Too soon to verbal? Class of 2011

If the school is one your son wishes to play for, and the money is good, why not commit. Now the student can get on with playing ball and not worry about being recruited. I consider them the lucky ones.

In general, I believe that the total focus of a junior who verbally commits this early is baseball. That focus is, IMHO, a much too narrow focus. And, the baseball coaches capitalize on this by creating an exhilarating whirlwind of ego stroking attention designed to short-circuit the very goal of the PLAYER in the recruiting process.

In my opinion, the ultimate goal of the PLAYER in this recruiting process is finding the right college “fit.” The junior needs to be able to answer the following question: If I will never play an inning for this baseball program (assume a career ending injury on the first day of fall practice), would I choose this school?

I doubt most juniors have really thought about the school outside of the baseball world. All the little pieces of the puzzle in choosing a school – size, cost, geography, living conditions, commuter v. residential school, courses of study (LAC v. broad curriculum offerings), etc., etc., etc., could not possibly have been evaluated when a 2011 (or a 2012) gets that magical verbal offer. The offer arrives before the first report card in the junior year, before the first standardized test result, before the drivers license in some cases.

I also feel that if a player is good enough to have attracted the early attention, he will surely attract later attention – perhaps from surprising places that aren’t even imagined this early. They should improve their play, attend to their studies, prepare for the standardized tests (and the inevitable retaking), investigate colleges (through the web, through articles, through books, through visits), and above all look inside themselves (which is really hard for a 16 year old) to figure out what is a “fit.” (And even that initial conclusion may evolve/change over the next few months.) Once they figure out the proper type of college, they can hone in on the baseball programs (or, if the baseball programs have already come to them, figure out if that school meets the other criteria in finding the right “fit.”).

Nice first post Goosegg.

Welcome!

I've always considered a early verbal by a incoming Jr. a mis-step, by both the school and the families. Coaching staffs come and go and the stud who dominates as Soph.,and then gets dominated as a Jr. & Sr. when the other kids catch up is a pretty familiar story

It's way too early.

Goosegg,

I applaud your post. It sounds like one of my coaches would have written the same thing. I do agree come players do commit too early. We have had some players commit early. We require players once they get into our program when they are freshman to start the process of looking for a college. We have a guide we have the player and parents go through so they educate themselves on the whole process. The players who did commit early said the information provided help them. We had one junior player who had offers from major Pac 10, WCC and Big West schools. He visited a some of the schools who offered him. He felt comfortable making an early commit. Overall, the process should take some time. We tell players if they would to go to a specific college if baseball is not involved would they would still go. Depending on the answer they should really look in to their choice.

http://www.sgvbaseball.com

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We tell players if they would to go to a specific college if baseball is not involved would they would still go.

I see this sort of comment posted often and understand the concept behind it. Here is my question. What do players do who want to play baseball but only get offers from a school that they wouldn't ordinarily select to attend? Do they give up their dream of playing baseball or do they go to the school?

[quote]I see this sort of comment posted often and understand the concept behind it. Here is my question. What do players do who want to play baseball but only get offers from a school that they wouldn't ordinarily select to attend? Do they give up their dream of playing baseball or do they go to the school?


