what does this mean?

It's no different on a college visit than it is at home. HS recruits are 17/18 and the legal age is 21. No alcohol is the rule, not to mention the law. You just have to hope they have the maturity and confidence to make the right decision in every situation. Talking with all of your children is critical about many life situations and how to handle them, including underage drinking.

Great topic TPM. I'm still working on my soon-to-be badly needed dislike for Clemson but you make it more difficult.

OS8,
If you read carefully, you will see the purpose of this topic was to ask a question and answer.
The above was mine.

Why don't you pose a question, and answer.

There are 89 guests on board who may have missed the first discussion.

Instead of being so negative, why don't you add something positive to help others?

BBD,
Not understanding the dislike you have for the Tigers. ACC parents are supposed to co-exist peacefully! Once you do the conference game circuit you'll understand, lots of great talent, lots of great coaching. The teams you think you might dislike actually can earn one's respect.

TPM & Board

quote:

I'll start.
This is a question that always seems to pop up this time of year.
My son is going on his first official visit. What should he do it he is offered alcohol? If he says yes, does that mean it will get back to the coach.

This is a great question TPM and the answer I believe is wisest 100 percent of the time is no, don't accept alcohol or participate in this type of behavior.

Let's put aside NCAA recruiting by-laws and create a mock scenerio of the "Real World" of the college campus life in this possible situation.

The news will certainly get back to the Head Coach almost every time if a potential recruit participates and accepts.

Mock Scenerio: Most seasoned coaches will ask his spy or informant how the recruit handled the booze. If the answer is, he handled himself well, this prolly means the candidate has done that before and could have drinking problem. If the answer from the spy/informant is the recruit was really drunk, showed his tail, falling down intoxicated, etc...This prolly means the recruit rarely gets this way and may be an indication that there may be hope for that player with a little leadership and direction.

Again, let me remind the board, all of this is irrevelent if the NCAA gets wind of activities because this type of behavior is in direct violation of the NCAA recruiting by-laws.

There are consequences!

About the other guests on board who are not signed in....as Cap_n says in his bio, they love to be entertained by discussions. A couple of AFLAC parents and I got a good laugh about our entertaining discussions in SD.

Peace,
Shep

If you think the concept is negative, don't get involved.
Now that's positive!

TPM, I think your idea of putting older yet still relevant posts where others caan see is a great idea. I dont know why others had to be so critical especially because you were trying to entice the "ghosts" to join and become part of the "family".

It's always a good time to bring attention to such an important topic. Great job TPM!

TPM - You are right on about the 'ghosts', having been one myself for a long time. I was very afraid to ask a question or reply for fear of being criticized. Even though we can basically remain annonomous as a poster - no one likes to be put down for asking a question.

The idea of going over frequently asked questions is great, because it's not always easy to find something and it will attract the newer readers to the different topics. Many of you have been down these roads and don't need to discuss the 'newbie' type questions - but you all have so much to add and help to give. Thank you for that - it helps so msny 'ghosts' take the next step in posting and replying and adding information of their own.

Okay, since the idea of the discussion is to ask a question the old timers might be able to help with, here;s my question:

Son is a jr and has received several email invites to various camps, a request for film from one of the colleges on his list, and frequent updates on baseball happenings at a certain D1 from the head coach there. He's also received a letter, baseball schedule, and form (to be filled out by his coach) from a school he's been interested in since 8th grade. Coach at that school has recommended he plan a weekday visit to get a feel for the campus, invited him to attend a game, and invited him to a prospect camp. Son and coach were in email contact again yesterday and following last contact son said "if they offer me a scholarship I'm going to take it". (Yes we know that would be next summer). Question is this - another school had asked son to verbally commit but he said he wasn't ready to make that decision. I don't think he should commit to any school, yet. Its just too soon to know for sure where the best fit will be (although this is a good one). What types of statements on his part could be misconstued as a verbal commitment? Is there anything he should be careful not to say or is this something that is cut and dry?

quote:

son said "if they offer me a scholarship I'm going to take it"

Those are magic words.

A verbal committment is:

Coach asks, "Son, are you gonna play baseball for me?"

"Coach, I am coming to your school and will sign a NLI on signing day."

Don't get misconstrued.

..I hope my meaning won't be lost or misconsrued...there must be fifty ways to sign agree to an NLI....

Why would a coach ask a junior to verbally commit and why would son say yes? I wouldn't even tell my son to commit even if it was the school of his dreams! That takes him out of the picture. How does that coach know what a player will be like in 2 years? What aobut grades, lots of important stuff goes on as a junior. What has the coach asked him to commit too?
Your son has plenty of time to decide which school is the best fit for him.

Cut and dry as far as the commitment is concerned. The coach makes an offer and you say yes or no. There's no mystery to it.
A coach may say, at anytime in the recruiting process, we would like you to come play at our school. That does not constitute an offer.

For some reason, players are making verbal commitments to colleges before they play their junior year. It's inexplicable to me.

