Verbal Commitment??? How does it work?

Yes, he is allowed to make a verbal commitment anytime before he signs his National Letter of Intent (if this is a D1 school). If he verbals, he will sign his letter in november of his senior fall during the early signing period. I hope this answers your question regarding legality, whether or not it is a good choice to do as a sophmore, well, you most likely will get 2-3 pages of opinions on that.

Keep in mind that until the school makes a written offer and your son signs the NLI, the intentions of the coach and player mean nothing.

Offer (in writing) + Acceptance (in writing) = Contract.

HSBBWeb Old Timer is right - there are many opinions on the thing, but just remember, if there is a coach very interested in a sophomore, there are likley to be some other good offers out ther for that player.

totally agree, if player is already receiving requests to verbally commit by colleges, his choices may be plentiful. If it's not one of his top schools, keep all doors open and have fun playing the game we fondly call "the recruiting process".

pitcherparent - Welcome to the HS Baseball Web!

I agree with the comments above.

If the coach is trying to get a commitment out of your son as a sophomore, he most likely is a player with more opportunities to come. The coach likely realizes that and is trying to get him tied up and 'off the market.'

Good luck!

Thanks for all of the responses.

So, I guess that early commitments do happen and it's technically legal. I will add that this college is my son's first choice. It's the local school, it's D1. My son's other choices are all out of state and we would be dealing with out of state tuition as well as travel costs.

The coach from the this college told him to come tour the facilities, meet the staff and they would give him an "offer". Does this mean that they would tell him how much of a scholarship they would be offering? Or is it usually just a general agreement?

Then let's say that my son verbally commits to go to that school. How often do schools back out? From what I have read on websites, once you verbally commit you "take yourself off the shelf". It seems like you could end up high and dry if you are not careful. I also read that, it would be looked down on if the verbally commited player goes to other schools camps, but is it okay to still go to big showcase tournaments?

And one more question, if you verbally commit, does the player announce that, the school doesn't, but how would other programs know that you are "off the shelf" if noone talks about it.

Thanks for all of your help!

Yes, it takes your son out of the running and he has to declare to other programs that are interested that he has committed.
Your son obviously has not received an offer as yet which the minimum must be 25% of the entire cost of tuition. Has this coach seen your son play? Does your son know this coach?
Something to think about, he might receive 25% now but later as he gets better and more mature he might receive 75%. Once you agree on that amount, that is pretty much it. When faced with your same situation, my son received a 50% offer from his first choice D1 close by but a 90% offer out of state. It wasn't so much about the $$ offer, but he realized sometime in his senior summer that his dream school was no longer his first choice school.

Why would he attend camps at other colleges? Nothing wrong with still playing great competition at tournies.

Be aware that it is only a verbal offer, nothing is guaranteed until it is put in writing. Think of all the possibilities, what if the coach left, would the new coach honor that commitment, what will the roster look like in 2-3 years for him to compete against?

If your son is very interested but not sure, be honest, tell coach that he needs time to think about it, don't feel forced or rushed.

I do not beleive in the very early offer, the questions you ask pose too many risks. JMO.

One other thought pitcherparent. You say this is the local D1 school...#1 choice for your son.

But have you had time to look into this program? I mean really and truly look into this program?

* How solid is the coaching staff?
* Do they graduate their players?
* Do a lot of kids transfer out of the program? If so, why?
* What about the academics? Good fit?
* Do the players improve? Move onto the pros (if that is important to you)?
* What do other families that have gone through the program think of it?
* Your son is apparently a pitcher, so how do they use pitchers? (Might learn a lot more about that this coming season). What is their training program for pitchers?
* What do they do with players who have a bad year? What if he has a bad Fall practice season? Cut them loose? (Some schools do).
* How about injured players?
* Is it a school your son would want to attend if baseball disappeared from the picture?
* Etc..., etc...

We talk about "rose colored glasses" for our kids, sometimes I wonder if we wear them when it comes to "dream schools" too. TPM told you a story about her son 'taking-them-off' in time to find something better.

Its awfully early. Just make sure your son's and your own eyes are wide open.

