In addition to that piece, the other piece is that the D1 council also approved legislation that makes it illegal for a coach to have off-campus contact with a recruit before September 1st of their junior year.

Hope this would lower the number of "committed" players getting dumped at the last minute with no place to go. We shall see.

@ARCEKU21 posted:

In addition to that piece, the other piece is that the D1 council also approved legislation that makes it illegal for a coach to have off-campus contact with a recruit before September 1st of their junior year.

So does that mean no more offsite camps/showcases that the coaches are involved (on the field helping coach)? That would be sad, son has been to some where he has received good insight from those coaches.

Also, it looks like a new rule for all sports is that there is no longer a limit on official visits. But you can only take one official visit per school unless there is a coaching change.

Looking into and thinking about this some more. It sounds like they can still talk to travel ball coaches. So this may not be that much of a change. Will have to see what the real rule says when it comes out on the 26th.

Lots of questions come to mind...just thinking out loud.......

1) Did they single out baseball for this new contact period?

2) If true, it sounds like travel baseball would become more influential and instrumental in recruiting because the college coach is very limited in what he can do and say.   Travel coaches don't have that limitation.

3) TxballDad - I think it will increase the likelyhood of committed players getting dumped at the last minute.   The recruiting  window looks to be a lot smaller with a lot of moving parts.   This is going to create more chaos and confusion.  I think more time is needed for the Coach and the player to make the best decision for each if the goal is to stay at one school.

4) ARCEKU21 - Not sure if they are trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist.   I've never heard of any baseball recruit taking multiple official visits, but it may exist in the D1 P5 realm.  Typically, it is an official visit and then multiple unofficial visits tot he same school.   But then again, most scholarship recruits were committing prior to the official visit period at least in baseball.   So, this one (if true) has me scratching my head.   

JMO

This is definitely a win for the "Late Bloomers".

Not a fan.  Now kids have to go through the recruiting process for a lot longer. It was nice for mini to get it over with because they knew where they wanted to go. Now all of a sudden everything breaks loose on one day right before their junior year.   It will make going to college camps so much more important, which will be more costly and showcases and offsite camps will be useless because coaches cannot talk to them. I think it hurts the coaches that are great recruiters and see talent early. But I know others will say that 13 year olds and 14 year olds don’t need to be making decisions on college .  

@fenwaysouth posted:

Lots of questions come to mind...just thinking out loud.......

1) Did they single out baseball for this new contact period?

2) If true, it sounds like travel baseball would become more influential and instrumental in recruiting because the college coach is very limited in what he can do and say.   Travel coaches don't have that limitation.

3) TxballDad - I think it will increase the likelyhood of committed players getting dumped at the last minute.   The recruiting  window looks to be a lot smaller with a lot of moving parts.   This is going to create more chaos and confusion.  I think more time is needed for the Coach and the player to make the best decision for each if the goal is to stay at one school.

4) ARCEKU21 - Not sure if they are trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist.   I've never heard of any baseball recruit taking multiple official visits, but it may exist in the D1 P5 realm.  Typically, it is an official visit and then multiple unofficial visits tot he same school.   But then again, most scholarship recruits were committing prior to the official visit period at least in baseball.   So, this one (if true) has me scratching my head.   

JMO

I agree that the official visit rule was not really needed, maybe not in the baseball world at least. But that rule is for all sports now. I don't know much about the recruiting world outside of baseball. Maybe in football and basketball multiple official visits tended to happen more. When my son opened his recruitment last summer, there was one school that had us come on an official visit during the summer, even though we offered to do an unofficial visit.. They also said they would bring him back for another while school was in session so he could see campus life. We never got to the second trip, but that was the only instance of a school wanting to do multiple official visits.

I just read somewhere that there was a follow up tweet saying that it is retroactive and that if coaches have been talking to players it must cease, someone else said that if players have committed before this timeframe they have to decommit. Haven't verified that.

@TxballDad posted:

Looking into and thinking about this some more. It sounds like they can still talk to travel ball coaches. So this may not be that much of a change. Will have to see what the real rule says when it comes out on the 26th.

It's going to turn into communicating like elementary school crushes with the travel coaches as the go between. "So and so said they like you". "Oh yea, tell them I like them back". LOL.

He specified that there couldn't even be third party contact.  From the D1 article:

"Beginning April 26, and retroactive to even current commitments, a coach or player may not initiate contact with one another until August 1 before their junior academic semester. In the past, a player could reach out to a coach. Now, a coach can’t reach out to a player, parent or third-party member before that date, and the player, parent or high school/travel coach can’t reach out to a college coach on their behalf before that date."

