Committing to a College Timing?

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Why would a player commit to a school before the end of their junior year? Committing limits their options, right? Is there some fear that scholarship money will get all tied up? I thought verbal commits were completely “reversible” by either player or coach, so why put all the eggs in one “college” basket early? Is this not true? I have heard some players commit early just in case they get hurt their junior/senior year, but again, cannot any program rescind their offer anyway?

Why not keep other coaches on the hook evaluating your player too through at least their junior year? The only exception might be if the player has only one school in mind and that school wants them and vice versa, then “maybe” commit early, but even then, coaches can change. It seems much safer to keep a broader platform of interested coaches and commit later. To be clear, I am assuming players are properly targeting schools that will be in line with their ability, thus aligning with interested programs, be they at D1, D2, NAIA, community college level, etc.

I am looking to understand this whole early commit thing better? Pros Cons. Does my “wait” perspective make sense?

[Unregistered]

Why would a player commit to a school before the end of their junior year? Committing limits their options, right? Is there some fear that scholarship money will get all tied up? I thought verbal commits were completely “reversible” by either player or coach, so why put all the eggs in one “college” basket early? Is this not true? I have heard some players commit early just in case they get hurt their junior/senior year, but again, cannot any program rescind their offer anyway?

Why not keep other coaches on the hook evaluating your player too through at least their junior year? The only exception might be if the player has only one school in mind and that school wants them and vice versa, then “maybe” commit early, but even then, coaches can change. It seems much safer to keep a broader platform of interested coaches and commit later. To be clear, I am assuming players are properly targeting schools that will be in line with their ability, thus aligning with interested programs, be they at D1, D2, NAIA, community college level, etc.

I am looking to understand this whole early commit thing better? Pros Cons. Does my “wait” perspective make sense?

Publicity, and many verbals do lead to NOLIs.

Not really, as they can be rescinded, although doing so without a good reason is generally frowned upon.

Possibly.

Less to worry about as a junior or senior, when the academic side of things gets tougher.

The danger of an early verbal is that one might remove oneself from the radar of other coaches and programs--and then lose the verbal late in the game and be scrambling to find a spot. Reputable coaches won't do that, of course, but occasionally a coach will find a player he likes better. It seems that more often, players back out on verbals, often due to a coaching change, a bad season, or other adverse news at the school.

[Unregistered]

Why would a player commit to a school before the end of their junior year? Committing limits their options, right? Is there some fear that scholarship money will get all tied up? I thought verbal commits were completely “reversible” by either player or coach, so why put all the eggs in one “college” basket early? Is this not true? I have heard some players commit early just in case they get hurt their junior/senior year, but again, cannot any program rescind their offer anyway?

Why not keep other coaches on the hook evaluating your player too through at least their junior year? The only exception might be if the player has only one school in mind and that school wants them and vice versa, then “maybe” commit early, but even then, coaches can change. It seems much safer to keep a broader platform of interested coaches and commit later. To be clear, I am assuming players are properly targeting schools that will be in line with their ability, thus aligning with interested programs, be they at D1, D2, NAIA, community college level, etc.

I am looking to understand this whole early commit thing better? Pros Cons. Does my “wait” perspective make sense?

Each school has a unique way of recruiting and parceling out scholarship funds. Some schools give larger dollar amounts to fewer players, others give smaller chunks. Some schools want to sign players early, others prefer to wait. Some have a limit on the number of players they can or will sign, others will take nearly all comers. The best answer is to have those discussions school by school. In many cases, it is better to wait. The odds are quite high that a D1 school will have a coaching change by the time a committed HS freshman gets to college. In our area, Oregon State had a change last year, and it is rumored that Washingon will have a change after next year. A player that is in favor as a recruit might be not as highly regarded by the new staff. On the other hand, there are valid reasons to commit early. As someone mentioned, it does give time to focus on the academic side, especially if a student is attending a school with "higher" academic requirements or if a school tends to commit more money early. The new rule changes will streamline much of this since schools are now limited to when they can receive incoming correspondence from coaches and recruits to just before the junior year.

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Very few of Oregon’s players commit verbally before their junior year so early commitment isn’t really a problem here. Know of a couple who committed early. One was to their dream D1 school and one was to a D3 they really liked that liked them back when they weren’t getting any other interest. Fear of missing out on scholy money or even a commitment at all probably drives a lot of the early verbals. The new rules should help a little with that at least at D1.

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Spots at good programs go quickly. Money goes quickly. Then theres FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) for both coaches and families

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You will not miss out

Spots at good programs go quickly. Money goes quickly. Then theres FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) for both coaches and families

If you want to play college soccer and you play club soccer you can. There are more roster spots then girl players to fill them.

[Unregistered]

Why would a player commit to a school before the end of their junior year? Committing limits their options, right? Is there some fear that scholarship money will get all tied up? I thought verbal commits were completely “reversible” by either player or coach, so why put all the eggs in one “college” basket early? Is this not true? I have heard some players commit early just in case they get hurt their junior/senior year, but again, cannot any program rescind their offer anyway?

