Early Commits

You touch on some of the fundamental problems with the system in place right now.

1). players are asked to make a commitment for 4 years while college coaches only make 1 yr commitment. If the college programs were force to make a 4 year commitment as mentioned earlier, that would balance the "commitment" scales.
2). because the offers/verbals are occurring so far in advance, it's unreasonable to expect that the variables that went into making decision 3-4 years prior won't change. Parents financial situation can change dramatically. Job loss, changing jobs, divorce, etc....
As most should know, most players are not on full rides. 50% scholarship when having to pay out of state tuition can still a large financial responsibility on the family. A negative change in the families financial position could make that become unreasonable due to a financial change, where as 50% at an instate school might still be doable.

If I were to propose a solution, it would be:
- allow verbals after an athletes junior year. That way both sides are making a near term decision.
- make the university commit to 4 year scholarship

These changes will reduce the amount of decommits and I'm not sure that it would be necessary to "put meat into the verbal" But even if you did, you still need a system that deals with the real world events that happen in life.

 

Great post. See, you can have insightful & intelligent discussions on this board

 

Not how the real world works

Wow...I'm just waiting for Dorothy and Toto to come out of the Emerald Forest. I think you all have a wonderful plan, but back in the real world, it ain't gonna happen.

first of all, except for a hand full of schools across the country, softball doesn't matter. It ain't football or basketball.

There is no way a school is gonna honor a scholarship proposed by coach that no longer works at the school... Why would another coach want to come to that program, If they had years of verbal commits to honor from a previous coaching staff.

Remember, DI programs get less than 12 scholarship dollars (in state dollars ).

With the rule you want to make, coaches would start hoarding players, offering verbals to every kid with a glove to try and lock them up and keep them from the "competition"

They would be low dollar amounts, ( 2000.00 - 5000.00 a year ) You would have huge teams, all with low money.

Mom and dad still have to pay the rest of the cost of attendance......even if little Suzy flames out of the softball program and keeps her $2000.00 scholly....

Here is an idea....
Put the time in and research the program you are interested in. get to know the coaching staff and kids on the team.
Mom and Dad need to stand up and be a parent, help your kid make their first life changing decision...

Don't choose a program because your travel ball coach wants another star on their resume because he or she put you there.... they had nothing to do with it.. you can either play or you can't.
The school is recruiting you, not the travel coach. Go to a school that after 4 years of attendance, offers you a life path to a fulfilling career. If you get to play 4 years of ball... even better.

Hope I don't make anybody mad, ....if I did.. go back to sleep.

 

I completely agree that parents are ultimately responsible and u make good points around parents educating themselves. Hopefully, that's what this and other forums can do by sharing experiences as coaches and parents who have been through the process.

However, I'd argue that accepting responsibility and education yourself are only a part of what needs to be done. Even the best educated parents will have a difficult time controlling all the variables in play for the 3-5 yr window that exists.

Here's a great article that looks at the issue from multiple angles (coaches, parents, players, ncaa). Everyone hates it but the NCAA won't fix it.

 

See Coach Dorrance's comments...

See below............


Mr. Dorrance’s biggest complaint is that he is increasingly making early offers to players who do not pan out years later.

“If you can’t make a decision on one or two looks, they go to your competitor, and they make an offer,” he said. “You are under this huge pressure to make a scholarship offer on their first visit.”

The result has been a growing number of girls who come to play for him at North Carolina and end up sitting on the bench.

“It’s killing the kids that go places and don’t play,” he said. “It’s killing the schools that have all the scholarships tied up in kids who can’t play at their level. It’s just, well, it’s actually rather destructive.”


This creates what I stated above....

Not sure how it is fixed...... NCAA can create all the rules you want, Only way would be to ban all coaches from "showcase" events until the PSA is above a certain age....

OR...If the coach gives a verbal, it has to be binding and must include the $$$ amount dedicated to that specific student athlete.

I think you would see athletic departments create rules from within prohibiting such foolish decision making...

That might stop the madness...... or not.

 

Yeah, and these passages are pretty telling

Despite the rush, there is a growing desire among many coaching groups to push back. At a meeting of women’s lacrosse coaches in December, nearly every group session was dedicated to complaints about how quickly the trend was moving and discussions about how it might be reversed. In 2012, the Intercollegiate Men’s Lacrosse Coaches Association proposed rule changes to the N.C.A.A. to curtail early recruiting. But the N.C.A.A. declined to take them up, pointing to a moratorium on new recruiting rules. (At the same time, though, the N.C.A.A. passed new rules allowing unlimited texting and calls to basketball recruits at an earlier age.)

“The most frustrating piece is that we haven’t been able to get any traction with the N.C.A.A.,” said Dom Starsia, the men’s lacrosse coach at Virginia. “There’s a sense that the N.C.A.A. doesn’t want to address this topic at all.”

In an interview, Steve Mallonee, the managing director of academic and membership affairs for the N.C.A.A., reiterated his organization’s moratorium on new recruiting rules. He said the new rules on texting and calling were allowed because they were a “presidential initiative.”

In short, it's out of control, coaches are asking the NCAA for help and the NCAA isn't listening to recruiting changes unless it's related to the revenue sports.

I'm not sure if this will reach a tipping point or just keep getting earlier and earlier but I like your use of "madness" to describe this. Who knows, down the road, caoches may be making offers to parents, in case they give birth to a girl.