You are right , this statement does appear on here a lot.And honestly it is hard to pick a school that you love or several and always end up there.I would say a large percent of kids do not end up where they wanted to go, BUT they hopefully still picked a school they like and feel as if it is a good fit.
Some players only get one or two offers,not all are lucky to be top recruits.For my own son, he had schools that were his dream schools, but he also had schools that he liked and would play at if offered.Then there were schools he knew he would not be happy at , at all, and didnt want to go there,even if it meant a D1 scholarship.
There are nice schools in all D1, D2, D3, Naia,and many kids have wonderful careers and do well at all of them.
My own son went to a JC, and got an offer from his dream school.Will it work out? I dont know, but I will say this he loves it.Loves the school, the baseball, everything.If he had to leave there because baseball didnt work out, and he wanted to play somewhere else, we wouldnt have regrets.He would have to sit out a year,but he has a redshirt year, and that is worse case scenario.
But not all kids get their dream schools,there are many kids who do go becasue of the baseball, its the only offers they get.Just make sure they like the school, the area, etc, dont send them somehwere that ONLY baseball is the good thing.
My advice is visit a lot of schools.Just a regular visit when they are sophs, juniors, see the area, get a feel for what kind of school he likes.Some are happy with small close knit schools, some want the BIG football schools and all that goes with that, it is so different for everyone.
When you start to visit, we visited tons of D1, Naia, D3, D2, we went on many weekend trips for baseball and went to local colleges, just get a feel for campus etc.Your son will get a feel for what he likes.
My own liked brick,old traditional schools, football, tradition, thats what he loved since he was 7 honestly.We didnt think he would ge tto a school like that out of HS, but he wanted to keep trying for that, he was lucky he got it.But soooo mnay dont.
Go where you like the school, but beleive me many end up where they never thought they would be, becasue they had a chance to continue with baseball.Thats where the decisions will be for some: If they only have a couple choices to play, will they like it enought to be there 4 years.Some kids love the game so much that they will go anywhere to play.My son would not have,not saying he was right or wrong, but he didnt want a ulta small school, in a state far away, that had no football, was cold,just baseball was all he would do.But some kids do.
For new people on here, there are many wise people on here, and they give great advice, but always remember it is a family choice and there is no absolute for any particular family. Visit tons of schools just to see campuses, work hard and see where it all leads you.

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Originally posted by enjoyedtheride:


I see this sort of comment posted often and understand the concept behind it. Here is my question. What do players do who want to play baseball but only get offers from a school that they wouldn't ordinarily select to attend? Do they give up their dream of playing baseball or do they go to the school?

Good question, and good advice from fanofgame. I beleive that the player who looks on his own for multiple opportunities, not just sitting around waiting for something to happen, often finds the right fit. My motto is and always will be, never settle unless the positives outway the negatives. You would be surprised at how many attend the first choice, and sorry they didn't consider other places, for various reasons, not just baseball. And you would be surprised how many went off not thinking they would be happy (because they only had a few choices) and had great experiences. Ot works both ways.

Very rarely do players have the opportunity to attend their number one (or 2 or 3) choice, that is when you have to do your homework. I know that my son had a lot of choices, where he ended up was the farthest from his mind when they first began recruiting him, too far, too cold, just to name a few reasons why. You have to weigh all sides, if baseball is more important that is one consideration, if the academics is more important, that is another consideration, everyone is different and has different goals.

quote:

Originally posted by enjoyedtheride:

quote:

We tell players if they would to go to a specific college if baseball is not involved would they would still go.

I see this sort of comment posted often and understand the concept behind it. Here is my question. What do players do who want to play baseball but only get offers from a school that they wouldn't ordinarily select to attend? Do they give up their dream of playing baseball or do they go to the school?

I don't understand the logic either.

If this were the Academic/Institutional "best fit" web, it would make lots of sense. If a player has lots of choices (athletically and academically), again it makes sense to balance the basesball with the institution. If the "only" choice is to play baseball at a school you would not attend otherwise, well... the question answers itself imho. If the player wants to continue playing, maybe he bites the bullet and makes the best of it. Would he have attended otherwise? Of course not.

To the original question from Bravescoach - maybe you can answer your own question by answering another question. What benefit is there to committing this early?

Goosegg and fanofgame -- those are tremendous posts. What makes both so good is that they could apply to any player at any level. For parents of players who are still looking or even just starting out in the process, I'd advise you to heeds the words of both posters. Use your son's interest and ability in baseball as an opportunity to explore. There are so many cool places to go to college, big and small, but you don't know until you go check them out. Don't be content to take the first thing that comes along, even if you worry that may be the only thing to come along. This is a one-time adventure, and although it can be stressful, it can be a whole lot of fun, too. (OK, I'll admit here that I enjoyed taking the college tours more than my son. Oh, to have been 18 again.)

