How young is too young to verbal?

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I am kind of puzzled on the replies that the player can relax, parents can save money, player can focus more on school etc. if they verbal as a Freshman/Sophomore?????
As a collage athlete one must challenge themselves to play at the highest level while still be able to keep up on their academics.

All of the schools that my DD was interested in as a freshman (and that were interested in her) wanted to know the summer schedule....

A verbal early is a good thing but; do not think the lady can relax or the player can play a soft schedule.

The player/parents may be able to save some cash by not playing a showcase schedule but, again IMO that is risky since they may get better offers or the institution they have verbalized too may have coaching changes or may have other athletes come into the picture...

As far as is a verbal too soon as a 14u or freshman no...Just keep it in perspective...

I may of missed another post but I was clear in mine about taking the time to train and not hop from camp to camp with different coaches teaching different things. If at an early age you know where you are going you have the opportunity to work on the things They Want. Assuming they will still be there!

I had no intention to imply that it was time to relax!

 

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Many people have hit all the points about verbals and recruiting - but the thing that parents and coaches MUST remember is that for College coaches it is their career. They HAVE to make good decesions and they have to make them early. Maybe Joe can chime in but I was told last summer that D1 schools all have between 20-30 players per class that they are really interested in. They make it a priority to see those kids play whenever possible. And to those kids and their families they are the schools focus when in fact they are really just part of that grad years pool of players. Getting the verbal offer and accepting is a great thing regardless of when it comes. In my opinion 9th and 10th grade is too early for all the reasons mentioned - but the reality is that the really good ones will get the offers early and have to make decisions. For many, many families that is a problem they would like to have!!!

To add to my previous post- there is a big difference between "interest" and actively recruiting but obviously you need to get on their radar first. The way I see recruiting is this: the colleges maintain a prospect list- a list of kids who either have contacted them and from their email, they seem to fit the bill or they have seen them play and these kids get added to the list.

If the coach has seen your kid play and then your coach gets a call, then there is some "hope" as something sparked their interest. Depending on the program, the list of potential recruits could be very very long. For example, if your daughter is a freshman SS, odds are the college has their eyes on 20-25 SS at that age group and the list is ever evolving as new kids get added and others get removed.

If your daughter is young- cast a very very wide net. you never know when a D2 coach is moved up to a D1, or a MAC/Horizon coach makes the move to mid major. Its really hard to gauge MOST kids potential talent level at a young age (some are late bloomers, some top out). (AND I am not saying anything is wrong with MAC or Horizon, just making a point to cast a wide net)

Make sure she is playing on the highest level team that matches her abilities. As a freshman and sophomore, your really need to get out there and play the best competition to build a resume. The Coaches want to hear that your daughter faced teams out west. If your kid is younger than that, i would only recommend that elite pitchers leg the miles.

The whole recruiting process puts a bad taste in alot of peoples mouths (dissappointment at camps they attend that appear to be a cattle call). Make the most of the experience and enjoy it. Use this as an opportunity to stress the importance of selecting the right school and try not to let your frustrations show. your daughter will pick up on this and might say to hell with the camps which is NOT good.

Unless your kid was personally invited by the Coach to attend the camp, I personally think only pitchers and power hitters get the most bang for their buck at camps because those kids can be spotted quickly amongst 200+ kids at a camp. Coaches always watch pitchers and word of mouth travels fast on a power hitter. If your daughter doesn't fall into this category, be selective on the camps- go to camps that you think fit her abilities and schools that she is interested in academically and try and establish some sort of relationship with the coach. send an email that you are going, and make sure she introduces herself and follow up afterwards. If you have a travel ball coach or are part of an organization that has a history with recruiting, it will make it a little easier.

I hope others chime in and give some advice and share their experiences too

 

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How young is too young to verbal? I'm hearing of kids getting offers at Freshman and was wondering what those of you on this Board think?

I check the Goldfastpitch (GoldFastpitch.com) page often and there seems to be alot of Freshman making that decision.

This topic was discussed extensively on another website based out here. What I got out of it was most people think it's too early for most kids, but it seems to work for the ones that got the offer they wanted.

I certainly don't consider 16 "to be a lot of Freshman making that decision." It's very important to keep early verbals (frosh/soph) in perspective - there are almost 300 D1 softball programs and most of the schools making these offers come from the powerhouses (i.e. PAC, SEC and Big 12). Only 22 schools got 2+ verbals of the 92 2015s on the list and even less have 3-4. People shouldn't get all worked up about early verbals because they are relatively rare and mainly for the creme-de-la-creme.

People should look at the list sorted by school (GoldFastpitch Verbals by School) to see what the schools that interest them have done. The list isn't 100% complete, but it will give you an idea of each school's timing and possibly show they have already filled your position (mainly for pitchers and catchers) for that grad class.

