More early commitments than usual?

just

I think you know how I feel about "early committments" especially this early---if this is the trend then I think we will see another trend--an increase in transfers after the first year of college

I advise our kids not to make a hasty committment especially in July or August--- there is plenty more fall ball exposure and better things can come along

I think too many kids commit early because they are afraid another situation may not happen for them.

If a player is good enough to get a school to want him to commit early then there will be others out there

Just my thoughts

JBB,
I agree with what you are saying. Not only are their very early commitments, but ones even before official recruiting began.

TR, you very well might be right.

But the trend is undeniable: Kids are committing earlier. And more importantly, kids seem to be signing earlier every year. It also seems, though, that many kids who sign early are the no-brainer picks, top pitchers or whatnot, and often are no issue when it comes to getting them into that college.

One danger parents should be aware of, though, is another trend, though not necessarily the base in baseball:

Schools are pushing kids to commit verbally very early, the idea being that many recruiters won't continue to pursue a kid who has already committed. Then, when it comes to signing (when it counts), they don't have as much money to offer or they are looking to grayshirt some.

I'm reading of hockey players committing up to two years ahead of when they plan to enter college (they're high school juniors, but will play junior hockey for a year or two), and the concept of grayshirting is a growing trend in football and some other sports.

It only figures to eventually hit baseball, where the scholarship totals are tight and the competition for those monies is, shall we say, plentiful.

I am please to announce that my son has verbally committed to returning to New Berlin West High School for one more year.


He had offers to go elsewhere but NBW matched them and guaranteed him that he would graduate on time, something the other schools would not put in writing.


It's official, he will be a Viking for one more year.

Grayshirt

Now that is a real committment !!!


See you next week

BigWI:

Yes, it's called grayshirting and it's a new thing, something I'd not even heard of until about six months ago.

It is most associated with football. What happens is the player defers entry to college for a half a year, then enrolls for the second semester on scholarship.

The upside for the school and player is that scholarship counts against the following year's total and the player gets the benefit of an extra spring practice without losing any eligibility. Sometimes, the player goes to a JUCO as a part-time student, furthering his maturity in the classroom. You would still have the ability to redshirt, which means you'd essentially have six years to complete college.

The downside is that the player has little of no contact with the program during his wait, and he has to foot any and all expenses during that time. And, perhaps most importantly, he has nothing in writing, according to much of what I've read. So the potential for disaster is there.

I don't think it could be done with baseball for numerous reasons, mostly because baseball season is in the spring. It might even become moot if the so-called five-year scholarship proposals are extended to baseball. But the world is competitive and if somebody figures out a way to make it work in baseball, they'll no doubt try it. So it's just something to know about.

In answer to justbaseball's original post, from our VERY limited experience, certainly seems that there are more early commitments and more pressure to commit early at major programs, certainly more than I would have expected reading this board. At least here in North Carolina, and I suspect everywhere else, too, more players have committed in July than I can ever remember. I know from talking to several of them that they were given "take-it-or-leave-it," "good for 48-hours" offers, and one was told just last week that "if you want to play ACC baseball you better take this offer, because in a few weeks there won't be any spots left for the 05 class anywhere in the conference."

I suspect for the top 50 or so players in the country the pressure won't work, because certainly the schools will wait as long as they have to for those guys. But for the next 200 or so, this appears to be the "new" norm. Let's put it this way -- ALL the players we know that have been given this type offer this summer here (an admittedly small group of seven or eight) have accepted and committed to the school (or one of the schools) presenting such an offer. Try telling a 17 year old that he should turn one of them down and wait to see what else is going to come along.

Another new trend that seems to be emerging thanks to the new recruiting windows is the fall on-campus camp, and the new line to border-line recruits, "if you want to be considered for a spot here you need to come to our fall camp."

Please post and let us know if others are seeing the same trends. Maybe (I hope so)) these are isolated incidents and I don't know what I'm talking about.

Trends are there, camp and early commitments. If you want my opinion (for whatever it is worth), traveling is expensive and time consuming, and most are wanting to wrap it up by late summer and be done with it, so they can spend more time with their team. I think that there is a trend also for bigger schools to pull players from smaller college programs. I think that recruiting and signing players that will be drafted, then scrambling to fill the spots early or late summer has become another issue to them as well.
I was really amazed that I saw fewer coaches and scouts at tournaments this year than last year.

quote:

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Yes, it's called grayshirting and it's a new thing, something I'd not even heard of until about six months ago.

