Verbal Offers - Will money be pulled back?

Let’s see...yes, yes, yes, very few, & good luck with that. 

Do you have a community college in your area? Your 1st college is waiting for your next move.

Bob

@DanJ posted:

With college football likely hours away from being axed, the loss of revenue from it will be catastrophic to college athletics. Could it be that verbal offers of current commits change between now and NLI signing?  Let’s say I am a 2021 and I was offered 33% athletic money at D1 University and I’ve committed. Am I at risk of having my coach come back to me between now and NLI and telling me the money is no longer there or will be less?  Can a 25% verbal offer turn in to a preferred walk on offer a week before NLI day?  Because that would be scary beyond belief. A player would almost have no choice but to accept it. What’s the alternative? Go see if you can find another D1 spot somewhere that DOES have some money to give however unlikely?

No one is sure if football will work out or not.  Right now it's about getting students on campus,

If the coach who offered your son an opportunity does pull back the offer, maybe he may not have been the right coach for your son.

I am in agreement that JUCO may be a good opportunity until some better opportunity comes up and that he gets an opportunity to play!

Hang in there.

This was a purely hypothetical question. Just something I started thinking about and wanted to get others thoughts. 

@DanJ posted:

This was a purely hypothetical question. Just something I started thinking about and wanted to get others thoughts. 

All the things that you highlighted already happen regularly without the pressures of Covid-19.  For many of these young people, they are getting so screwed over by the political tensions, not the pandemic.

Our excess deaths, those beyond the expected norm peeked the week of April 18, almost 4 months ago.  Every week since then, the number has been decreasing.  Soon, we will most likely dip well below our expected number of deaths because over 50% of the deaths in this country have occurred in residents of long-term care facilities and the median and mean ages are right around 81 years of age.  Here is the current weekly trends of excess deaths from the CDC broken down by age groups.  It takes about 3 weeks for the numbers to be finalized, but we basically returned to normal about mid June in terms of total deaths.  It has only decreased since that time.

I'm curious why no one talks about this as we make ridiculous decisions with dire consequences for our young people and their futures.  I understand there have been some real tragedies, but from a societal health standpoint, for people 44 and under, this isn't even a thing.

There are very clear reasons why that stuff isn’t talked about. The national narrative on Covid was seized early and masterfully held on to throughout. Whether we like it or not. But let’s not turn this into partisan, political and argumentative. It’s possible to point the obvious involvement politics has with this thing without threads here devolving into heated and hated partisanship. 

Danj,

I don't think anybody knows how all of these college athletic funding issues are going to be resolved or modified.   What I have learned in my 10 years on this website is that almost always when a college coach makes an offer that is exactly what happens (academically and financially) in normal times.   There have been some notable exceptions and extreme cases but that has been the overwhelming theme...what is promised is what is delivered.   I have always 100% suggested that folks have a Plan B until that NLI or Admissions Letter is in hand.   Some have called that over the top or paranoid, but I stand by that advice because it is your only leverage should a coach change his mind, leave the college, get run over by a beer truck, or have Admissions changes their mind even after an approved pre-read.  You can't change college athletic funding and recruiting but you can change your approach with or without a pandemic.   

Ten years ago when there was no pandemic, my son "kept in touch" for months with a couple coaches that were his #2 and #3 picks after he committed to #1.   Nobody had a problem with it, and everybody knew he was verbally committed and why (it had nothing to do with baseball) because he told them how they were stack ranked.  All three college choices have low admission rates and are need based financial aid, however other schools offering athletic scholarships were about the same price tag..  For us, choosing a college was a major life decision and required financial planning.   Coaches recruit everyday and make many offers routinely.   The recruit really only gets one shot at this.   I was not about to let a coaches verbal promise dictate my son's future and my wallet without having options-at-the-ready.      

As always, JMO.  Good luck!

