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Reply to "Article from ABCA Convention Concerning Proposed Changes"

MidAtlanticDad posted:
Buckeye 2015 posted:
MidAtlanticDad posted:
Buckeye 2015 posted:

If you want to "fix" the early recruiting issue, it's simple.   ANY offer to any kid at any age must be IN WRITING!

I'm on board with this idea, but it still doesn't solve the problem of the coach telling the high school senior who didn't develop... "you can show up, and you'll get your 25% scholarship, but you'll never get any playing time here." Are you lumping that kid in with the "just because" kids? I suppose that would make a 14 year think long and hard about signing an NLI, but doesn't it let the coach off without any repercussion?

As far as letting the coach off with no repercussion, I'm assuming these kids committing at 14 are getting more than 25%.....if not, that's on them for commiting to that with 3+ years of HS and development ahead of them.  If a coach is going to offer 50%+ IN WRITING, he may be a little more hesitant to make offers to 14 year olds...knowing he'll lose that 50% for at least a year if the kid doesn't work out.

I just think that puts most of the risk on the student, and very little on the coach. The coach knows that very few kids who want to play high-level college baseball are going to show up to a school where they aren't wanted, even with a 50% or 75% scholarship. Those guys are all going to go play somewhere else. It wouldn't just happen to the kids who didn't develop, either. It would happen whenever the school finds a guy they like better. Just like now. It might help if they had to limit the scholarship offers to the number of available slots for that class, but there's no way to know what that number will ahead of time. So you're still going to have schools with 15 committed kids for 10 roster spots.

That's the thing, with the offer in writing and the coach forced to give up that amount of money for that year's class even if he tells a kid don't come, he can't offer 15 kids for 10 spots.   I get that it could put coaches in a tough spot if a kid gets drafted out of HS and they have to find a replacement last minute, but at least they'd be on the same level of commitment as the kid if they are both being punished for backing out of the offer/commitment.

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