This is just my observation.

There have been some situations where coaches have crossed lines. I believe that is what caused the Div 1 council to make some rule changes immediately.

Here is the full D1 article for the non subscribers.

https://d1baseball.com/recruit...as-everyone-buzzing/

New Baseball Recruiting Model Has Everyone Buzzing

Recruiting Kendall Rogers - April 14, 2023

The NCAA Division I Council earlier this week approved a new recruiting model for Division I Baseball, while also making some seismic changes to the way football recruiting operates. For our purposes, the changes regarding baseball are making huge waves for good reason. An updated recruiting model was passed to curtail the recruitment and committing of young recruits.

Before now, programs were not allowed to have initiated contact with a prospective student-athlete until September 1 of their junior years. However, the loophole in all of this is that a player, parent, or third-party representative could contact a coach on the players’ behalf, thus leading to scholarship offers, and many cases, a college commitment.

The new recruiting model is vastly different from that.

Beginning April 26, and retroactive to even current commitments, a coach or player may not initiate contact with one another until August 1 before their junior academic semester. In the past, a player could reach out to a coach. Now, a coach can’t reach out to a player, parent or third-party member before that date, and the player, parent or high school/travel coach can’t reach out to a college coach on their behalf before that date.

Once August 1 of a recruit’s junior fall semester arrives, the coach would then be able to send correspondence, private messages, and make/receive telephone calls. They also would then be able to officially extend scholarship offers.

The other important date to remember in the adoption of this legislation is that recruits will have a date of September 1 before their junior year to engage in unofficial visits, official visits and make off-campus contact. It’s worth noting that the Division I Council passed legislation this week that allows a prospect in any sport to take as many official visits as they’d like — the only caveat is that you can only take one official visit per institution.

Most of the Division I Baseball coaches support the rules surrounding the August 1 date. In a survey sent out to every coach last September by the ABCA, 59 percent of coaches supported the August 1 start date for recruiting versus a potential June 15 start date.

“There were several reasons that coaches supported August 1 as opposed to June 15 — namely the NCAA tournament will be over, the Transfer Portal window will have closed and the Major League Baseball draft will have passed. That just makes things a lot easier for a coach to digest things from a recruiting standpoint,” Craig Keilitz, the executive director of the ABCA said. “Our sport has unique challenges, but I really like this model adopted by the NCAA Division I Council. This is better for the game and our student athletes.”

It would be naive to think this eradicates the recruitment of players who are freshmen, and in some extreme cases, eighth graders. However, the new recruiting model is designed to make it abundantly clear who is skirting some of the rules. If a program isn’t allowed to offer a scholarship to a student-athlete until August 1 before their junior year, how could a player possibly commit to a program before that point?

There will certainly be situations involving legacy players and what not, but for the most part, there’s no longer any intrinsic value to committing before your junior year.

Most coaches I’ve spoken with in the last 24 hours love the new model.

“This is the best thing that has ever happened to me to be honest. I don’t have to talk to 14 year olds anymore,” one power conference recruiting coordinator said with a laugh. “Here’s the thing, kids can still come to camp, we can still get to know them on a personal level and we can watch them develop over the tenure of their high school careers.

“I think it’s a beautiful thing. I mean, I’m looking at my 2027 list right now and it’s just loaded with names. It’s silly,” he continued. “This will allow both programs and players make the most educated decisions possible about their futures as baseball players.”

The recruiting coordinator brought up an interesting point about camps. Attending campus on college campuses will become more important than ever. However, it’s worth noting for players and parents that even if you attend a college camp, the school can’t talk recruiting or offer you a scholarship before that August 1 date. Establishing a strong relationship with a coaching staff, however, is paramount to the recruiting process.

Not everyone is all-in on the new rules. Prep Baseball Report is a partner of ours, and PBR president Sean Duncan had this to say about the changes.

“I’ve been doing this nearly 20 years, and essentially this is what recruiting was like 10, 15 and 20 years ago when most players were committing the summer of their senior year, with many players committing late in August,” he said. “But anytime legislation is implemented to regulate competitive balance… well, usually there are negative side effects to that result.

“In my opinion, this will ultimately negatively impact high school players,” he added. “The legislation indirectly makes the transfer portal even more powerful and more relevant. Recruiters will spend more time mining the transfer portal, and junior colleges will continue to grow in talent depth because more and more players will be pushed to junior college.