It is most associated with football. What happens is the player defers entry to college for a half a year, then enrolls for the second semester on scholarship

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You're right that Grayshirting is usually associated with football, because D1A football is a head count sport. Often a player is grayshirted because the program is up against it's annual scholy limit and the player doesn't fit the short term plans.
Since D1 hockey is also a head count sport it is becoming prevalent there as well.
Baseball and other "equivalency" sports probably won't see the grayshirt become a big deal.

quote:

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Originally posted by TRhit:

See you next week

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My son and I are looking forward to it.


OldVaman,

Thanks, I never heard of it before.

rbinaz - good point about equivlency and greyshirt trends. I know that greyshirting can turn into babysitting more than college football coaches would like and those kids are free to go elsewhere..it is not lock...kinda risky.

In hockey kids are just going to PG or Jr Hockey before enrolling.

I suppose I opened a can of worms with the notion of grayshirting. But since it's out there:

I really think it's only a matter of time before someone figures out how to do it in the sports that don't count heads. The competition for the scholarship dollar isn't exactly decreasing. Players and parents are looking for a way, any way, to make it happen. So ...

That said, if the last three years has taught me (a parent) anything, it is to get as educated on this stuff as I can reasonably get, then sit back and let my child work things out (Hopefully, he'll ask you when he needs to know something). It can drive you crazy, but for me that was a short ride anyway.

I for one am glad to see these trends. In my sons case (a 2005 guy) he committed (7/03) to the school of his dreams! If a parent and player agree 100% with a commitment I believe a LOI should be available at the time of the commitment. I know he is an unusual case but any top player that knows what he wants would be hard pressed to turn down a solid early offer from an ACC/SEC or similar program.....The fall camp trend is ideal for kids on the cusp that can show their skills at schools they are interested in. I know several players in this position. Bottom line is the top programs are getting creative in thier recruiting and the sooner a decision is made the more prepared the incoming student athlete will be!

soxnole - In your son's case, I would agree that its a good thing.

But in the majority of kids...they have a dream school or two or three. Those schools aren't seriously in the picture early, but another lesser school is and they realize if they don't sew this kid up soon, he will bolt for one of those dream schools...so they put pressure on. "Son, we have this scholarship for you, but if you don't take it this week, we've got a dozen other guys who will."

So the boy commits to a school that was not his dream or didn't have the major he wanted but at least its something. The real dream dies.

Not the worst thing in the world, but choosing a college, baseball player or not, is a life-changing decision and one that shouldn't be done under such pressure in an ideal world.

I hope the trend is not towards pressuring young men into a regrettable decision.

I've became perplexed over the recruiting process.... I've ran into a new phenomenon for me....

I'm finding that some schools are making offers, knowing good and well the PLAYER will never attend a day of class. (They will go pro or will not be academically qualified) Yet they are trying to get a "NAME" to tell others so and so is committed to our school.

Is this a normal process.....?

So, is it time for a kid to get concerned if he hasn't gotten a firm offer yet? At what point do you push the 'panic button' and jump on the first good offer? Just wondering. Also, I'm sure this has been addressed at some point on this board, but is it completely unrealistic to expect SOME guidance on the topic from a High School coach?

JonnieM

You never press the panic button especially this early in the year

The only players getting "firm" offers are the "studs". Are they all committing--NO !!!!!

Jump at the first good offer---WHY??? if you got one you may have more to come.

Not all players get offers this early--especially with more tournaments and showcases to come.

Soxnole,
Will your son be in the ACC/SEC, best of luck.
SDBB,
You are correct, looks great for their program, I know of one case in particular where the student would not have qualified but signed anyway.
JonnieM,
It is still very early for most to sign. TR is correct, the studs get the offers and most get what they want, they can sit on an offer and thus it affects everyone else.

I think it is crummy that they put pressure on the other recruits. I suggest a good thing to do is plan ahead, know what the school costs are before the offer comes, it won't put you into shock and you will be better prepared. You might even have to eliminate that choice even before an offer or a visit comes. I was talking to a parent the other day, position player got a decent offer, but they couldn't understand why there was no 50% offer. The school was expensive, they are in sticker shock.For the parents going through the process, ask what % they usually give beforehand. The more you know in advance, the less pressure you will feel to have your son sign early. You know the saying, knowledge is power!

