Recruiting Question

I was asked this question a couple weeks ago and been pondering it ever since. I figured with the compilation of knowledge on TBR, someone (probably multiple folks) knows the answer.

It has to do with early commitments. When can a coach talk money to a recruit? Do early commitments know what kind of package they are getting? In football and basketball this isn't really a big deal because most of those guys know they are getting a full ride when they commit early, but with limited baseball scholarships, I know most guys don't get a full ride. So, does an early commitment know what type of number he is going to get, or does that get discussed at a later date? I'm unsure of the NCAA rules on this stuff. Thanks.

 

Jeremy, I've been asking the same Q. When I hear about local kids like Garrison Lassiter or Greg Holt commiting to the Heels during their Sophmore/Junior years, I wonder what that means. My understanding is that a school can't actually make any kind of formal offer until the summer before a kid's Senior year. Garrison & Greg are special players for sure, but as a Dad I want (need) to know about $$$. I'm sure their Pops want those details too.

A coach who is involved in the business talked to me about this. He was NOT talking about Coach Fox, so don't read anything into this. I'm not inferring that Garrison or Greg were illegally recruited.

But this Coach suggested that some prominent coaches circumvent the rule by saying: "We can't make you an offer. But at D1 schools like ours, a Freshman with your talent typically should expect to co-pay about xx% of his school expense. And generally if you make that school's Spring roster, typically your scholarship at said school would be increased to xx% for your sophmore year."

I'm wondering if the new NCAA academic rules & the pressure of accountability for baseball will change all this. I suspect we'll see much less mass recruiting & tryouts....which means early commits will be fewer & farther between.

 

This is a great question

I'm unsure of this myself. What I do know is this scenario is highly unethical (The scenario that UK gave). If people are doing that, it's not very good. There is no way that you can prove that a school made an informal suggestion as to what the kids scholarship could possibly be.

I don't think this is a very good trend anyway. Commiting before July 1, their junior year. Especially if the kid has not been formally offered a scholarship. If their is nothing binding, then the kid may get hurt before the fall of his senior year. The school that has the commitment will expect them not to go anywhere until they see how the injury comes along. All of the sudden, the kid misses out. This will happen sooner or later.

I'm sure that the NCAA will put something in sooner or later.

 

If the question is do the players that commit early receive a scholarship package; the answer is yes. A player and his parent(s) may attend a school unofficially. At that time, a coach can make an offer.

Early commitments are rare, but each year there appears to be more of them. It usually involves the Top Notch players. There are positives and negatives for this situation, but no matter what is offered, it is not binding until the National Letter of Intent is signed later.

The college baseball community is a small world. Unlike football and basketball, it is rare for a coach or player to revoke their commitments to each other. That type of situation reverberates throughout all of the college baseball fraternity.

 

Not sure why a coach would say that Dukey. First of all, if it is off campus, a coach can never speak to an undergraduate before July 1 of their rising senior year. But if said coach was speaking to a recruit (illegally), then there is no reason he wouldn't give out their financial package to him. Doesn't make any sense.

I know UNC would never do something like that. When my son was a soph, I walked up to a friend of mine who was speaking to Coach Holbrook (who I didn't know at the time). Holbrook jetted out of there so fast to a point that it hurt my feelings (I thought I needed to change my clothes or something). I found out later he didn't want to appear to be speaking to me.

 

Let me see if I understand that completely....If my son is a rising junior at Podunk High and we drive down to Chapel Hill and walk into Coach Fox's office, he can make an offer........but he can't come to a Legion game and do the same thing until after July 1 before his senior year?

 

Recruiting

Having gone through the process with my son Greg at such any early time in his high school career, I can help fill in some questions. One is that you as a parent must updated on the recruiting process. Without that you can put a college coach in a bad place by doing something that will put the coach in a difficult situation. All coaches that Greg was recruited by were outstanding people and knew the process. When you are recruited by a school, you can be offered scholarship money at the proper date given by the NCAA.

If you are getting prepared to be recruited, the number one thing he did was to go to a camp of the schools he was interested in. This may not be possible for all players, but it really helped in making the decision. You get a feel for the coaches and the make up of the players and the program.

He was in the world of text messaging,which may be taken away, and it can become overwhelming. 30-40 per day and all looking for responses. it.There is so much more to it so if you have any question, just send me a pm. I hope this helped a little b

 

heels0710, clarify this point for me. Was Greg told exactly how much scholarship $$ he would receive before he committed a year ago? Or did Coach Fox leave it at: "We'd love to have you. We can't work out details until your Senior year."

I realize Braves answered this earlier & knows what he's talking about...which means my source (former D1 assistant who is now an NAIA coach in Tennessee) was badly informed. I searched the internet trying to find clarity on this.

 

If you are on their campus, unofficial visit or attending a camp, then yes. He can make an offer at any time. I'm surprised that it surprises others. It happens quite often in other sports (Chris Leak committed to Wake Forest during his freshman year).

The difference is baseball rarely made early offers. In most cases, it didn't make a lot of sense for the recruit. Why would they, when they haven't fielded all offers from other schools. But the number one reason that recruits commit early is they will be attending their 'dream" school. And the fact that they did commit early, they received a nice offer.

The benefit for the school is obvious. They've locked up a player early...and in baseball, other schools will move on.

Again, this will only happen for the top players.

By the way, text messaging has gone away. One can still email

 

Recruiting is such a great topic with many twists and turns...as well as a ton of questions.

One of the great things about TBR is that we have so many members that have been through the recruiting process. It is a different adventure for each family.

It can be fun, exciting, excrutiating, sad, life altering and a piece of cake. It depends on each one's journey. But I can say with complete confidence that the more you learn about the process, the easier it can be,

One of the things I have always asked our members is to share their recruiting experience with our new members; to give a little back to the families that are getting prepared to enter the recruiting process for the first time.

Also, I feel I can say this with confidence to the parents going through the process the first time. If you believe you are prepared and thoroughly knowledgeable of this process (except for a few like Coach May and itsinthegame. They are Guru's)....you are not!

This is the perfect time to ask questions about anything pertaining to recruiting. For many of you, it gets real in a little over a week.

When I have time, I'll post a lot of information in a new thread. In the mean time, let's use this thread to continue to ask questions.