“And I look at it like this, too: mid-majors will continue to become the junior college, so to speak, of some of the power conferences. Ultimately, I think it’s going to knock the entire recruiting ecosystem more off kilter than it already is. When you legislation free will and natural selection, it never ends up well.”

Time will tell how these changes affect the recruiting landscape in Division I Baseball.

One thing is for certain, and that’s that the recruitment and committing of 13 and 14 year old in some instances needed to stop. That’s the time of a players’ life where they should be having fun playing baseball and growing up, not deciding which scholarship offer is more lucrative and making wholesale future life decisions. Out of the Top 15 players in Perfect Game’s 2027 rankings (current eighth graders), five are already verbally committed — two to LSU, while others are committed to Florida State, Miami and Virginia Tech.

The days of those type of players committing is over outside of some extreme circumstances, but there’s an argument to be made that the NCAA could’ve gone with a middle ground on this issue.

As it stands, the NCAA Division I Council approved what most coaches wanted.

Now, we’ll see if it causes an expected seismic shift in the way college baseball recruiting operates.

Buckle up for the wild ride.

PG's college commitment page still shows players committed in the 2025, 2026 and 2027 classes, at the major programs.  Are these all going to vanish?

Heck, PG and PBR could be part of this by not even listing a commitment page until that class is legally able to commit in junior year.  In fact, if this rule is retroactive, I would think that the schools would want these commitment pages to vanish.

@anotherparent posted:

PG's college commitment page still shows players committed in the 2025, 2026 and 2027 classes, at the major programs.  Are these all going to vanish?

Heck, PG and PBR could be part of this by not even listing a commitment page until that class is legally able to commit in junior year.  In fact, if this rule is retroactive, I would think that the schools would want these commitment pages to vanish.

verbal commitments aren't a thing. They are a fugazi. NCAA doesn't recognize them and they aren't binding. So I can't see the existing ones changing.existing changing.

It will be funny when players/families "verbally commit" as 14yo's and post about it. Which essentially means you've never spoken to the coach and to quote the great Ruth Langmore "I don't know sh*t about f*ck"

Great, instead of the HC of the school telling the travel coach to have the kid call he will just tell them to come to their on campus camp where instead of making in offer he will say "I'm not allowed to offer but if I were I would offer 60%". The kid will say well I'm not allowed to commit but if you were to offer 60% I would definitely accept.

To quote the article - “Here’s the thing, kids can still come to camp, we can still get to know them on a personal level".

That roughly translates to - this doesn't change a thing

PBR President (whose whole business model revolves around recruiting) doesn't like it. I am shocked

But, legally, you cannot talk about offers or scholarships, or recruiting or anything along that line.  You guys think Portal was bad for HS guys.  This will make it worse.  It is funny that they take away the Volunteer Assistant and now they will generate more money because you will have to do campus camps rather than showcase events to be able to get to know the coaches.  I may have to change my whole philosophy of camps.  It will be a requirement now.  For the big time guys, they will have to go to a camp every weekend rather than play the circuit or teams like 14, 15, and 16 Canes will just set up a camp schedule and go as a group to a camp.  Quote me now.  Heard it here first.  Schools will start doing what has been happening in basketball already, team camps.  Bring your team and play 4 games this weekend on our campus.  they will have the elite teams set up a showcase camp schedule and will go play each other each weekend at team camps around the US or bounce from campus to campus and play at UT, Vandy, Arkansas, LSU one weekend.  The next weekend they will go to UGA, USC, and Clemson.  The next weekend they will go to Florida, FSU, and Miami or something similar.

I have posted this many times before.

When son was in HS, his team went to play on college campuses against other teams. Coaches could watch, talk to them about the program, teams got tours, it was great.

There was no charge.

TexballDad:

We did this in 1980" and I called the Series "Zip Code" games.

Our Chicago Cubs Scout Team {HS players] played the College players. Pro Scouts Selected the players  and they Coached.

Players from Northern California and Nevada.

Bob

@PitchingFan posted:

But, legally, you cannot talk about offers or scholarships, or recruiting or anything along that line.  You guys think Portal was bad for HS guys.  This will make it worse.  It is funny that they take away the Volunteer Assistant and now they will generate more money because you will have to do campus camps rather than showcase events to be able to get to know the coaches.  I may have to change my whole philosophy of camps.  It will be a requirement now.  For the big time guys, they will have to go to a camp every weekend rather than play the circuit or teams like 14, 15, and 16 Canes will just set up a camp schedule and go as a group to a camp.  Quote me now.  Heard it here first.  Schools will start doing what has been happening in basketball already, team camps.  Bring your team and play 4 games this weekend on our campus.  they will have the elite teams set up a showcase camp schedule and will go play each other each weekend at team camps around the US or bounce from campus to campus and play at UT, Vandy, Arkansas, LSU one weekend.  The next weekend they will go to UGA, USC, and Clemson.  The next weekend they will go to Florida, FSU, and Miami or something similar.

