Scholarship Offer Pulled After Injury

Sorry to hear that.  But, if baseball is what he wants to do, I would not count out JUCO.  It sounds like you are ruling out that path strictly because of academics.  IMO, just don't shut that door yet.

2014 - I feel your pain!  Geez that really stinks like crazy.

Unfortunately, your story is not the first one I've heard like this.  Seems to me like you've got a tremendous opportunity to do some parenting your son will never forget.

Empathy for him?  Darn right.  But you are about to teach him a little about the real world and how to get over life's speed bumps.

Rise to the challenge.  Go to work as a team.  Your son is very likely looking up to you for some big-time role modeling!

First things first. I feel your pain. Ok enough of that. As your son is rehabbing his senior year coming up can you go ahead and bite the JUCO bullet, preferably close to a school that has interest in your son. I know of a kid who was hurt after freshman year where he got a lot of PT in summer playing in a league and lost his SEC ride. He is attending a CC this year and getting it together. He has already signed with an up & coming D1 closer to home. Another possibility is your son could enroll at a school where the academic $ is good and walk on. I can't imagine him not getting a decent look especially if the coach knows in advance about the plan.

I wish you and your son the best,

R

He could always enroll in a local CC as a PT student so his eligibility didn't start.  Let him knock out 9 credit hours in required cources he's not that interested in and work his tail off to get in shape to take another run at his favorite 4 year schools when healthy.

You might consider a prep school post graduate year and reclassify to a 2015.  Just a thought.

2014Prospect,

Sorry to learn of your son's condition.  I hope he bounces back quickly.  On the positive side, your son may have dodged a 4-year bullet with this coach and his shenanigans.  I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want my son to play for someone that goes back on their word like that.  I know it happens, but it isn't right.

If your son (and you) really liked the D3, try to call them again.   ED deadline is Nov 1 (tomorrow).  If it is an acadcemically select school where the coach needs to boost his application then you may be out of luck unless your Common App is complete, and the Coach calls today.   Otherwise, he'll have to go the RD route to this school or others like it.  Due to his condition, he'll most likely get looks based on academics and previous baseball reputation.  I'd be calling all previously interested schools (at all levels) to see if their situation changed.

I have a 3 hour drive coming up.  I'll give this some more thought.  Good luck.

To piggy back on Fenwaysouth's advice, while many ED deadlines are tomorrow many are being extended to Nov 8 due to the problems with the Common App this year. Not sure if that helps at all. 

Also, some top tier D3 programs have an ED 2 round so it might not be too late if your son has the talent in a spot they need.  (I know Tufts has sometimes filled spots in ED round 2 for example 

BUT (big but) the costs are obviously VERY high at that level D3, and there is no academic money.

I agree, I would not want my son in the hands of a coach who is willing to play that kind of a nasty trick on a recruit.

Your son has solid academic numbers and apparently has the talent to command a high offer.  You don't say how severe his injury is, but I would normally expect an eventual full recovery from a broken leg, and you don't give any indication otherwise.

So, he's now back in the market.  Have his travel coach talk him up to schools of interest and see what develops.  Be patient; it may be that the November period will have to pass, after which some schools will see who they got and who they didn't and what they still need.

Some day, I hope your son gets to play against that first school and help shellack them.

Very few of the schools asked son to ED but all asked him to Early action. I think there are actually many advantages to EA. Different schools have different dates, so you may need to look up the schools you are interested in.

Have you considered contacting another school in the same conference as the D3? Many schools in a conference recruit form the same pool of players.

I am sorry to hear of your son's injury that you posted about a few weeks back.

According to my understanding your son had three offers on the table but had not committed as yet, correct?

I am kind of curious why he had not committed.  Was he told that he could wait?

I am not really sure why a broken leg would cause a coach to pull an offer, your son wouldn't be showing up to play for over a year.  However, without a commitment on your sons part, it obviously changed things for all three coaches.

As I thought, not committing probably had a lot to do with it.

While I understand this really stinks, IMO it is unfair to lay blame on the coaches and now your son understands how important it would have been to accept even when given a time frame. Understand that in most cases the recruit does not have time on his side when making a decision unless he is a top prospect.

However, I am a very big believer that things happen for a reason.

This might be a good time to regroup thoughts and just sit tight, or perhaps redirect the search, perhaps closer to home if this is important to him.

Also do not rule out a JUCO opportunity.

What ever you do, do not let your son settle at this time just because others are, there are opportunities that will open up in the spring.

He sounds like a good student, his focus should also be on degree offered and all that goes into that part of the process.

Keep us posted.

It will work out, stay positive!  Good Luck!

I agree with TPM "all things happen for a reason". Not sure I would be thrilled to play for a coach that didn't show the love and switch gears so quickly. 

If your son has the talent, which it sounds as through he does, he will find a good fit. It stinks, but injuries are a part of the game. Have him focus on the things he can control and work hard to get back strong & healthy.

What can I say.

At least don't beat yourself up for not orally accepting an oral offer before the oral time deadline that was given to you. Oral offers and commitments aren't worth the paper they're printed on.

I've even seen a signed NLI reneged on by a school. How? By just telling the player that he wouldn't be welcomed at practices. Player could have insisted on performance of the NLI money terms....but with a year out of baseball and maybe a year off to transfer, that would have been his career.

Rough patch you and your son are going thru right now. Try not to magnify it with feelings of guilt. You guys did nothing wrong. That's what I think.

I hope it works out for your son, 2014 -- and I believe it will.

Your post triggered a discussion that's helpful to others behind you -- about waiting to accept.  While I understand Green Light's point, my gut tells me TPM is onto something.

An analogy:

Boy proposes to girl, says "You don't have to let me know for two weeks."

Girl doesn't accept immediately; wants to use those two weeks to decide.

Girl thinks about it.

Boy meets new girl.

SOMETHING bad happens to girl (pick it; this is the hard part: car accident ...she goes bald ... whatever. Point is, she's not as attractive to boy.)

Girl is ready to say yes.

Boy ... not so much.

That just makes sense to me.

Would it have been wrong not to have called the coach?  

There should be plenty of time for the leg to heal before the start of college next year. 

This is an example that even college baseball is a business.  Coaches have to do they think is best for the team, an their job.  I said it before and I will say it again, schools are always looking for up grades, an keeping their options open.  Apparently these schools didn't want to risk their money on the injury getting back to 100%. 

Someone said how can coach treat a player like this or you want to play for that coach anyway, well coaches really don't know the player until they are in their system, an the player doesn't know them, they don't want to go into a season with the unknown question. 

Send him to JUCO, he will get the playing time an also get the looks for the schools he wants to be at in year three. An  with the JUCO experience he will be far ahead of his peers as well.  JUCO is not a bad word, use it as a stepping stone to were you want to be. 

It's amazing how often the things that devastate us at the time, turn out to be the best thing that ever happened to us.  Seems like the older I get the more I believe in fate.  Just keep plugging away and something good will end up happening.  Spend too much time being devastated and you might miss out. Best of luck

I agree with everything that is posted by jemaz.   I do not feel it unfair to lay blame on the coach and say that he lacks integrity.  JMO

I guess that we all see things differently, but I wish that people would understand this is a business and that is how both sides should view the situation.

Injuries are devastating, no one knows that better than I do.  My son had 3 operations, maybe the third one he was pushed into, and he lost his job because he had trouble competing.

But the reality is that for every door that closes another one opens. You need to put aside your ill feelings and move forward and help your son to understand that he needs to either not commit or keep searching until he finds for him that which would be the perfect fit.