Years ago I heard a story about a kid who got a call from a coach the day before NLI was supposed to arrive where the coach said "We're not sending your letter. Two Juco transfers became available now who can help us win immediately and I'm giving them your money. Sorry and good luck."

True? Who knows? But would it be legal? Seems like it's the way it works...nothing is official until it is signed.

We are in this boat.  My 2022 had a verbal offer from a D1 school.  Offer was "put on hold" because the coach is not sure of what the roster will look like next year.  We are assuming "on hold" equals pulled back and moving on.  No hard feelings, things are really weird right now and funding and rosters are 100% in question across the country.

Forget the 2021 kids.  I think there could be some kids who get the phone call or text this week or for sure in December that because football is not playing, we will not have the money to fund your scholarship.  This will be a great way for some to get out of it whether it is legal or not.  You would assume that money is sitting somewhere but I'm afraid some of it is revenue they were expecting to get.  In fact, I know some small to mid-major D1's live off football money from their big games that will not happen this year.  There are some schools that were counting on a big payday from SEC teams that will not get it even if they play with their new format.

@PitchingFan posted:

Forget the 2021 kids.  I think there could be some kids who get the phone call or text this week or for sure in December that because football is not playing, we will not have the money to fund your scholarship.  This will be a great way for some to get out of it whether it is legal or not.  You would assume that money is sitting somewhere but I'm afraid some of it is revenue they were expecting to get.  In fact, I know some small to mid-major D1's live off football money from their big games that will not happen this year.  There are some schools that were counting on a big payday from SEC teams that will not get it even if they play with their new format.

To make matters worse it sounds like a good amount of fall/winter athletes will be withdrawing from school this semester to preserve eligibility in the event they're not granted the additional year. Football is going to have a massive problem if that extra year is granted. 

@Francis7 posted:

Years ago I heard a story about a kid who got a call from a coach the day before NLI was supposed to arrive where the coach said "We're not sending your letter. Two Juco transfers became available now who can help us win immediately and I'm giving them your money. Sorry and good luck."

True? Who knows? But would it be legal? Seems like it's the way it works...nothing is official until it is signed.

This exactly above (except it was one recruit and one juco transfer) happened above for a 2019 on son's high school team. The story is from the kid and his parents.  I believe the family.  But maybe all of the circumstances aren't exactly true. Or maybe they are.  The coaches don't put out press releases when they change or pull verbal offers. Just remember who is telling you the story and where they heard it from.

So question.  It does not affect my kid because we have already paid for apartment and have in state tuition so nothing to gain, but does a couple of his friends and I'm not sure.  Scenario:

A P5 player is not going to get to play this fall (school will not allow them to practice or workout because of covid).  They want to transfer to juco near home for fall for cheaper tuition and stay at home with no lodging and food, and see what happens in spring.  How does that affect their eligibility with D1 and would they lose their scholarship and have to re-apply or renegotiate scholarship? 

@PitchingFan posted:

Forget the 2021 kids.  I think there could be some kids who get the phone call or text this week or for sure in December that because football is not playing, we will not have the money to fund your scholarship.  This will be a great way for some to get out of it whether it is legal or not.  

I wouldn't classify it as 'getting out of it'.   They have a budget, the budget is shot.  They have to make cuts.  OP called it catastrophic to a school's bottom line.  He/She is correct for most schools.   However, not all football programs make money so it's possible cancelling the season will be positive to budget.  

@Nunom posted:

I wouldn't classify it as 'getting out of it'.   They have a budget, the budget is shot.  They have to make cuts.  OP called it catastrophic to a school's bottom line.  He/She is correct for most schools.   However, not all football programs make money so it's possible cancelling the season will be positive to budget.  

Yes, but now they have expenses and no money coming in. They don't have to pay for hotels, bussing, etc. But they still have to pay the staff, 85 full scholarships, insurance, etc. 

The major costs will still be in play unfortunately. So a school that lost money will be spending less, yes, but they won't be making anything back. The deficit still grows.