Welcome Goosegg- great 1st post. You obviously know what you're talking about.

Bravescoach- have seen 1st hand the pros and cons of an early verbal. Just be aware that many coaches from other colleges will stop recruiting a player that verbals early. Kids in general may change a lot between 10th and 12th grade. What if the player has verbaled and no longer wants to attend that college?

Also have seen the other side- college offers early, player hasn't really panned out. They are sticking by their commitment (kid is a soph in college) but he hasn't played and may not.

What if the coaching staff that offered leaves? The new coaches may not continue to recruit the player.

There's a myriad of things that can happen, good and bad, if you verbal early. As others have said, if you're that good there will be many offers.

I am sorry for leaving this out, I agree that was a great post by goosegg.

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In general, I believe that the total focus of a junior who verbally commits this early is baseball

I think this is often, but far from always true.

Think of this. Most no longer feel that a decision made in the summer after junior year is being made too soon. If a player does his research and knows what he's about, I do not believe that acting 8 months earlier means he couldn't care less about academics. In fact, I think a player can find out MORE about the school as a school if he does his deciding while school is in session, when he can attend classes, get a better feel for campus, eat a meal at the school facility, see the team in practices, maybe attend a football game to see the overall school culture and how the alumni support the school (or don't). You can't really do that in the spring, when you're playing daily yourself. And waiting until the following fall (Sr. year) at this point is risky, because the team may move on to other prospects in that amount of time.

In fact, I know one guy who went through this, and the academics, the campus, and the "fit" were all very important to him.

And even with a recent change in coaches (following his freshman year), he does not regret his decision in any way.

Now, it may be that some are jumping into something based on initial infatuation, without doing their homework, perhaps fueled by immaturity. In such cases, I think a parent can and should step in to apply the brakes and force the player/student to be more deliberate in his decision making. That is part of parenting, teaching HOW to make good decisions.

But I don't think that means that every kid who's fortunate enough to land an offer this early is suffering from baseball tunnel vision. I know too many contrary examples.

If you are fortunate enough to land an offer this early from a school you really are interested in, I am perfectly OK with accepting the offer IF -- and this is a big IF -- you have really done your homework and thought it through thoroughly.

Let's not confuse the problem of some making rash and poor decisions with some sort of indictment of the entire practice of early commitments.

I think we all can agree doing your homework and verballing early with no thought process are two totally different things.

We all see things differently, to me verballing way too early is 2-3 years left in HS, not a few months before early signing period. My son has been there and done it, and I still stand by this, no way would I advise him to verbal earlier than he needed to, he rejected the heat he was getting from schools a year before his senior summer and he still had choices right up until september his senior year. He's pretty mature kid, but no way did he know where or what would be right for him at that time.

Yeah, yeah I hear all of the time that this is what's going on, but that doesn't mean it's right for everyone.

As a freshman/sophmore if his dream school had come a knocking and offered, he would have said yup, turns out after growing up a bit, watching closely, he didn't much care to attend or play for that program by senior summer. After much thought, watching lots of game, school location, it wasn't a good fit.

Great posts and a good thread.I do think doing your homework is something everyone agrees with.But as well, early committ, late committ, high end prospect, lower end prospect etc etc, No matter how much research you do, NOBODY can predict how a player will react to the college game, aceademics etc.There are no gurantees for anyone.I do think scholarship money is a lttle safer in taking your chances.But in the end the player has to perform, you can roster search all you want, try to figure out how many guys they are bringing in, you can do that indefinately, but for the kids who want to play at a high level, at some point they just have to be able to compete.
Nobody will predict any players outcome.Too many variables.Sometimes you just have to understand that your player may or maynot be able to hang at a certain level.
Some players want to be at certain types of programs, not that as a parent you agree, but the kid wants his chance to compete at a high level,if they get that opportunity ,you have to let them make the jump.If it doesnt work out, there are other things that can happen, transfers, etc.