 

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A verbal is just that - a verbal. Until all is signed and the rubber hits the road, it's NOT a done deal. The only kids who should feel comfortable with a verbal are the honest to goodness "blue chippers" who would have their pick of top DI schools WITHOUT a verbal. Say what you want about the coach tarnishing their reputation by not honoring verbals, but sadly, the days of "gentleman's agreements" are long gone.

A kid who is anything other than a top prospect is risking a lot at any age with a verbal. Unforseen things happen in programs. Let's say a kid has verbaled to a coach. The next spring a starter (or two) sustains a season ending injury and gets red shirted. All of a sudden the coach is down a couple scholarships, because the "unplanned" red shirt will be back next year. Typically a coach is going to extend loyalty to existing players before risking an unknown freshman. So then - the verbal and pending scholarship offer gets rescinded, albeit with a good excuse. But regardless, the recruit is left out in the cold at the worst possible moment, scrambling for new offers.

My opinion is to not verbal unless you are a top prospect - maybe in the top 3 recruits in Ohio. A verbal says to other coaches: "Hands off - I'm committed." This unspoken rule is generally honored amongst college coaches. So why on earth, as a recruit, would you want to take yourself off the market for the sake of short-lived bragging rights? Makes no sense to me.

Instead of verbals, think instead about early signing. True, you can't sign at 14, but there's a reason. If you are indeed a top recruit, November signing is a good trade-off, and it's a REAL commitment. It takes pressure off of BOTH parties - a verbal only works to the coach's benefit. Signing says that BOTH parties are serious and truly commited.

 

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A verbal is just that - a verbal. Until all is signed and the rubber hits the road, it's NOT a done deal. The only kids who should feel comfortable with a verbal are the honest to goodness "blue chippers" who would have their pick of top DI schools WITHOUT a verbal. Say what you want about the coach tarnishing their reputation by not honoring verbals, but sadly, the days of "gentleman's agreements" are long gone.

A kid who is anything other than a top prospect is risking a lot at any age with a verbal. Unforseen things happen in programs. Let's say a kid has verbaled to a coach. The next spring a starter (or two) sustains a season ending injury and gets red shirted. All of a sudden the coach is down a couple scholarships, because the "unplanned" red shirt will be back next year. Typically a coach is going to extend loyalty to existing players before risking an unknown freshman. So then - the verbal and pending scholarship offer gets rescinded, albeit with a good excuse. But regardless, the recruit is left out in the cold at the worst possible moment, scrambling for new offers.

My opinion is to not verbal unless you are a top prospect - maybe in the top 3 recruits in Ohio. A verbal says to other coaches: "Hands off - I'm committed." This unspoken rule is generally honored amongst college coaches. So why on earth, as a recruit, would you want to take yourself off the market for the sake of short-lived bragging rights? Makes no sense to me.

Instead of verbals, think instead about early signing. True, you can't sign at 14, but there's a reason. If you are indeed a top recruit, November signing is a good trade-off, and it's a REAL commitment. It takes pressure off of BOTH parties - a verbal only works to the coach's benefit. Signing says that BOTH parties are serious and truly commited.

Agreed. Good post.

No real commitment from either until there is a signed NLI.

Have also heard of coaches that verbal more than they actually can sign leaving kids struggling to hook up someplace since by that point most of their other choices have filled the spots they had offered.

 

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Also feel that as it continues to get more competitive for coaches to land top recruits, coaches look for verbals earlier and earlier to get the jump on the competition.

Of course if the kid they verbal in 8th grade doesn't look so good by the time they hit their senior year, the coach can just pull the offer.

 

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How many coach has anyone heard of pulling a verbal commitment from a player? Now I am not talking about due to grades or bad behavior but just because they had too many offers or just because? Wouldn't that make their program less creditable and less attractive to recruits if they did do that? If there was a school/coach that gave out offers and then pulled them later down the road that school/coach would have a hard time getting those top recruits I think.

 

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Well from talking to some D1 coaches they do pull offers at some point. The point at which they will do this is after a certain amount of time with no commitment. They need to fill that spot with another top notch recruit.

But where i think the honorable and reputable programs will contact that recruit and let them no if they are not ready to commit they need to move on.


As the old saying goes " A bird in the hand is better then two in the bush"

 

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Many people have hit all the points about verbals and recruiting - but the thing that parents and coaches MUST remember is that for College coaches it is their career. They HAVE to make good decesions and they have to make them early. Maybe Joe can chime in but I was told last summer that D1 schools all have between 20-30 players per class that they are really interested in. They make it a priority to see those kids play whenever possible. And to those kids and their families they are the schools focus when in fact they are really just part of that grad years pool of players. Getting the verbal offer and accepting is a great thing regardless of when it comes. In my opinion 9th and 10th grade is too early for all the reasons mentioned - but the reality is that the really good ones will get the offers early and have to make decisions. For many, many families that is a problem they would like to have!!!