Why not keep other coaches on the hook evaluating your player too through at least their junior year? The only exception might be if the player has only one school in mind and that school wants them and vice versa, then “maybe” commit early, but even then, coaches can change. It seems much safer to keep a broader platform of interested coaches and commit later. To be clear, I am assuming players are properly targeting schools that will be in line with their ability, thus aligning with interested programs, be they at D1, D2, NAIA, community college level, etc.

I am looking to understand this whole early commit thing better? Pros Cons. Does my “wait” perspective make sense?

Waiting will restrict the money you get in most cases. If your daughter is YNT level then sure take your time and you have lots of people waiting on your choice, but if not be aggressive and get you money from a school your child wants to go to; for every day you wait those coaches will be looking to fill that spot. It’s a business and these coaches have jobs to do.

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Waiting will restrict the money you get in most cases. If your daughter is YNT level then sure take your time and you have lots of people waiting on your choice, but if not be aggressive and get you money from a school your child wants to go to; for every day you wait those coaches will be looking to fill that spot. It’s a business and these coaches have jobs to do.

It's a a function of player talent available, if your kid is a dime a dozen roster spot filler and you like the school please commit. If your kid is ultra talented and dozen's of D1 Schools want to offer full ride you can decide whenever you want.

[Unregistered]

If you want to play college soccer and you play club soccer you can. There are more roster spots then girl players to fill them.

Title ix is magical and created a special world where there are more college teams than players. It is AMAZING!!!!

[Unregistered]

If you want to play college soccer and you play club soccer you can. There are more roster spots then girl players to fill them.

Of course, it might not be very much scholarship money, and/or at a college that you wouldn't consider otherwise...

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Of course, it might not be very much scholarship money, and/or at a college that you wouldn't consider otherwise...

The pathway of Varsity Blues.

[Unregistered]

Why would a player commit to a school before the end of their junior year? Committing limits their options, right? Is there some fear that scholarship money will get all tied up? I thought verbal commits were completely “reversible” by either player or coach, so why put all the eggs in one “college” basket early? Is this not true? I have heard some players commit early just in case they get hurt their junior/senior year, but again, cannot any program rescind their offer anyway?

Why not keep other coaches on the hook evaluating your player too through at least their junior year? The only exception might be if the player has only one school in mind and that school wants them and vice versa, then “maybe” commit early, but even then, coaches can change. It seems much safer to keep a broader platform of interested coaches and commit later. To be clear, I am assuming players are properly targeting schools that will be in line with their ability, thus aligning with interested programs, be they at D1, D2, NAIA, community college level, etc.

I am looking to understand this whole early commit thing better? Pros Cons. Does my “wait” perspective make sense?

I am sure there are other similar stories out there, but I know a player that was offered a spot at UC Boulder. Did her due diligence and looked at other schools, but when she went back to UC they said spot was already taken. Keep in mind each school is only going to offer any where from 4-8 spots per year and they receive hundreds of inquiries daily. If you have ever seen a coaches recruiting board they have 5-7 players at each position that they are actively recruiting. This is a game of timing

[Unregistered]

Why would a player commit to a school before the end of their junior year? Committing limits their options, right? Is there some fear that scholarship money will get all tied up? I thought verbal commits were completely “reversible” by either player or coach, so why put all the eggs in one “college” basket early? Is this not true? I have heard some players commit early just in case they get hurt their junior/senior year, but again, cannot any program rescind their offer anyway?

Why not keep other coaches on the hook evaluating your player too through at least their junior year? The only exception might be if the player has only one school in mind and that school wants them and vice versa, then “maybe” commit early, but even then, coaches can change. It seems much safer to keep a broader platform of interested coaches and commit later. To be clear, I am assuming players are properly targeting schools that will be in line with their ability, thus aligning with interested programs, be they at D1, D2, NAIA, community college level, etc.

I am looking to understand this whole early commit thing better? Pros Cons. Does my “wait” perspective make sense?

Ask your College Coordinator for your club

[Unregistered]

I am sure there are other similar stories out there, but I know a player that was offered a spot at UC Boulder. Did her due diligence and looked at other schools, but when she went back to UC they said spot was already taken. Keep in mind each school is only going to offer any where from 4-8 spots per year and they receive hundreds of inquiries daily. If you have ever seen a coaches recruiting board they have 5-7 players at each position that they are actively recruiting. This is a game of timing

It you don't have talent as leverage to pick and choose your college, it's more like a bad outdoor concert of first come, first serve festival seating. Understood.

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It you don't have talent as leverage to pick and choose your college, it's more like a bad outdoor concert of first come, first serve festival seating. Understood.

This. If coaches are calling YOU, you have lots of leverage. If it's you calling THEM only, you don't.