College Recruitment Question

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The idea that kids are making verbal commitments at such young ages is silly and maybe even counterproductive.

It's more of an ego thing than anything.

[Unregistered]

The idea that kids are making verbal commitments at such young ages is silly and maybe even counterproductive.

It's more of an ego thing than anything.

That's part of it. But it is the reality for top talent and top programs. Coaches want to lock in players before competitors do. Money is usually accounted for nearly two years in advance. Wait until well into junior year and not only may there not even be a spot but chances are there won't be much $ either. It's a game and as said above coaches and players can easily work around the rules. I wish it would go away but it won't anytime soon

[Unregistered]

True and off the top of my head at least 5 sophomores are verbally committed all D1, maybe more.

Then this year's soccer sophomore class is doing way better than other years for OR. Or, that's pretty much it for our D1 sophomores. Also, what D1? Top D1? I only know one going local D1 with no money but a spot on a large roster. Still, a huge accomplishment for an Oregon girl & better than 95% of other girls.

Who knows, maybe Ecnl is a greater success than we thought. Every other year in the past, most Oregon girls aren't committing until junior or senior year. We simply aren't a state full of top D1 recruits. We very rarely even get a player in a youth national pool. We get a handful of lower D1 commits by our best of the best superstars and they aren't usually getting anywhere close to full rides.

[Unregistered]

That's part of it. But it is the reality for top talent and top programs. Coaches want to lock in players before competitors do. Money is usually accounted for nearly two years in advance. Wait until well into junior year and not only may there not even be a spot but chances are there won't be much $ either. It's a game and as said above coaches and players can easily work around the rules. I wish it would go away but it won't anytime soon

So true. Exactly why there aren't many spots & even less money left over for Oregon girls. The top programs are already full up with CA, TX, FL, etc girls.

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All true and well and good. But since the podter said his D is a good student it doesn't really apply in this case.

True, but it is one case and with many more readers out here; some of whom might want to know options for a solid player who struggles a bit academically, did not fulfill core course requirements or didn't take core courses in mandated time frame, or met the NCAA, NAIA requirements but not the college's minimum admissions requirements.

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Not for a non scholarship player.

Not true.

[Unregistered]

True for other states maybe but Oregon girls don't generally make verbals or commit until junior or senior year. How many sophs are listed with verbals? One? No one seems willing to admit what our soccer realities are. The poster that said dd is waiting made it clear that academics are #1 and if dd gets to play soccer, that will be a bonus. Realistic & smart. Oregon only gets a few D1 (& usually lower D1) anyway. Hope OR girls aren't going to be devastated when they don't get full ride offers to UCLA, Stanford & Notre Dame their sophomore year. Most won't commit until junior or senior year, with little money & to lower soccer & academic level schools. That has been our reality for years.

If you're relying on online lists to show verbal commitments then your logic is skewed.

Verbals are non-binding for the player and the coaches. Do a verbal and post it online, you then have the word out there among recruiters. Not always a good thing. Even top players in the nation have given verbals and changed their minds several times before signing the NLI. Those top players sometimes get away with the flip-flopping.

I've seen players wait to give verbals in their senior year and are stunned when the NLI doesn't arrive.

Don't confuse commitments, offers to play with full-rides. A lot of schools have policies on their athletic award distributions. Rarely are there athletic full rides. Our daughter was offered $5K (athletic) at USC and $20k (athletic & academic) at USD. As others have posted, a lot of times there is a mix of athletic and academic awards. Our daughter received another $5K (private award) after she arrived on campus. We still paid about $20K each of the first 2 years before she received more $ awards. Of course everything went up each year, so we still paid between $15-$23K.

[Unregistered]

That's part of it. But it is the reality for top talent and top programs. Coaches want to lock in players before competitors do. Money is usually accounted for nearly two years in advance. Wait until well into junior year and not only may there not even be a spot but chances are there won't be much $ either. It's a game and as said above coaches and players can easily work around the rules. I wish it would go away but it won't anytime soon

Agreed.

Social media tools have aided coaches and are now included in rules.

[Unregistered]

If you're relying on online lists to show verbal commitments then your logic is skewed.

Verbals are non-binding for the player and the coaches. Do a verbal and post it online, you then have the word out there among recruiters. Not always a good thing. Even top players in the nation have given verbals and changed their minds several times before signing the NLI. Those top players sometimes get away with the flip-flopping.

I've seen players wait to give verbals in their senior year and are stunned when the NLI doesn't arrive.

Don't confuse commitments, offers to play with full-rides. A lot of schools have policies on their athletic award distributions. Rarely are there athletic full rides. Our daughter was offered $5K (athletic) at USC and $20k (athletic & academic) at USD. As others have posted, a lot of times there is a mix of athletic and academic awards. Our daughter received another $5K (private award) after she arrived on campus. We still paid about $20K each of the first 2 years before she received more $ awards. Of course everything went up each year, so we still paid between $15-$23K.

