Questions about signing

quote:

Originally posted by Infield08:
The son of a friend of mine is currently being recruited by schools of various levels and I want to clarify some rules before I counsel her.

1. I've been told that if you sign with a JUCO, a D1's offer later in the game can supercede the JUCO deal. Is this true?
NLI is for member NCAA programs and JUCO's are not part of it.
2. Can a D2 offer also supercede a signed JUCO deal? You can commit to both but schools obviously don't like it but can't do anything about it. Just don't want to burn too many bridges.
3. Can a D1 offer supercede a signed D2 deal? They use the same NLI so you can't commit to both.
4. Can one sign with a D2 and later go with a JUCO instead? Yes, see above
5. Is there an early signing period for D2's or does that apply only to D1's? They play relatively the same time frame but most D2's would push latter than D1 for obvious reasons but there are early commitments to D2.

Also, a friend of my son who pitches for a D3 JUCO is contemplating transferring to a D1 in the fall of 2009 and trying to walk on. Assuming he makes the team and assuming he has been D1 qualified by the NCAA Clearinghouse, would it be possible to transfer from a JUCO to a D1 after freshman year and not have to sit out? Since he would be a NCAA qualifier, he can transfer without having to get his AA and does not have to sit out a year.

Thanks in advance for your help!

The NLI dates for D2 and D1 are the same. The early signing period this year is November 12-Nov 19. The regular signing period is April 8, 2009 to August 1, 2009.

Basically the NLI is a contract between player and school. I suppose that a separate agreement exists between all schools who are part of the NLI program in which they agree to apply the penalities for a student who doesn't fufill the agreement. So that means that a JUCO or D3 or a MLB club, who aren't part of the NLI program, have no need or contractual obligation to enforce the provisions of the NLI. But as Homerun04 points out, it's better to avoid burning bridges.

NLI site

Son was a late commit to D1 and had a lot of interest from JUCO, NAIA, and lower academic D1's and D2's. His intent all along was to try and go high academic D1, but since he was a late bloomer, we weren't sure that opportunity was going to be available and wanted to keep all options open.

He did this by being upfront with the schools on his intentions. With the lower academic NCAA and NAIA schools, he would tell them that he appreciated their interest, but was looking forward to going to a high academic institution, but wouldn't rule them out should it not work out. Most stopped recruiting him at that point other than to make occasional phone calls regarding a status update. With the JUCO's, he told them up front that they were his backup plan. Since JUCO's recruit in a later timeframe, they stayed hot on the trail and their interest never waned until he committed D1.

My advice is to be upfront with everyone. You don't need to tell them everything, but if they get the impression you aren't forthcoming and possibly stringing them along, it could harm a future relationship. JMHO

Thanks to all for your information and advice. This player has an interested D2 that is pressing for an early signing, but he will be attending a mid-major D1 camp in December and is hoping that he will get an offer from them. Meanwhile, a JUCO is showing interest too (but I don't think they are pressing). The family would really like to put off the D2 so they can evaluate their options. It definitely is a balancing act!