Again, good luck!

JB,
Good points.

How many players jumped at the chance to play at their first choice school without much consideration to the questions above, only to find out later they did not really find the right 'fit".

With new rules in place for transfer to transfer D1, now more important than ever to remove those rcg's.

JMO.

I would not make a commitment unless you were sure you had the right "fit" and also sure you were getting the deal you should get (not shortchanged).

Also make sure you have met the assistant coach you would be dealing with. Often he is your main contact. If you like him, great, but consider whether he might leave; three years is a long time. If you like the head guy but not your assistant, think about this some more.

Many times what you thought would be your dream school turns out not to be, especially if you take the time to look at those other "fish in the sea". The initial infatuation you feel may fade if you end up finding someone you like even better.

Verbals can be retracted but very seldom are. Personally I know of one out of maybe 60 Virginia 2008 players who has seen a verbal offer made after the early signing period retracted soon after, before the spring signing period NLI paperwork was due to him. He is back in the hunt. That means yes, it can happen, but it is a rarity and a smart coach will not do it lightly because word does get around that your word is NOT your bond. I think the "nothing is certain until it's in writing" approach is overly pessimistic. But one of the things you need to evaluate is whether you feel the folks you're talking to are trustworthy.

If you've thought it all through and the offer is right, take it. You may be the building block of that recruiting class, which is a fun position to be in. In the end, deciding now vs. deciding later is not a big difference in your ability to make a quality decision if you take the time to do your homework first.

But if you haven't done your homework yet, take 6-7 months to think it through and look at other options first. In fact, ask the coaches when they need to hear from you, and take as much time as they give you. I'd be surprised if they couldn't agree to wait as long as maybe a year.

if you are offered early 70%, does that include room and board or is it 70% of tuition only?

You need to get the details---70% can mean anything

I was told by a coach (high school coach that used to coach at the college level) that the percentage was always of 'total', and not either tuition or everything.

not true??

There are times when you'll get "spin" on the offer. Like "a full tuition offer", as if that were as much as anyone could conceivably offer. (Depending on where you're going, in-state, out-of-state, or private, that could be anywhere from 50-75%).

So, you need to ask. A "full ride" in the football/basketball sense means tuition and fees, room and board, and books. Make sure they are expressing the offer in terms of a percentage of a true "full ride". Then figure out how much that leaves you to come up with. That way, when you weigh your options, you can compare apples and apples.

goMO,
When an actual NLI is offered and signed, the percentage refers to the COA--the Cost of Attendence. As an example, the new NCAA requirement for D1 players matriculating in 2008 is that a scholarship, if one is offered at all, must be 25% or greater. That 25% is referred to the COA.

But either a coach or a parent may wish to view thinks differently. If tuition costs about half of the total cost of attendence, and one wishes to "look on the bright side", 50% of COA is 100% of the tuition. So a player can be described as having a 100% scholarship.

It is important when making a verbal commitment that percentages be clearly understood.

Question/Clarification-
If it is 50% of COA, is it specifically for that athlete?
At a state school, COA will certainly be different for an in-state athlete vs. out of state because of the tuition difference........

We asked that all offers even if made in percentages also include the dollar amounts associated to each category. (tuition, fees, books, room and board)

jb, the answer to your question is, yes, the NLI is specific to that one player.

As has been covered in other threads, if you're at an in-state school, a 25% scholarship for a particular player will count more than .25 towards the 11.7 if the player is out of state, less if he's in state.

You've got to hand it to the college coaches for being able to keep it all straight, because the NCAA has certainly made it as convoluted as possible.

jerseydad's point raises another issue. My understanding is that while scholarship money applied to tuition and fees and books is tax exempt, the money applied to non-instructional items (room and board) results in a 1099 being issued. In most cases the amount won't be enough to create an actual tax liability, but it could.

Here in VA, you have people with state-sponsored prepaid education plans. Those cover tuition and fees only. So, if you got a 40% scholarship, that would have to be applied to room, board and books. You would want to work with the athletic department to get it applied to books first, room and board second, or you might face a tax bill.