If a player has a very high GPA and SAT scores, how does one find out if there will be merit money as well as athletic money from a school? Are these usually offered together? Does a coach work with the school finance/scholarship office and then present a complete package? Or is it up to the student to apply for the merit scholarships seperately?

arizonared - Many coaches will look into both need-based aid as well as merit-based aid for a student athlete in order to avoid using up some of their allotted athletic money.

Good points, justbaseball. Some programs will offset merit money with athletic money - in other words, if a student is offered $5000 in merit money, that may be used to reduce what would have been an athletic award. To find out what merit money is available, just contact the admissions office. Many private schools have the information posted. If your son just receives merit money, then there is no National Letter of Intent that needs to be signed. The best scenario is a combination of both merit money and athletic money.

In fact, many if not most coaches will insist that a recruit apply for financial aid.

What we were told at the school where my son signed was that school's financial aid office works up the package independently (mostly) of any athletic money he might get. They work strictly off the results of the FAFSA. Combined with the baseball money, we're very happy with the result.

Tiger Paw Mom, Thank You . He'll play for the Florida State Seminoles.

Thanks for the information. I'm sure that the "best scenario" would depend on how much the coach wanted the player to attend his school. Hoping though that very high GPA's will count for something. Thanks again.

Gail.......can I call you that?

Most coaches do work with the financial aid offices throughout the school year, especially regarding the student-athletes who are very good students.....some schools have their own "Scholarship Applications' which list specific scholarships unique to the school and the requirements for those scholarships.

Parents should all know that they should feel free to contact not only the coaches, but also the Admissions representatives AND the Financial Aid offices. Those three offices often communicate, but each school and coach works uniquely......and often the Admissions people just try to get the students to be admitted and 'commit' regardless of whether or not the Financial Aid 'package' is completed.

Yes, Gail is fine! Thanks for the additional information. I'm jumping ahead a little...we have not heard from anyone....but.... we are being positive, and pro-active. Sounds as if you might have to be a little pro-active when it comes to merit awards also....

quote:

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Originally posted by SDBB:
I've became perplexed over the recruiting process.... I've ran into a new phenomenon for me....

I'm finding that some schools are making offers, knowing good and well the PLAYER will never attend a day of class. (They will go pro or will not be academically qualified) Yet they are trying to get a "NAME" to tell others so and so is committed to our school.

Is this a normal process.....?

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In our town, just look at SDSU did last year. Yes, I think it is normal.

Soxnole,
I kind of figured with that name!

Bull

You have a PM

On the merit aid / athletic aid issue -
An RC at a Div 1 school told me that at his school, any athletic aid counts dollar for dollar against the fin. aid offices calculated Family Need (as buddybaseball implied) but to give an example for more claification...

Say the colleges says you should get 10,000 in aid...and the baseball program offers you $3,000...at this school the baseball team would actually have to give you $13,000 to give you a $3,000 baseball scholly...odds are that will not happen...aka - your value to the program increases by 10K --they would rather take their chances on you coming as an invited walk-on with the 10k from the school...just an example...and it will vary from school to school

But it brings me to this point...if you are a good enough student to get significant merit aid at school...you might be recruited hard, but not offered money - the sell will be you can get a lot of money without baseball...

To top it off!? I was told by the coach "This stuff gets so confusing...I am not sure I even get it all the time."

Here's another issue to watch for...some schools will offset merit and or athletic money with outside scholarships. I know a player that received a $10,000 award from Citibank - it was an annual scholarship award to be used at the college of his choice. The school he attended had also offered him a $7500 annual merit award and he received $5000 for baseball. (Tuition at the institution was $25,000, so without the Citibank award he was receiving approximately 50% off his tuition). Because the NCAA requires that all players report any other outside awards the school was informed of the Citibank award. The $12,500 he received was dropped to $2500 in merit money and he was then "permitted" to use the Citibank award. So, he went from an invested recruit to a prferred walk-on just because he earned an outside award. This does not happen all the time, but it is something to be cognizant of. BTW, he decided not to attend the institution (his parents were very upset, naturally) and he attended a JUCO for one year transferring to a state D1 in his second year. He is now using the Citibank scholarship along with a small athletic award for about 80% tuition and room and board.