Committing - What's the proper protocol

After committing to the school he plans to attend, contacting the other programs within 24 or 48 hours max should be fine. I wouldn't let them find out through the grapevine, as you never know if you might cross paths in the future. I say that because when I decided to transfer, a handful of my first contacts were other schools that recruited me in high school and many still had interest. A phone call would be very appropriate for coaches that he has built a strong relationship with throughout the process, but an e-mail would do the trick as well. I liked having the ability to get out everything I wanted to say in an e-mail over calling coaches, as I preferred being in control of what was said in that situation. So whatever way he is most comfortable and can relay his thoughts and feelings about his decision to those other coaches is up to him. Best of luck to him in his collegiate career and congratulations to your family!

My son contacted all the colleges that really diligently recruited him. Most were contacted personally by phone.  He did the 2nd, 3rd, etc choices first which made it easier on him contacting the rest of the colleges. With the exception of two prominent universities, they were very understanding and polite to him. Recruiting was a stressful but good experience for him. Some coaches who were mainly contacting him by email/text, he chose to tell them the same way but most were done over the phone.

My son's experience was very similar to RFF. Son called every school that had offered him or had a visit scheduled with. Most were understanding. Two stood out. One seemed very short and the other one would not pick up the phone. Oh well, guess we are glad now he didn't play for those programs. I would certainly try to reach out by phone. Maybe I'm old school, but that just seems more personable to me. 

Ditto: There were 5-7 schools that recruited him hard (and the right way), built a good relationship and either offered or were going to offer.  My son called each of those schools (HC or RC, depending upon the situation...where his relationship was) within 24 hours and a couple before it even hit social media that he had committed.  One RC even texted him (after getting the news from the HC) on Christmas Day (no lie...he committed on 12/23) to say congratulations on his decision and how much he appreciated their school getting a call, wishing him luck and what a sound decision he made, etc.  Every single one of them deserved a call and appreciated it as well.  There were about 5-10 others that probably would have like to have gotten a call but did not.

Guys,

Thanks so much.  What you are all detailing is exactly how I think it should be handled and was planning for my son, I just wanted a sanity check to see if what I saw as a common sense answer wasn't so common.  Glad to hear that it is. I've made it clear to my son that he should take extra attention to ensure that he doesn't burn any bridges in some unintentional manner.  Today's "I have no interest in that school" may be the head coach at tomorrow's dream school.  Thanks again!

My son isn't at this point yet so I'm in learning mode here, and I'm a bit confused by some of the responses. Would you call a coach that hadn't even offered yet, or just those that had offers on the table and upcoming visits?

Depends on the dialogue and relationship, but absolutely.  My son had several schools that had not offered yet but either:

1. ...he had regularly dialogue (phone calls and texts) with them for months; they had shown significant and real interest but said they wanted to see him throw this spring one more time before making an offer (a fair and reasonable position, especially for those who had only seen him throw once or twice)...they had invested a lot of time in him and deserved a call; or

2. ..were waiting for his SAT score and mid year transcript before offering (he was focused on high academic schools where this was "real" and not a stall tactic on their part).

Just because a school has not offered, if a strong relationship was building and they have invested real time and energy, my son wanted to call them.  NOW, there were a few schools that (in our view) were "stringing him along" and really just not going about things the right way.  They did not get a call; however, one could argue that he clearly wasn't high on their priority list anyway and didn't mind either way.  I think the best thing to do is ask your son whom he thinks he should call.  I bet no one knows better than he does.

My daughter contacted every school that had pursued her for any length of time.  Most contacts were through emails but a couple were by phone.  She asked me what should she say?  I told her don't compare school,  Don't engage in too much small talk.  Thank the coach and wish them well.  Only one coach that she called really wanted to talk much.  Most were on to their next recruit.  One did want to know why she didn't pick them.  She teared up on that one.  Keep in mind that while your son is a recruit and views the coaching staff/school in the best light, the coaches are participating in what amounts to a business and so, they are used to this. 

1) After accepting the offer, don't tell anyone...ANYONE.

2) Shut off Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. Don't touch it.

3) Immediately contact the POC at every school and be sure to stress the positives while declining the offer. Can't get a hold of them? Keep calling, texting, emailing, smoke signals, whatever, but don't decline via digital means. Do it over the phone. Remember: it's a small world out there, so the operative words are "polite" and "respectful." Keep the bridges intact: you just never know!!!

4) All POCs contacted? Now son can go ahead and tweet, post, whatever, and you can have more than a few adult beverages.

Speaking of this, what is the common method of getting the word out that you've committed? Not talking about to the schools here, but generally.

Twitter (and other social media) seems the most common.

When I committed to the Knights who say Ni, we did not have Twitter, actually we did not have the Internet. I used flint and tinder and was noticed, unfortunately I did not have control and set too many shrubberies on fire and was not offered a scholarship my second year.

Any way back to my story, I was fortune enough to be seen by PG (Perfect Gnight) who referred me to the Knights who say Ni. At the time Jerry Ford was not too good of a speller however he knows a good thing when he has it and kept the name - which has turned out pretty well for him! (don’t tell anyone as most people don’t know this, but the real brains behind the operation is Betty, but I am digressing)

Deeply angered and saddened by what happened, I went to live in the mountains as a hermit, where I sat all the time being ominous and blowing things up for no reason. After getting my control back I attended another PG event (Top Jousters of the Welsh) where King Arthur saw me. Betty, being the clever person she is, invited him since she knew he was going to be playing the Saxon Invaders the following week and needed a couple of flame throwers.

As most of you now know, King Arthur’s team blew them away, but what is not known (until now of course with me telling the story) that PG was responsible for King Arthur’s success, actually it was Betty, but don’t tell anyone.