I'm not sure about the numbers that D1 schools seriously look at each year, but that sounds about right. That 20-30 is also the number for my D2 program. We hear (not counting the recruiting service e-mails) from probably 300-500 from each recruiting class (probably double or triple that for D1 schools). And we probably don't hear from as many girls as most D2s because our highly selective admission standards probably dissuade most girls from even contacting us. We get down to the 20-30 by a combination of

(1) seeing who is an academic fit;

(2) trying to determine who is truly interested in our school;

(3) determining whether we are going to be able to see them play; will they be at tournaments we will attend or could conceivably attend;

(4) talking to coaches or whoever else who can give us an unbiased opinion;

(5) looking at their videos;

(6) watching them at our camps;

(7) any other information we can glean.

After that it's just a matter or watching them play and having them in for a visit. By the time we are ready to make offers we have a much better idea about what we are looking for position-wise and that eliminates some players.

 

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Joe - you mentioned something here that might be an interesting thread topic. I am being told by many coaches that the blind emails being sent from recruiting services are getting out of control. Many have no relevance to the particular school. And in MANY cases the "DELETE" button is being pushed more times than "OPEN".

 

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Joe - you mentioned something here that might be an interesting thread topic. I am being told by many coaches that the blind emails being sent from recruiting services are getting out of control. Many have no relevance to the particular school. And in MANY cases the "DELETE" button is being pushed more times than "OPEN".

Do recruits really have to spend thousands of dollars on a service that you can do yourself? I think if a coach/school get an e-mail from a player verse a service it means alot more. Besides, one recruiting service that has been calling us for a year now wants about $1500 to get her name out. Lot of $$ for something you can do in the evening. Just be organized and make a list of your contacts to coaches/schools. DD has gotten the hang of it now.

 

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The e-mails from recruiting services have increased probably threefold in the 4 1/2 years I've been involved. I imagine many of the D1s do hit delete. I will take a look at all of them, but many of them get quickly deleted. I have had some that truly were directed at our program. Heck, I had one in August from a girl who we really would have liked to have had, but her grades and scores weren't quite up to our par and she ended up signing in November at a MAC school. If her grades and scores were a little higher, we had a good shot at her and she probably would have been our #4 hitter for four years. I was told Michigan was looking at her and she kind of put her eggs in that basket, thus the late availability, although I don't know for sure that's true. Of course, if I get one of these e-mails from a girl in Michigan, Ohio or Indiana, I will take a close look at it, as opposed to one from Texas or wherever.

I suppose hiring the service doesn't hurt, but all of us coaches want to see the player showing initiative and doing her own research. I have on a few occasions called a girl after getting one of these and asked her what makes her interested in Hillsdale. This has shocked a couple of them who have never heard of us.

Anyway, I seem to say this 3-4 times a year on here, but I don't understand why girls don't do the necessary research and then spcifically target their e-mails to the individual school, program and coach. The services and other advisers have gotten wise to this over the last few years, but they almost all try to take damaging shortcuts. They seem to think looking up our record from last year and our nickname is enough to show specific interest. They often don't know whether we offer the major we want, what grades and scores it takes to get admitted, the size of our school, or even our location, etc.

Unfortunately, we're not teaching kids to do a thorough job and to be completely prepared.

 

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i agree with Shark...do not waste your $ on recruiter. Also my DD did give a verbal at 9th grade; one thing i showed her and the entire team was ACADEMICS FIRST....in 8th she did start writing to colleges and going to camps and what not; swhen this colleges offered her a a scholarship..it was one she was writing to and she accepted it. Not all kids are the same, one thing I know about my DD is that she know whats she wants...she want to go to college for Pharmaceutical Science, this college offers it and there you have it. She is now a jurnior and still loves the coaches and campus, she almost feels a part of the team now; they send her emails for player appareal (so she can buy it) and her goals are still the same. And like someone else mentioned she doesnt have to go all over to show herself; she is now just honing her skills and still going to a couple nearby camps topick up something new.

 

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It seems as if the NCAA is looking at early recruiting too- at least changing the recruiting date:

If adopted by the Board next month, the most interesting changes will come in recruiting. Two proposals that illustrate the type of changes that could take place are Proposal Nos. 13-2 and 13-3. Proposal No. 13-2, which establishes July 1 after the sophomore year as a uniform recruiting date,.....the group believed having the date earlier in most sports would support student-athlete success by allowing prospects more time to develop relationships and gain information to help them make the best college choice possible.

Rules Working Group makes final recommendations for first phase - NCAA.org