I guess the question is, what is the NCAA trying to do here?  If they are really trying to stop off-campus contact between coaches and individual players, then they could easily shut down such showcase tournament/camps.

If they recruit fewer HS players anyway, why would anyone bother with this?

If showcasing in front of coaches is more important than playing games, then I agree this deemphasizes travel teams.  So at that point, travel stops being "teams" and becomes "agents"?  Or isn't that banned too?

You can say what you like about verbal commitments, but obviously players will have to stop publicly committing before junior year, because how could you commit if no offer could be made?

Sounds like things are going to be very complicated for at least a few years.

I have heard that schools complained about the top teams getting the players so much younger than they are able to afford to do so it was a provision to offset the third paid assistant.  I will agree to some extent because you normally see the top schools getting the younger guys but that is not going to change.  The top teams will still get the top players because they can guarantee success, to some extent, or at least being seen by scouts.  There were over 70 scouts last week at Tennessee versus Georgia and over 125 at Tennessee versus LSU 2 weeks ago.

I can guarantee you that the top schools will find a way around the rules to still succeed in recruiting.  Whether that is more recruit camps or something but I know they will find a way around the new policies.  For you younger parents, it means you will have to do camps rather than showcases so that your son can be seen and talk to the coaches.  Relationships is what it is all about.

To say that we were a little disappointed with the rule changes, and their effective day is an understatement.  This was totally off of our radar, so the last 3/4 days we've made a barn storming tour of all the better programs within driving distance.  We got an opportunity to meet the head coaches and recruiting coordinators.  We toured campuses and met with academic advisors.  Most of the time we just listened, as we told Fields that this was his journey, and we did not want to sway his decision one way or the other, but if we wanted to get in and be recruit #1 for a specific university, we needed to act fast and get ahead of the others who I'm sure will be formulating their plans.  But he had trouble staying awake for an entire meeting and kept getting hungry or needing to go to the bathroom.

Needless to say Fields and I had a great trip.  Unfortunately he'll probably not remember much of it, and I'll have some explaining to his mom and dad about where we were while I was supposed to be baby sitting.  But as former D1 athletes, I think they'll understand.

Even though we beat the rule change by a couple of weeks we did not receive an offer.

Something about "not knowing if he's a PO or a position player, or if he'll be a righty or lefty".

I got some good swag at each bookstore for him and tasted a few beverages at the campus bars.

@adbono I'll need your advice in 17 years.

Fields Class of 2041.

Awwww!!! Congratulations (and looks like a switch hitter to me!!).

@russinfortworth

That was epic!  Congratulations!

@TxballDad posted:

Looking into and thinking about this some more. It sounds like they can still talk to travel ball coaches. So this may not be that much of a change. Will have to see what the real rule says when it comes out on the 26th.

Well, the new rule also states that a player can't be informed of an offer from a College program until Sept of the Jr. Year, so even if there is a third party mediator, there are some restrictions on what can be shared.   

I was told that the reason why this rule is being implemented is due to the fact that College baseball is growing.  That growth means that there is going to be more pressure on coaches to perform and show winning results.  Coaches don't have the priveledge of having dead weight on their roster anymore.   

Some of you will likely disagree with this, but in years past college baseball coaches believed that they had an obligation to a kid.  When you recruit a kid in the 9th grade, and they are committed to your power five program from the time they are 15 year olds, there has been a sense of obligation to that kid and his family.  By committing that kid as a 9th or 10th grader you have essentially prevented them from being recruited by other schools.  So, being a "good dude", you would sign the prospect, get them on your campus and give them an opportunity to develop.   

Well, college baseball has grown, and the pressure placed on power five coaches by AD's and fans have never been higher.   Lamonis at Mississippi State won a national championship two years ago.  Today, the majority of the MSU fanbase wants him replaced.   Because of the increased pressure, these coaches can't afford to be "good dudes" any longer.   If a kid that they committed in the 9th grade is not developing like they hoped, they can't afford to stay true to their word any longer.  They have to cut the dead weight and win today, not wait for tomorrow. 