What I am saying, is mistakes will and do get made.And the players have to learn from them, not always pretty when it happens, but happens a lot more than you would think.

Really terrific input by all...though I anticipated nothing less from this forum. Being somewhat unfamiliar with verbal commitments, my follow-up question would be, in reality, how binding are these agreements? I realize that verbals are basically governed by a code of honor, but what recourse does coach or player have if, subsequently, player's skills/grades/attitude/interest etc. either diminish or increase? Are both sides individually bound by their initial agreement and for the agreed upon amount or do re-negotiations commonly exist?

Another scenario in the early verbal situation---what if the coach(s) he decided to play for leave in the boys senior year of HS--the boy has taken himself out of the recruiting scene for awhile now---what does he do ? Tough scene for the boy

Nothing wrong if someone wants to verbal early.

Nothing wrong if someone wants to wait.

These are personal individual decisions and there is no right or wrong answer until it is too late to change things. Either way could end up being great, either way could end up being a terrible mistake. That's why I hate giving anyone advice when it comes to those type things. It could turn out to be the worst advice they ever got.

Individually they must weigh the postives and negatives. Just because someone else did something and it worked out well, doesn't mean the same thing will work out well for the next person.

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Originally posted by PGStaff:
Nothing wrong if someone wants to verbal early.

Nothing wrong if someone wants to wait.

These are personal individual decisions and there is no right or wrong answer until it is too late to change things. Either way could end up being great, either way could end up being a terrible mistake. That's why I hate giving anyone advice when it comes to those type things. It could turn out to be the worst advice they ever got.

Sure it's a roll of the dice for the player. But not compared with the school. Any player that I have known, who has made an early verbal, did recieve substantial $$$. I just don't understand how a school can make that type of investment based on two years of HS baseball and a couple of summers.

Not to mention taking themselves out of the running for evolving players.

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Originally posted by Bravescoach:
how binding are these agreements?

They aren't. It is up to each individual to decide for themselves what the "right" thing to do in each situation is.

quote:

Originally posted by CaBB:
Welcome Goosegg- great 1st post. You obviously know what you're talking about.

Bravescoach- have seen 1st hand the pros and cons of an early verbal. Just be aware that many coaches from other colleges will stop recruiting a player that verbals early. Kids in general may change a lot between 10th and 12th grade. What if the player has verbaled and no longer wants to attend that college?

At the Stanford camp this year, a coach addressed the question, how binding is a VC? He described it as a uncomfortable 10 minute conversation. Locally a player who had made a VC to school and continued to intertain offers had the offer rescindended. This may have been a moot point for the player if he had decided to move on, but for those who are looking for a few more "recruiting strokes' before the NLI, It's a pretty small circle and these guys (coaches) do talk.

The early verbals I have had on my teams were no brainers. They grew up a UNC fan , they grew up a So Carolina fan , NCSU etc etc. They know the coaching staff they have been to camps etc , they have been on campus numerous times etc etc. They got an offer early from the school of their dreams early and they jumped on it.

Its not hard for the college coaches in these types of instances. These kids are head and shoulders above their peers and in many cases are some of the best players in the state regardless of grade in HS. If they dont get one bit better over the next two years they are still studs.

I am not aware at least around here of early verbals to D2 or D3 programs. The programs getting the early verbals are the top tier programs. They are simply trying to lock up the no brainers before someone else can come in and get them. If a kid is not sure he should wait. If a kid is sure why wait? I dont think you have to be a rising sr to be sure.

Some kids enjoy the recruiting. Some depise it. Some know exactly where they want to go. Some dont. For the ones that know exactly where they want to go and are lucky enough to get that offer early , CONGRATS and good luck.