That's my point, BBD - son was asked to verbally commit to another school, last year, so it could happen again. I just want to be sure there's a difference between him saying "yeah, I'd love to come to XYZ U" and actually committing and inadvertently closing doors for himself. Its way too soon for that to happen so I needed to know that verbally committing involves a definite, identifiable, cut-and-dry situation as opposed to something he could accidentally fall into. That way I can talk to him about it before-hand and make sure he doesn't say the wrong thing.

Thanks, All.

I can only tell you what my son did. He was offered several scholarships on the first day allowed, July 1, 2005 for a 2006 grad. One of the schools was his number one choice and was from the first time he began thinking about college. He knew what he wanted and we had visited the school twice unofficially prior to the coach calling on July 1. He was ready to commit so he told his coach on July 5. It helped the coach move on to the next recruiting need for the team.

Michael was ready and prepared for his decision. That was our criteria. I hear of players committing without ever seeing the campus or surrounding environment, which shocks me.

But recruiting is competitive among the bigger schools and conferences. I also hear of coaches that offer scholarships (after legally able to do so)and telling the kid that it's a decide now or it may go away deal.

Baseballdad

I am with you---perhaps this is why so many kids transfer like they do--they are not totally aware of what the situation is, both on the field and in the classroom, where they are going.

We have learned much from the fine folks who've walked this road before us, but I think the lesson we're trying to follow the most is to make sure we find the right college fit for our son. We want him to be at a school where he will be happy and successful whether he plays baseball or not. Hence the reason for making sure he doesn't commit too early - even if he loves the school. Better to wait a little while, explore other opportunities, and be ready to make the right decision when the time comes. Thanks, again.

TPM, I think these basic topic(s) should always remain at the top of the HSBBW lists and we should realize every “new” person is looking for much the same information that every other poster was looking for when they first arrived. It’s good to have the “ghosts” shopping around looking for information because that reminds us what makes the HSBBW important. I can remember when I first found the HSBBW and asked my first questions. Some people were pretty rude to me. I stuck with it and suddenly there was some great advice coming back to me. Just because a parent has a son that has some baseball talent doesn’t mean that parent knows anything at all about baseball or what they should being doing about their son’s talent. It’s sad but I’m sure there are some parents and players that don’t want to take the chance of being embarrassed on a public forum so they never ask their questions and maybe never get their answers. I think we should all be aware that the new poster needs what we consider some pretty basic information ---- and ---- those of us that have been around for years need to realize that the baseball scene is always changing and these “new and ignorant” posters will ultimately be the “educators” on the HSBBW.

On early commitments: In most cases I think the early commitment eliminates a player's options and could end up hurting him in the long run --- unless that player wouldn't consider another option. In my opinion "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" --- doesn’t apply during the early stages of the recruiting cycle.
Fungo

The answer should be, I would love to play at school, but it is not the right time for me to make that decision.

I think because of son's experiences is the reason I got so involved in trying to give advice in recruiting. Those of you think that for son it was a pleasant experience, it was NOT, in general. Or for us.

First day and week, most of the calls coming in where for us, as he had been in contact with most of the coaches. Just a hello. By the second week, offers were made over the phone, invites extended for the summer for unofficial visits, as with many of recruits they wanted him to visit before an official visit. His playing schedule would not allow the time. By third week, the pressure was on from many schools, he told them the above, and that he could not make a decision without seeing the campus, meeting the team. Anyone that told him he HAD to make a decision he told them he was not interested. We even had an in home visit, where the coach told him he would give him until mid sept to decide, he would not spend "HIS" (meaning son) money until then. This didn't sit well with son. One school he visited as a junior, actually was nasty to him (it was a new coach) because he would not committ, bye coach.
By the end of the summer he has his 5 visits set in place, one was cancelled as the coach called to tell him he had a committment from a player that would cost him too much money would son consider coming for **percent. No coach, bye. He had already told his "dream school" no thank you, he just didn't like their superior attitude (we don't have to recruit, players come to us). Bye coach. End of august he cut the visits down to 2, after doing some real homework, he just felt it was not for him, weather and geography, but he really liked the coaches. Funny, 3 coaches have since come and gone, as the other that cancelled on him. Two of those coaches recruiting him were fired. Life is strange. Many of the coaches recruitng him are NO LONGER at that school.
His first visit was to where he plays, he was given an offer but not pressured, he was encouraged to give it a few days to think about it and have a good weekend. We knew that was it though. Out of fairness we asked him to visit an instate school, which he did, it was a high pressured weekend for him and us. Special rides in the car with the head coach, lots of pulling over for side bars, making sure the coaches sat at the table with us. We were ready to go home first night, so was he. After seeing him that weekend, the coach came into town to seehim to pressure him for an answer I think that is what did the coach in.
Funny, I look back, although he did receive pressure from where he plays, he ended up at the school playing for the coach that gave him the most time to decide, least pressure to give answer right away.

Your sons have plenty of time and no one should feel they need to committ a year ahead of official signing. Things change, coaches change, players change. Once your sons give a verbal and word get around, pretty much stops the process.

Fungo, the original intention of my post was to go over some questions that people ask frequetly over and over. Not meant for new posters to ask questions. Not sure if everyone understood my intentions or read the beginning, which many don't, just the topic and last post entered.

