scholarship slots/money. Not all programs are fully funded, most of their money might be tied up in pitchers/catchers but they really want you as their center fielder. It can happen ... the coach will treat you the same as if you are on full scholarship even though no "money" is changing hands. In this case, the relationship remains "verbal" until the student arrives for classes.

In all of these cases, most colleges will do their utmost to live up to their side of the bargain. They possibly could be hurt in future recruiting efforts.

Here is the final, and possibly the most important point. Here you are, a hot-shot catcher prospect and want to go to "State U", so, as a junior you give your verbal commitment. This isn't going to stop "State U" from recruiting other players. Now "State U" gets the #1 HS catching prospect in the nation to agree to come play. Your prospects of playing time have just dimminished. Did you pick "State U" because of it's name? Academics? Baseball program? Playing time? Do you just want to be a member of the great "State U" team and understand it's fine to be on the bench for 2+ years?

You have to decide what's really important to you. If being on the team at "State U" is what's important and you want to complete your education there, then, by all means, commit early to "State U". If you top priority is playing time, then you might need to check the rosters a bit more carefully during the summer between your junior/senior years.

It's a balancing act between education, available majors, costs, playing time, distance from home, what you've qualified for academically, social compatibility and compatibility with the coaching staff. It's all important, but in different degrees to different people.

My advice? There are very few schools that offer to commit a Junior in our area. Because of that, you won't really have a good understanding until you've gone through the full recruiting process. I can see a lot of advantages for the colleges in have a student commit early but virtually none on the part of the student, but there are always some exceptions. Meeting and talking with different college coaches will open your eyes about what's important, even if it's just to confirm you decision to head to "State U".

 

wow...thanks, NCBBallfan
great info... advice and so quick
that's why i luv this board! :xyzthumbs

 

i'm missing something here i think
you mean given verbal commitments to play in 06/07 which is year and half away?
do you think most are in-state or do you know otherwise?

 

yep ... that's exactly what I mean. Guys who are graduating during the summer of 2006 that have verbally committed to USC as of last summer/fall.

All are in-state players. There is exactly 1 of these players who really has that level of talent and he'll never make it on the college campus. He's going to get drafted out of HS.

 

thanks, NCBBallfan

 

Verbal committments in baseball are much different than say football and basketball. Both parties tend to honor their committments and the other schools back away.

In this day in age in the recruiting of HS players, it is refreshing that college baseball acts with integrity and honor.....as well as the players making the committments. It is a very, very small minority that backs out of their committments.

Another thing that is refreshing is that most players that feel a need to transfer receive their release from the coach and AD...allowing them not to be penalized by sitting out a year.

 

giving more thought to this...

if a college knows that you want to come there regardless, looks to me that the college wouldn't use a lot of their scholarship money to give to that player...knowing they have him "locked in"... or do you feel they will give you a fair amount anyway, based on where they see you fitting in... in their program

 

I don't think there IS an answer to this question.

It depends on the coach, the school, how many slots they have tied up, how much they have available..... lots of factors. The school administrator may be telling every department head to tighten the belt next year. The coaches wife may have beaten him over the head with a newspaper the morning he was figuring out the offer (my personal favorite )

Regardless of when the offer was made, the coach just might not have a lot of scholarship money available for that year. When you look at who Carolina has brought in over the past 3 years, it would be amazing if they have anything left for next year, but you really don't know anything about the offers. Only that there was an offer, not how much.

Just look at the situation and see if it's right for you. Conventional wisdom states that anything over 30% is a very nice offer.

 

dont forget there is always academic money available all the way through , so long as you do the classroom part ...


When most baseball players say they got a full ride somewhere it usually means a small percentage of athletic money and a larger percentage of academic money and grants etc....

Thats how i have seen it...