Qhead posted:Assuming 22 players verbally committed is correct, how did the Arkansas coach pare that down by the NLI signing date? He had to go back to some of those players and say sorry I changed my mind, we can't give you an NLI? Wouldn't word start to spread about a particular program over-committing, which would discourage future potential recruits from verbally "committing" to them? Not picking on Ark - just using them as an example. I don't understand how a program can get away with this without damaging their reputation?
I don't know any particulars about Arkansas, but here's what I observed from over a decade of watching players get recruited to big programs...
1. Most of the problem takes care of itself - players get drafted, don't make grades, get into trouble, change their minds...
2. Sometimes players offers are pulled at the buzzer and sometimes even after signing players are advised to not show up - "You will never see the field here, so you oughta looks somewhere else." (BTW, this happens across ALL NCAA sports, including football, basketball, and others).
3. There is never a shortage of players willing to commit and sign with programs with higher reputations for doing this. Everyone assumes it won't be them. Sometimes it is... True, it may discourage your son or mine, but the supply of good-enough players is greater than the slots on college teams. Many nationally ranked programs "over-recruit." It hasn't hurt them in the big picture.