D1 verbal commitments??????

Seems like verbal commitments to high school players made by college baseball programs are good unless the college (or the high school player) decide to change their minds. What is going on here??
I don't want to expose any program, but I know of two cases where the D1 school "changed their mind", leaving the player with no cards in his hand and the parents thoroughly furious. Is this becoming a normal thing in the recruiting process? ...

 

It's very rare in baseball.

Not that it hasn't happened for other reasons, but the only time I've heard of it happening in 10 years of following college baseball closely was when a new head coach at a Florida college sent signals to a couple of the former coach's recruits that they would be challenged to make the roster.

I have also heard of a couple of instances (outside of North Carolina) when a player and/or his family members stretched the truth a bit about the "commitment" they had received. Since no real offer of an athletic scholarship had been made, they chose to pin it on the coaching staff when the players' names failed to be included among the list of signees.

Bottom line, though: it's quite exceptional.

 

verbage

We've seen this happen right here in NC. The family stretches the truth a little too far and starts using verbage like verbal and commitment in the same sentence when the player has only experienced the beginnings of the process with a coach. Then when nothing happens and it becomes obvious to others, they have to save face. May not be the case with the above mentioned instances, but some people let themselves get caught up in impressions and competitiveness.

Others truly don't understand the difference between a coach announcing he's interested and a verbal commitment.