Define “Verbally committed….”

Someone please define “Student Athlete “X” has verbally committed to Coach X”.

Does that mean the player and college coach looked each other in the eye and shook hands?

Did the player say “I would really like to play for you” and the coach replies “We would love to have you”?

Did the coach send an email making an offer and the player replied “I will”?

I sometimes believe all the above occurs but do coaches handle it their own respective ways? What can you believe? Do some players/parents misinterpret coach’s remarks and jump the gun believing they have been offered a spot? I realize nothing is solid until the NLI is signed but any help with this recruiting question will help.

 

Your points are valid and many kids and parents are led astray from remarks by some coaches. From my understanding a verbal commitment occurs after a coach says "We would like to offer you a scholarship, are you interested in signing with us on signing day?" You give him/her a solid verbal (means you are coming) or a soft verbal (You are on top of my list but I'm still looking) - This is how we took it when I coached college football. My advice is if a player is told by the coach that they would love to have them, the next question out of my mouth would be, "Is there any money available?" Coaches will not talk money unless money is brought up sometimes.

 

A verbal commitment is made after an offer has been made by a school and accepted by the recruit. In Softball and baseball, schools that were interested will back off once the commitment has been made. Although the verbal commitment is worth the paper it's printed on (no papers involved) both parties tend to stick to their commitments. It's rare for either party to renege on their commitments--the coaching fraternity is very small and that kind of notoriety sweeps through the college coaches office like wildfire and is used against them in future recruits.

But there is nothing binding other than your word and reputation.

Since this was brought up, I'd like to caution parents who try to leverage offers from one school against another. There are no secrets. They will know exactly what was offered, so don't inflate it. It makes you look foolish and tends to upset the school that made the offer.

 

....nothing bing other than your word and reputation is a classic reply Braves. nice post

 

Out of State Commitments

When the player is also being recruited by teams outside the State of North Carolina are there any different questions that the family should be asking the out of state schools during visits & before verbally committing?

 

Do you waive out of state tuition?

 

...are you saying that a state school CAN waive out of state tuition fees? Is there some type of agreement with say SC and NC or SC and GA for this type of role?

...and it makes sense to me that all schools should adopt this policy.

Fish

 

It's up to the administration of each school. Some administrations back the program and some don't. Also, it's offered to an athlete they really want. It's not something that is advertised, it's why you ask.

 

Out of State waivers are usually only granted for athletes who get full scholarships. The benefits are seen more in sports like basketball and football. Also it is usually just with public schools and not just administration but the school system must grant this. For example the UNC school system allows these waivers.

Braves does make a good point, trying to leverage offers against schools usually backfires, make sure you know the schools offer up front. Though it has no legal bearing always try to get the offer in email, just so you have it in writing when NLI signing time comes up.

Big point I want to remind every parent, coaches are not admission departments for school, just because a student can verbally commit doesn't mean they are admissible to the school. Make sure if thats truly the school your daughter wants to attend do all the admissions paperwork as soon as possible.

Good luck to everyone in their season and hope everyone is gearing up for the always exciting summer travel ball.

 

To be sure no one is confused, all of our bordering states offer out of state waivers and yes they are with the public schools. However each school's athletic department sets the limit .i.e Lander University can offer all out of state recruits a waiver, while USC may have 5 in softball or baseball. As you can tell it is decided subjectively. Some schools make it part of the offer to one athlete, while not discussed with another. Obviously the Athletic Department would prefer all in-state recruits financially, but reserve a limit for each sport for the blue chip player. Every baseball player from this state recruited out of state at a public school receives this waiver---or they wouldn't be there.

However, the private schools have other resources for grants and aid not found in the public schools. Private schools generally will make an offer that encompasses everything- a package. While public schools will offer the athletic portion and leave it to the families to contact the financial aid department.

I'm sorry if I got off topic, but again to address the question "What should I ask an out of state school?" I would ask them about out of state waivers.