Request to come to campus

It used to be unusual for offers to be made before the summer prior to a player's senior year; but, in the last 5-10 years it's become more common...especially among the top programs.

What's it worth? It's worth a commitment from the coaching staff that they'll provide whatever level of athletic assistance they say they'll provide when your son arrives. It's extremely unusual for baseball staffs to go back on their offers; so, your son should feel fortunate that they're willing to reserve the spot and related funds for him.

I happen to think it makes sense for the player who's always known that he wanted to attend and play for the school that extends the early offer; but, it's hard for me to imagine a player accepting an early offer when he's not falling all over himself with desire to accept it.

If the DI program likes him well enough to extend an early offer, chances are that they'll still be hanging around later after your son's had a fuller opportunity to explore his alternatives and put some effort into determining which schools/programs make the most sense for him,

In any case, it's an exceedingly good problem to have. Congratulations and best wishes to your son!

Prepster offers great perspective. I like early offers, even though in certain cases things have changed. Most times, it seems to work out. For my sons, certain schools would have meant an affirmative answer right away. Other schools would simply have established a floor. It is a very personal choice, indeed, and congratulations and best of luck.

Congratulations Jmoff/Cmoff..Go where his heart & mind belongs. Great advise from Prepster and Jemaz.
I think the question is how do you tell the coaches without rubbing them the wrong way to give you time to think about it especially if undecided.
I know there will be more opportunities...

Best,
RR23

Thanks for your thoughts. We'll just see what they say and go from there.

It seems like the intensity of contact increased right after the NLI signings of the 2011's. The last few days have been very interesting...

Given your situation, with a number of schools expressing interest, you may want to take your time and investigate each opportunity fully. Once you've gained enough insights into where he may want to go and why, then he can make a fully informed decision.

Too often, I see young men commit real early, who would have had additional opportunities of which some may have been better, but they jumped at the first school who showed them some love and end up leaving other good options unconsidered.

There is nothing wrong with saying 'Thank you for your interest. I'm gratified that you think I can contribute to your program, but this is so early for me that I feel I need to figure out where the best fit is, and then make my decision'. As long as your son is diplomatic in how he explains himself, nearly all schools are understanding. If they love him today, chances are they still will tomorrow. One of the 2012 players in my summer program is going through this right now, and is handling it very well. He's simply telling the coaches that he didn't expect interest this early, since he hasn't even played his junior year of high school ball, and that it has caught him a little unprepared and that he feels he needs to visit the campuses he's interested in to figure out where he fits best and then will be able to give them an answer. Most everyone he's explained that to has been understanding and accepting of that explanation. He and his parents are visiting campuses regularly now and hope to make a decision right after the end of his junior year of high school.

This is exactly our plan for Saturday. "Thanks, we're flattered, but he's not even going to college for two more years and we want to make sure when we make the commitment, it's the right commitment for both of us. Right now, we're just not prepared for that. You're still number one and we want to actively engage in learning more about the academic opportunities as well as the athletic program"