You make great points, TPM. Think of how many recruiters/coaches leave while the kids they brought in still have years left. You better like more about a school, program, etc. than just a coach or recruiter.

kmom, a few observations

pardon my timeline recollection, it's been a while - if I understood correctly, you describe a pretty significant amount of communication and relationship building to have happened since yesterday (Sept 1, jr yr) - the day prospects can receive real recruiting materials, letters etc, and not the general school & camp stuff previous to that

that said, you make the school he's wanted since 8th grade sound like a pretty good fit.
and, if you're on his campus the coach CAN make your son an offer regardless of what grade he's in. and tho it's a RARE occurrance before July after jr yr - if it happens you should pretty seriously consider it.

of course, if he (& you) are unsure, by all means delay until you've explored more future options, while being aware that some options can "dry up" & no longer be there later

good luck

.

Must say, pretty observant of you Bee. Lots of activity, plus an offer going on there for a junior.

Sept 1 was yesterday, the day college coaches can legally begin to actively recruit someone.

Has something changed?

First of all, school in question is not a D1. School that discussed verbal commitment, last year, was also not a D1. Son received letter today from 1st D1 - a school he'd never even considered. That opened his eyes to the fact that other possibilities will probably exist in the next year and he's seeing that as a good thing, so I don't have to worry about him verbally commiting and my original question is now mute.

The original subject of this thread indicated it was to ask the old-timers for their expertise. I didn't ask how to handle the verbal commitment issue to sound "braggy" - I asked because I needed advice.

KH,
You are correct that you did not state that all of the schools were D1, however you did say he had been getting frequent updates from a D1, which cannot actively recruit until sept 1 of junior year.
I think that you have received good advice regarding the verbal commitment, and I also think your son will find out that there most likely will be many more opportunities to come.

Fungo - Exactly!

and TPM - it is the new ones that ask those same questions over and over - so your idea is great for them.

Hoovmom, Fungo, TPM, & others,...I think its very important that we continue to bring up again and return to, important topics.

I looove the idea of reindroducing them again. The new ( & old ) ghosts may have new questions to old topics and those need to asked to benefit all of us. Knowledge is KEY!! Repitition never hurt either, IMO.

I also think it VERY important to not let a few cranky-uptight-critical-negative ( wow,..those adjectives came to me so easily! ha! ) grumpies
scare off posters.

I think its happened to all of us at some point.

I do believe though that in the long run the positive outweighs the negative most definately,..but that can only happen if we dont lose the newbies from the get-go. If they know that there are others of us who are here to help and not criticize, then hopefully that will entice them to stay, keep reading, posting, and asking those most important questions.

If you read TPM's origional post, you can see that others were trying to "tear her post apart".
She stood fast and held her ground,..and moved the topic forward.
( I like her style! )

Lets get back to some of the older topics,..I am still a newbie myself and dont always go allllll the waaay back to the beginning of a post and read through it,..

I'm a sittin' and listenin' and a-waitin'!
( Has there ever been an old topic about addiction to these cute smiley face icon thing- a-ma-bobbers, that I can't seem to resist putting in my post? Perhaps I need therapy! ha!)

Thanks all!

Well, maybe my idea was not all in vain as I received a pm this am and just got done doing some reading and figuring out.

Question: My son has been in email contact with coaches before his junior year, is this in violation of NCAA recruititng.

Answer: It seems that for this old timer, it's been a long time since son has been recruited and I guess time to get out of the closet and get up with the "times".
This is confusing (as with anything in the NCAA). I first went to coaches guidelines, the thing that stood out at me was that emailing and text messaging definetly doesn't fall into the no,no list.
Then I went to the recruiting timeline, and although things remain the same, seems like emailing and text messaging, is NOT mentioned and most likely is the way to go these days. I suggest anyone with questions take a look, page 27-28 of the athletes guidelines 05-06 Refer to "other sports".
So the answer would be, seems no violation has occurred!
As far as Div 2 and 3, active recruiting to get materials is the same as Div 1, Div 3 is anytime. As for phone calls, in Div 2 a recruit can receive calls beginning June 15 of senior summer. D3 is no restrictions on time.

Do remember that your son becomes a true prospect when he enters 9th grade, so I would imagine with the use of cyberspace anything is possible.

I also suggest that new readers go visit the NCAA site and read over the recruiting guide for athletes. It sure has changed since my son first received the material! Will answer lots of your questions, for interpretations call the NCAA.

Many of you have sons just entering school and will be trying to win a spot of the team. May be a good time for this question I received once in a pm.
Question: My son has been asked to redshirt (any) does this mean he is not a part of the team?
Answer: I think this is a good question to ask during the recruiting process.
All coaches handle the redshirt differently. I went to a local college's D1 game last year and found myself sitting next to a redshirt who practices with the team but not allowed to dress out during games or be in the dugout. I know at my son's school, redshirts dress out and sit in the dugout, are on the team roster but not the active roster. They all have a number and uniform. I also believe they travel to local non division games. I know that if it were my son, I would prefer it that way, feeling more part of the team, despite having to take a redshirt.