Signing/Commitment Question

jazzmik - There's all kinds of answers to your questions and each one can be unique to the player and school.

Schools making offers often put time limits on them, but not necessarily. If you're concerned about whether or not an offer has a time limit, just ask the coach who made the offer. I have heard stories of no time limits on an offer, but when a player went back months later to accept...the school had moved on to other players and were no longer interested. Good communication between player and school should keep that issue from popping up.

Some time limits are weeks, others could be months. I've heard of offers having a time limit tied to an event (e.g. a showcase or tournament where the school expects competing offers for the player to arise).

You do run the risk of losing an offer by waiting for others, but again, good communication should help keep that from happening.

I would never advise anyone to 'take the offer in the bag' for fear of losing it...unless the school offering is one of your son's top college choices anyways. College is a place your son will live for (hopefully) 3-5 years...lifelong friends will be made...he needs to be happy in order to perform in the classroom and on the field.

A bad season brings risk with it in any situation. Bad academics can negate admission to the college...even as a senior who has already signed. Bad field performance has been known (on fairly rare occasions) to generate a call from the college coach advising the player that he's no longer in their plans...most especially when there is a coaching change. The 'bad season worry' is one nearly everyone has thought about and worried about...but the truth is that you probably just shouldn't waste your energy worrying. First, its not very likely...but second, if its a true indicator that your son isn't ready for college baseball at the school he signed with, you're gonna find that out eventually anyways.

Good questions and all ones many of us had heading into the wild west of recruiting. Stick around here, keep asking questions as they come up...find a local friend who has already been through this or a local coach who is knowledgeable about it...and you should be able to handle whatever comes up.

Good luck!

I can't speak for every situation, but I can tell you our experience from this past fall. My son had offers from two schools. Both offers were made in September. Both schools told us to take our time and think about it. They both wanted son to visit other schools and be sure that their school was the right fit. The only time limit they put on us, was they wanted a decision by early signing period. We took about a month, going to several other schools and made our decision in early October.

So, for these guys, I think they just wanted to wrap up their recruiting by the early signing period. Other than that, there really wasn't a lot of pressure at all.

quote:

Originally posted by jazzmik:
Hi,

Trying to get an idea of what kind of pressure is put on when a school makes an offer.

How fast are you expected to except an offer? Does a school normally put a time limit on accepting?

Do you run the risk of losing an offer if you're waiting to get offers from other schools?

Do you take the offer in the bag or risk losing it... then having a bad season and not getting any other offers?


Thanks

Ask, but generally there is a time expectation that they will share with you.

Make the decision as quickly as you are comfortable knowing the time limits they set.

Yes, wait too long and you run the risk of them moving on. It's kind of like considering which girl to ask to the Prom. Wait too long and another decision has been made and she is now unavailable.

Every decision in life carries risk. Only you can answer that one. Betting "on the come" has always carried steep odds.

Thanks for replies...


Mike

jazzmilk,

justbaseball make a very good post, and I'll add my 2 cents.

You will probably find that can be a lot of variables, particularly from one school to the next and/or from one coach to the next. But I'll try to answer those questions based on my recent experiences.

quote:

Originally posted by jazzmik:

Trying to get an idea of what kind of pressure is put on when a school makes an offer.

I found that typically there isn't any "pressure" applied after they make an offer. When an offer was made the coach is obviously very interested and would like to know as soon as possible so that they can turn their attention to other matters. Just how early or how late an offer was made is a factor in whether there's any "pressure."

quote:

How fast are you expected to except an offer? Does a school normally put a time limit on accepting?

While it's not unusual that there can be a specific time limit a coach will set, more often there isn't one that's actually stated. On the other hand, a coach can might say "I need an answer in 10 days." I feel it's a good idea that at the time a coach makes an offer one should ask the coach for a little time to consider the offer and when the coach needs to know (maybe as a little negotiation ploy for more scholarship money). But as you might expect, each coach really wants to know ASAP.

quote:

Do you run the risk of losing an offer if you're waiting to get offers from other schools?

Yes, there's always that risk. And this is why is can be a difficult decision if one has offers from schools other than the one that's really desired. If one doesn't have an offer from a desired school and there are offers on the table, then one needs to figure out if there's really a chance of getting an acceptable offer from a desired school. And if not, then a decision needs to be made and move on.

quote:

Do you take the offer in the bag or risk losing it... then having a bad season and not getting any other offers?

Until a NLI is signed, anything can happen. One will simply have to weigh the risks vs. reward. If one is waiting to get an offer from their #1 school on their list, one needs to find out just what the possibility is in getting an offer from that school, which would include finding out what academic requirements are needed since it doesn't do any good to wait for a coach that's interested when one can't qualify academically for admissions.

I would emphasize what justbaseball said in that for those coaches that have made offers and those you'd like to get offers from, maintain good communications with them. . .and maintain good integrity too.

What if your son is a junior catcher that has to be concerned with too many persons recruited at the position? The advice here has normally been to wait until senior year.

quote:

Originally posted by Aleebaba:
What if your son is a junior catcher that has to be concerned with too many persons recruited at the position? The advice here has normally been to wait until senior year.

Again, I don't think its a 'one size fits all.' If your junior catcher is offered a good scholarship by one of his top-choice schools...why not ask the coaches your question and commit if you're comfortable with it all?

Don't be afraid to ask questions and look at the big picture.

if it's the place you want to go and you have a chance to play there, verbally commt, we did that in july of junioor year as a catcher. you don't early sign your letter of intent till november of your senior year. if they do not offer you an official visit when you are asked for a verbal commit it is not serious. remember you can always go to a quality juco if things change (they sign another big time catcher or whatever). nothing is binding until you sign the letter of intent