Not saying it doesn't happen. Saying most Oregon girls don't commit by end of sophomore year & the ones that do are generally going to lower level D1 schools. Still great & top in OR but the other poster said Basing commitments on all the previous year's lists of Oregon players signing NLIs and actually being rostered on college teams. Perhaps this year's Oregon freshmen & sophomore class is different and all the sophomores have made verbals and the few that haven't have zero shot to play anywhere in college, like the poster claims. I don't buy it but, if true, any sophomore & above who hasn't verballed yet may as well quit Ecnl & Thorns Academy right now & just enjoy hs, club, other activities & academics.

[Unregistered]

The idea that kids are making verbal commitments at such young ages is silly and maybe even counterproductive.

It's more of an ego thing than anything.

Unless that player's dream is to play at a PAC-12, SEC, ACC, Big10, Big12 school. Then if they do not take that offer early, it will be gone. Ego or not, these girls are actually people and just trying to make the best decision they can for their future. Parents are there to guide. There is no guarantees that verbal will end up with ever touching the field at that bigger program, but there is a guarantee that player never will touch the field at that bigger program if the player doesn't take the offer as a sophomore. However, to your point, two years later if the players goals have shifted, they don't have to go.

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Not saying it doesn't happen. Saying most Oregon girls don't commit by end of sophomore year & the ones that do are generally going to lower level D1 schools. Still great & top in OR but the other poster said Basing commitments on all the previous year's lists of Oregon players signing NLIs and actually being rostered on college teams. Perhaps this year's Oregon freshmen & sophomore class is different and all the sophomores have made verbals and the few that haven't have zero shot to play anywhere in college, like the poster claims. I don't buy it but, if true, any sophomore & above who hasn't verballed yet may as well quit Ecnl & Thorns Academy right now & just enjoy hs, club, other activities & academics.

I am always curious as to what is considered "lower D1 schools?" We have had kids across ECNL and non-ECNL in Oregon commit over the last few years to schools like California, USD, UP, Arizona, Oregon, Oregon State, Tennessee, Minnesota, Arizona State, USC etc. These programs either are in top conferences (PAC12, Big10, Big12, WCC, etc), or they make it into the tournament regularly, several of these schools in the sweet 16 within the last few years and a couple even higher. I am really not trying to stir the pot, it is a serious question. with 330 plus D1 programs, where is the line for "lower D1", is it the bottom half? The bottom 3/4s, the bottom 90%? And I don't think you can say bottom of a conference makes them a lower team, it has to be bottom of the division, in my opinion. I guess my point is all the programs that compete in these top conferences are doing whatever they can to get the best talent available. There are girls that got recruited to those "higher ranked programs" that didn't think they would, and lots of kids who had wanted to and didn't. And that speaks to your last point, and you are definitely correct, it is not over after sophomore year. Let's look at Onyx for example, there were only a handful that went as sophomores, but those that did, were mostly, PAC12. Then the majority went during junior year, many were late junior year. And then a handful still made their commitments during senior year. It is important to remember that each soccer coach has a different time schedule for their own recruiting, being ready early and being proactive with contacting coaches and then being patient for the "right fit" is important. It usually isn't a one and done type situation, the recruiting process takes time, and as you allude to, way more complicated then ending at the end of high school sophomore year.

[Unregistered]

Sometimes a player will take one of the earlier offer(s) because they don't know what might happen down the road. Many seemingly talented players never get offers - in reality, not just heresay - and so families think they better jump on what the've got now. Coaches often don't give them much time to decide either, which I get. They don't want to hold a spot for someone that might turn it down a year from now when they could have given an offer to ten other good players.

Good news is that nothing is officially a deal until you get and sign the NLI. It's all verbal and non binding until then. Last minute changes don't happen too often but when you're recruiting so young certain things can happen: 1) A coach can leave. The recruit may hate the new guy, and the new guy may not want to keep any of the old coach's recruits, new guy has killed the team chemistry and players are leaving. Happens all the time. 2) The student may not get accepted. Some top academic D1's are less willing to bend their standards for athletes, especially a non revenue sport like soccer. Coaches only have so many favors they can ask (lesson: keep your grades up!). 3) Student changes their mind about the school. Again, given how young some are being recruited this is also very understandable.

Whatever you do don't burn bridges - one of my kids hated the first coach he played for (very slick salesman and it was our first experience). Luckily he had kept in touch with two other coaches who were interested in him. Once he decided to leave he reached out and was quickly given an even better offer at one of the other programs. It's ok the change your mind, just don't jerk coaches around. Unfortunately some will jerk you around.

Good luck - glad we just finished with the last kid!

[Unregistered]

True and off the top of my head at least 5 sophomores are verbally committed all D1, maybe more.

I have a top younger girl so I am happy to hear that the majority of better girls get verbals to good D1 schools by the end of their sophomore year. I had heard it was more tough going for girls from our state. Must just be the usual negativity of TS. So glad to hear they are all actually being snapped up as sophomores just like in California. It will be nice to get a done deal early.

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Does anyone know what the a average percentages of scholarship are for D1, D3, and NAIA if you are not a top USYNT prospect?

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I meant D2.