Underclassman that verbally commit early

Why do underclassmen commit early?

Short answer: The offer will go to somebody else.

Baseball gets knocked for having a 40 rd draft. Baseball is also the only sport where there are 40 rounds worth of qualified players.

For every story about a recruiting nightmare and NLIs being pulled there are 14 other kids in a recruiting class who made it to campus perfectly fine. Now what happens once they show up is a different story, but the idea that if you commit early you're going to get screwed is all just words.

2019 committed as a sophomore. Coach sat him down and said if you don't want to come here, what are you doing on this visit. We visited on a Saturday, they offered and said he could think on it for as long as he wanted. But the following Sunday he would have another kid in that chair giving him the same offer and they were not two separate offers. That's not why he ended up committing, it was a great offer and a good fit, but moral of the story - you're replaceable. And easily replaceable.

There are 4,000+ D1 recruits each year. Only about one or two hundred are in a position to hold out until they’re ready to commit. For everyone else it’s next recruit up for the recruiting programs.

@PABaseball posted:

Why do underclassmen commit early?

Short answer: The offer will go to somebody else.

Baseball gets knocked for having a 40 rd draft. Baseball is also the only sport where there are 40 rounds worth of qualified players.

For every story about a recruiting nightmare and NLIs being pulled there are 14 other kids in a recruiting class who made it to campus perfectly fine. Now what happens once they show up is a different story, but the idea that if you commit early you're going to get screwed is all just words.

2019 committed as a sophomore. Coach sat him down and said if you don't want to come here, what are you doing on this visit. We visited on a Saturday, they offered and said he could think on it for as long as he wanted. But the following Sunday he would have another kid in that chair giving him the same offer and they were not two separate offers. That's not why he ended up committing, it was a great offer and a good fit, but moral of the story - you're replaceable. And easily replaceable.

PABaseball - I agree with everything you've said.   However, I would edit the bold to state that your chances of getting screwed are very low..but it does happen.   

I know a couple handfuls of people that it has happened to.   Some recovered in time to find another opportunity, and others didn't.   My message is take the early opportunity if it is a dream school or life changing, but for God's sake keep your eyes and ears open to what is going on around you in the recruiting marketplace even if you have no intentions of decommitting.   In a couple cases, I know ego got in the way of recruits.   Some didn't continue to develop their skills as much as they should have.   As you've pointed out, recruits are replaceable.  In the cases I'm familiar with the concept of "replaceable" was learned much too late.   

As always, JMO.

I agree with Fenway, chances of getting screwed are very low.  What does happen though, is that the player ends up sitting more than expected, and feels that they got screwed. 

If I were to do it over again, same as before, I would tell my player not to take the offer because he was afraid of losing it to another player. Take the offer because you felt comfortable with other aspects as well,  the school, the courses offered,  the facilities, the coaching staff. Players commit for all different reasons, but feeling pressured should not be one of them.

JMO

This discussion of next man up is a bit difficult to reconcile with the past discussion we had about going somewhere where you are loved.

@Around_The_Horn posted:

This discussion of next man up is a bit difficult to reconcile with the past discussion we had about going somewhere where you are loved.

College programs ... If you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you’re with.

After the one or two hundred top recruits the next set is interchangeable. What separates them are more unique traits rather than overall talent. If the player doesn’t show love back when the team shows love there’s another similar player available to recruit.

Not committing early doesn’t mean the player loses out in the big picture. But he might lose out to an individual desired program.

Weird timing.  ATH son just had a second teammate commit today.  Both to the same school.  SEC school and they are both 2025s.  Interesting enough none of our 2024s have committed, though they are just as good if not a bit further developed as you would expect.

just watched a 2025 pitch at the WWBA quarterfinals.  He was impressive.

@fenwaysouth posted:

PABaseball - I agree with everything you've said.   However, I would edit the bold to state that your chances of getting screwed are very low..but it does happen.   

Correct, poor choice of words on my end

@PABaseball posted:

Correct, poor choice of words on my end

I used the same words we are big boys and girls.

JMO