You started seeing this last year when there were a few power five programs that dropped high school seniors who had been committed to their programs for four or five years.   It's a bad look, and even the NCAA realizes that they don't want recruiting carnage across the country.   

This rule change gives an opportunity for coaching staffs to be more certain about who they are committing, and it also allows recruits to be more educated about the schools they are picking. 

I don't think this actually changes anything. Let's say the NCAA decides they really want to put an end to early recruiting - how are they actually enforcing it?

I believe "dead weight" comes from too many rostered players and has less to do with early commitments. I also believe that if there are 40 on a roster - 38 are capable of contributing to that program in some capacity. I don't really subscribe to the idea that there is a ton of dead weight on rosters. Yeah there are probably one or two guys that are not doing their work, not eating right, slacking off, partying too much - and those guys sometimes can't be helped. But if 20+ percent of the roster needs to be cut each year - the coaches are the problem.

Lacrosse and Softball both adopted these rules a few years ago, so we don't really have to guess what the impact will be. Top talent will still be identified and evaluated early (grades 8-10), there just won't be recruiting contact with those kids. Recruiting coordinators will still get to know these kids through watching them play and by talking to their coaches.
But you won't have as many young kids stressing over deadlines for choosing a college. You won't have weekly check-in calls by 9th and 10th graders. You won't have U15 coaches arranging calls between players and coaches. And you won't have 9th grade commits getting cut lose 2 or 3 years later.
It's no panacea, but I think it's better than the current system.

That's interesting because I still see softball players commit early.  It has not stopped it.

I disagree on the stressing part.  Now you stretch out the stressing part for the top guys, top D1 and P5, and they have to continue to go to camps and spend lots of money rather than just relaxing and playing the game.  The parents will be stressed over if they will get an offer and from who.  And the stress will be greater for them.  It was good for my son to know that he had several P5 offers as a 9th grader and something to fall back on if he did not get the SEC offer he was wanting.  I know it was the case with his entire travel ball team.

Just know coaches will find a way around it but they will just tell the kid not to post until the day.

@PitchingFan posted:

That's interesting because I still see softball players commit early.  It has not stopped it.

I disagree on the stressing part.  Now you stretch out the stressing part for the top guys, top D1 and P5, and they have to continue to go to camps and spend lots of money rather than just relaxing and playing the game.  The parents will be stressed over if they will get an offer and from who.  And the stress will be greater for them.  It was good for my son to know that he had several P5 offers as a 9th grader and something to fall back on if he did not get the SEC offer he was wanting.  I know it was the case with his entire travel ball team.

Just know coaches will find a way around it but they will just tell the kid not to post until the day.

This this this I agree on the more stress. You are right. My son is a 2025 15 still late bloomer. LHP top 88 sit 85. I am so emotionally stressing and waiting till September is honestly stressful but scary.
we’re waiting on the SEC hoping to get something going.

NY;

Sept is only a month. Question; have you done your homework on the team, the players, the Coaches?

Have you watched a game, meet the parents of current players, studied the roster. Is your son prepared, academically and mentally? Use the % table.

Is his Summer team competitive? What are his 3 areas for improvement, not including MPH.

Bob

@PitchingFan posted:

That's interesting because I still see softball players commit early.  It has not stopped it.

I disagree on the stressing part.  Now you stretch out the stressing part for the top guys, top D1 and P5, and they have to continue to go to camps and spend lots of money rather than just relaxing and playing the game.  The parents will be stressed over if they will get an offer and from who.  And the stress will be greater for them.  It was good for my son to know that he had several P5 offers as a 9th grader and something to fall back on if he did not get the SEC offer he was wanting.  I know it was the case with his entire travel ball team.

Just know coaches will find a way around it but they will just tell the kid not to post until the day.

Are you seeing public commits of 9th and 10th grade softball players? I have not seen that, and I don't think colleges want that attention. None listed on the 2 softball sites that I looked at. I don't doubt that it happens, but would you agree that it's a fraction of what it used to be?

I will defer to your firsthand knowledge on the stress factors. It might be different with girls who are getting pressure to make a decision on college, and feel rushed at 13 or 14 years old. The draft may also play a part, since softball and lacrosse don't have an equivalent. I would image that most baseball players who commit as freshmen have in the back of their minds that they may not even go to college or will only be there 3 years.

