verbal committment as junior

I agree with your assessment of the situation.

One positive is that if you are comfortable with the coaches word, it takes away the recruiting pressure.

My son plays on the same travel team as two of the juniors you are speaking of. Anyway, talking to their parents, they just felt it was right, a good fit, and they really didn't want to deal with the whole process, the player could just relax and play. I would think this would be a pro. However, it does stop the recruiting process (from other schools), and this I think would be a con. I guess in these situations, you really can't read into them, and each situation (player) is different, and their decisions shouldn't be questioned. They both are very good students, and will not have any problems in this area, so I don't see the colleges taking the offer off of the table. Personally, I don't think either one of them will go to college, they should/will be very very high draft choices. just my opinion.

2 of the 3 players play with Trombly Baseball so I will give my 2 cents to see if I could make their decisions more clear. Hank Conger ('06, Huntington Beach HS) and Gavin Brooks ('06, Rancho Buena Vista HS) are 2 of the best HS players in the country. These guys will be high draft picks and any college would love to have either of them. Both have given verbals to D-1 schools as JR's and I agree with their decisions.

Hank Conger committed to USC and Gavin Brooks committed to UCLA. These are both very good schools that offer great baseball programs *AND* very good educations. Both of these young men do not just excel on the baseball field, they are also both very good students.

The top 2 reasons that they committed so early are:

1) Both were offered very good scholarships to their #1 school. Conger really wanted to go to USC and Brooks really wanted to go to UCLA.

2) They didn't want to waste both their own time and more importantly college coaches time while waiting to make the decision until next year. They could have spent the next year going on recruiting trips to the top schools throughout the country. However, in the hearts their decisions were already made. These 2 young men wanted to be respectful of other college programs and allow them to use their time and money to recruit other players. I applaud Conger and Brooks for this reason.

Some people feel that these guys made the wrong decision by committing so early. When you look at the above reasns I think that you will agree that they did the right thing. If you know these 2 players, then there is no doubt that you will agree that they are very good baseball players, but even better kids. These 2 will have very long baseball careers and they will deserve all the success that comes there way.

Steve:

Thank you for taking the time to explain the logic behind the decision to verbally committ early, as soon as I understood all the facts it made perfect sense to me.

My son is just beginning the recruiting process and much of it is very confusing at times.

Thanks again for taking time to explain this, have a safe and happy New Year.

Scott {Courtney's dad}

Why is everyone becoming so alarmed? This has been going on in the SEC with football for a long time. If a school really wants the player they will not stop recruiting them as it only slows down some of the phone calls and letters.

No problem Scott.
If you ever have any questions with college stuff, please feel free to contact me. I would be glad to help. Courtney is a good player and by the end of next summer (after the HS season and summer baseball) I think that you will have a better idea of where he fits in college wise.

Is he playing w/ ABD in the WWBA West Coast Invitational (Jan 15-17, 2005)?

my response is - -

congrats to the guys involved

& a happy new year to them (& youns all)

This really isn't that hard to believe or understand. Especially if the player signs on with his number 1 choice(not sure if the original poster knew that).

For one thing the player, as stated, is going to his top choice, and for a lot of high schoolers their top choice is a top of the line baseball school, and in this case it is.
Also a players top choice is either to be close to home or in a place where the weather allows you to practice the game every day outdoors. For these two both of these apply to their choices.
Then a good thing about signing real early is to get a very good understanding with the coaches about what they want you to do off the field in the weight room and in your workout programs so that you are ready to get to work right away once freshman year starts.

And as stated already by others, it allows you to not have to worry about the college recruiters in the stands at your games and it enables you to relax a little bit more knowing you are going to play baseball in College, and for these two at very good schools in athletics as well as in education.

Good post Trombly. My son had almost the exact same experience. This isn't going to happen often but if a player has dreamed of playing for 1 school all his life and a big time ship is offered early to that school-whats not to like? It gives them ample time to visit, get questions answered and make sure. My question to my son was simple: If Texas (his 2nd coice) called tomorrow and offered 100% what would you do? His answer was "I'd still go to Florida State." CASE CLOSED.

Mr. O'Connor...you always find a way to mention FSU, don't you? :laugh:

I always love to hear about the 'noles!

Congrats to you!

On the flip side, my son worked hard all of his life to play for the Canes. That was his goal. If they came to him as a junior he would have said "yes,yes, yes and yes again". It was also very close to home and we would have enjoyed the local press coverage. And of course all of the home games.
After one year of being actively recruited, doing some serious homework regarding both teams and one weekend at the school he now plays for, he turned down his official visit to the school he always wanted to attend.
One never knows.

Soxnole,
Your mention of FSU is ok by me because it is in the ACC!