As nice as it is to sign early, it can also be much more expensive to do so than waiting. Just look at the extra cost of unofficial visits these players incur if they commit early.
Not to start a “who is forcing the issue” debate again(coaches or players/families), however the fact is early signing is happening and the extra cost to visit a school before doing a verbal commitment is being picked up by the player, not the school. In my son’s signing class, 100% of the players had verbally committed prior to the time they could make official visits. I would also bet that each of them had paid their own way for an unofficial visit prior to making their commitment.
If the NCAA is going to allow early signing to happen maybe they should also allow the official visit schedule to be moved earlier in the process (start Junior year through Senior year). If this could be done the player wouldn't have to burden the cost of unofficial visits that has become part of the recruiting process. Think of the money the colleges are saving by not having to use their full allotment of paid official visit moneys. I’ll go out on limb to say the college program can probably afford the cost much more than the players families can.
It’s a nice problem to have however most of the time it does come with an additional cost.(especially if you are from out of state)
