Son's friend and teammate committed to a pretty good D1 about 4/5 months ago. Offer included money. Got a call Sunday from coach, "Sorry, no NLI coming your way. Out of cash/spots. Spent it on some recent JUCO's guys we got. Really excited, strong players. Good luck!".
Will baseball become like football/basketball recruiting? You betcha.
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So how does a committed player defend against this? Should he continue to go to showcases and team camps just in case?
Crushing....
Why would it be improper to name the D1 who did this???
Steve A. posted:Why would it be improper to name the D1 who did this???
It gives up the anonymity of the kid and family. That is for them to decide, not me. They still have skin in the game.
K9 posted:So how does a committed player defend against this? Should he continue to go to showcases and team camps just in case?
This is very much hearsay and directed to K9's comment, not the OP. I heard of a kid committed to Big State U that continued to go to camps at other schools and Big State U is not happy with him. He must not be committed to Big State U family. Big State U is considering removing their offer.
K9 posted:So how does a committed player defend against this? Should he continue to go to showcases and team camps just in case?
But showcases, big tournaments yes, if money allows.
Man oh man, oh man. I hate to hear that this is happening. The process needs to change!
Go44dad posted:Steve A. posted:Why would it be improper to name the D1 who did this???
It gives up the anonymity of the kid and family. That is for them to decide, not me. They still have skin in the game.
Why does he have to be named? If the program has a habit of doing this, maybe it should be known - though arguably word of mouth is better than the internet.
OTOH, when this kind of story circulates, it's good to keep in mind that in many cases the school may be cold blooded, but they're right. For example, a kid we know from our area had committed to a P5 in Soph year. By Jr. HS season there were whispers about his FB not having the same pop it used to have. Fall of Sr. year the P5 declined to sign him, similar to the OP. The family sucked it up and found a good program in a good conference. However, the FB was still not what people thought it should be. Next thing you know, kid has TJ surgery. Hopefully he'll be ready to pitch for the new program this year.
That just amazes me - I hope the affected PSA calls them out on it. There may be more to it I suppose -- but sounds like utter BS.
Qhead posted:That just amazes me - I hope the affected PSA calls them out on it. There may be more to it I suppose -- but sounds like utter BS.
Very true on could be more to it. I say that with an open mind. Also, (in a different graduating class) this school had a decommit of a kid who "thought he could do better", SEC etc. So it goes both ways with verbal commitments.
As long as NLI's can't be signed until Junior year, this will continue.
Qhead posted:That just amazes me - I hope the affected PSA calls them out on it. There may be more to it I suppose -- but sounds like utter BS.
Also, kind of the reason I posted this. I talked to my son early on about things not always working out the way you plan. You gotta keep working and moving forward (both baseball recruiting and life). Some things are out of your control.
JCG posted:Go44dad posted:Steve A. posted:Why would it be improper to name the D1 who did this???
It gives up the anonymity of the kid and family. That is for them to decide, not me. They still have skin in the game.
Why does he have to be named? If the program has a habit of doing this, maybe it should be known - though arguably word of mouth is better than the internet.
OTOH, when this kind of story circulates, it's good to keep in mind that in many cases the school may be cold blooded, but they're right. For example, a kid we know from our area had committed to a P5 in Soph year. By Jr. HS season there were whispers about his FB not having the same pop it used to have. Fall of Sr. year the P5 declined to sign him, similar to the OP. The family sucked it up and found a good program in a good conference. However, the FB was still not what people thought it should be. Next thing you know, kid has TJ surgery. Hopefully he'll be ready to pitch for the new program this year.
There's no need to name anyone here, but I hope that kid makes it clear what was said. This is so wrong, and from the description of the call it sounds like the coach had experience in doing this. There's a big difference between a sophomore commit who doesn't pan out vs a kid who commits in July of his senior year and then gets screwed a few days before NLI signing day. Why protect a person like this?
Go44dad posted:
As long as NLI's can't be signed until Junior year, this will continue.
Call me a pessimist, but I don't think that would make any difference. The phone call would change to... "You can show up if you want, and we'll honor the scholarship, but you'll never play here." At which point >99% of the kids will go somewhere else.
With the facts initially provided, the D1 is clearly painted as being way out of line in the way this was handled. ( We found better players suddenly, therefore, have a nice life Mr. Sr.) Unless you really wanted to dig at it, the identity of the player would likely remain confidential but the identity of a Program that does not stand by their promise would be revealed & others who are approached by this Program would have a better feel for who they are dealing with. Otherwise, we are left with (don't trust anyone, ever, on a verbal offer because Mystery D1 screwed Player X) This is false & misleading because the vast majority of Programs do not operate this way.
Were they late commits to the program? That is scary. I have seen a lot of programs committing a bunch of juco kids and I wondered how that effects the recruiting classes. I see no excuse for waiting until the week of signing to let this kid know. Terrible.
It's a dog eat dog world out there folks.
Name and shame.
I really think NLI should be signed when a kid commits, whenever that is. It would make programs and kids think long and hard but at least you would know its real on both sides.
baseballhs posted:I really think NLI should be signed when a kid commits, whenever that is. It would make programs and kids think long and hard but at least you would know its real on both sides.
Absolutely.
Their call, not ours - but this would be a healthier 'industry' if naming and shaming was part of the deal. I'd love to be able to cross this school off a list, and I'm sure other parents/students would as well.