I'm not naive, I'm sure college coaches will figure out a way to tell the club coach... "we'll be calling Kirby with a strong offer on 8/1", without breaking the rules. But, I still think this is an improvement. Now more than ever, with verbal commitments being broken more times than not, it makes sense to do something.

Of course, I could fix this problem with one rule change. Allow NLI at any age, but that scholarship offer counts against your 11.7 even if the kid doesn't make it to campus (with a few exceptions like the draft).

Correct they are not posting what baseball does but it is still happening with the top players on a high-level. I’m not completely sure how it happens but it is amazing how many coaches know that high level players have already decided they are going to such and such school.   They may not have officially committed, but they are committed. I truly believe this is seen as an equalizer for the third assistant coach. The smaller to mid-level schools complained they could not afford a third assistant, so this is the way to somewhat equalize it out so that the big schools can’t commit every player really young.   I really am not opposed to it, and it would not have affected my son because he did not commit until August going into his junior year.   But he did have multiple high D1 and power five offers on the table early so that took a lot of stress off.  

@NY posted:

This this this I agree on the more stress. You are right. My son is a 2025 15 still late bloomer. LHP top 88 sit 85. I am so emotionally stressing and waiting till September is honestly stressful but scary.
we’re waiting on the SEC hoping to get something going.

The new date is August 1 if that helps a little.

I'm a little impatient with this idea about stress.  P5-type players are not snowflakes!  Players who don't commit early (i.e. non-P5 players, which is the vast majority) have the same issue about not knowing, but no-one frets about their stress at not being committed.  The only reason that top players experience "stress" is that they are looking at each other.  If no-one is officially committing, why would they know what others are doing?

I likewise don't buy the argument that it's necessary for coaches develop relationships with all their young commits.  Again, it doesn't happen at lower levels, and baseball still gets played when they get to college.  Maybe if coaches aren't so busy communicating with young recruits, they'll have more time to do things with their actual players.

I've had both the P5 kid and the non-P5 kid and the second did not stress as much because he was not being sought after but doing the searching.  He was the one who did not see baseball as his future so there was less pressure because he just saw baseball as something to do or help pay for college.  The other one saw it as his future so he was looking.  The other issue is that the other one had plenty of time and maybe that will be the result, though I don't think so, as the P5 kid knew his window was earlier so he had to get after it.

I would disagree on the relationship thing.  That is what recruiting is all about.  If you have the relationship it is easier to recruit.  My middle son spends hours cultivating these relationships because when it comes down to it, it makes it harder for them to tell him no.  I have always said recruiting is like dating.  Dating is all about relationships.

An agent told me once that a lot of coaches push kids into committing early so that the competition doesn't get them first.  I agree with that 100%. A parent who used to post here told me that a coach actually told his son  that. Once a player commits the recruiting clock is supposed to stop. But it doesnt.  Coaches still call. You work hard as a coach to get the right players for your program and then they tell you they are decommiting because Coach X has been calling them.

I do believe that sticking to the rules with a more mature committ will solve some issues.

Players and their folks stress out. You read it here all of the time. Their player is going into his junior year and has no offer because everyone committed 2 years ago!

Coaches should absolutely develop relationships with players. Son committed senior fall. The RC and HC called regularly his junior year. He was comfortable with developing a relationship before he got to school. If attending camps will help develop that relationship, go for it.

I am pretty sure that the new rules are a result of issues that have occurred.

JMO

I actually have a bit of a different take. I don't think early commitments are a huge issue, I think over recruiting is a much much bigger issue. The kids who commit early are typically studs and typically stay studs. Do I think it's foolish to commit as a 14 year old? Yes. Do I think it's a crisis? No.

As of right now there are 274 2026s (9th graders) committed to schools. My guess is that over half of those are not real. Kids just going on their PG accounts and messing around. There is one committed to our program who I can assure you will not be coming here. Look at Vanderbilt's 2026 class. Safe bet says neither kid is actually recruited to go there, especially the 3'2 400lb kid.

If the NCAA wants to fix the biggest issue in recruitment - they would cap the number of players each school could take per year. 12 kids max between the portal, juco, and HS. Can't pull from portal until JC/HS guys have signed their NLIs.

Father of a Highschool 2025 here,

We are thinking of him going JUCO first, then ,hopefully, working his way up to a good D1 program.  Does this new rule affect JUCO programs also? If so , does anyone have any advice on what we should do this summer? I've foind that many JUCO programs don't seem to want to look at 2025, yet.  We are already committed to a travel team ,but not sure how competitive it will be.  His high school team does not have a stellar record either.

Thanks in advance.