<p>Can a student being recruited by D3 schools change his mind after verbally telling a coach he was going to ED to
that school? Our son told school #1 that he loved the school and was going to apply ED and at that time he truly meant it. He was told by this coach that after his admissions read that he needed to improve his verbal SAT score. He was also told he was in the second tier for applicants. Our son felt nervous about this so he went on to visit another school for an overnight and thus decided he actually felt like this school was a better fit. He also felt more confident with this coach and his chances of getting into the school. He then let coach from school #2 know that he was going to apply ED to them. When he called coach from school #1 he had a very uncomfortable conversation with a bad reception from coach. I know that it was probably frustrating for the coach but as far as I know we did not sign any contract with him. Will there be any negative repercussions for his decision?</p>
<p>I would not be concerned. Coach 1 offered nothing of any consequence particularly because the admissions outcome seemed to be dependent on raising the SAT verbal score which is certainly no sure thing. </p>
<p>Some people on this site in fact feel that there is no such thing as a D3 commitment at all on behalf of the recruit, moral or otherwise, because unlike D1 NLIs and Ivy likely letters the outcome is so uncertain until the very end that to view it otherwise would be to impose an unfair asymmetry on the recruit. I myself don’t take it quite that far. </p>
<p>Would it have been better for your son not to have verbally committed to school 1, particularly in the face of such a highly contingent situation given the SAT bump needed? Sure. Could Coach 1 have been more gracious and understanding? No doubt. But will there be any negative repercussions of any consequence for his decision? No way. You can sleep soundly.</p>
<p>Thank you for your reassurance. I will sleep soundly!</p>
<p>He wouldn’t want to play for that guy anyway. I agree with the above poster. I feel coaches hold too much power over these young and naive athletes. My son was literally promised a spot on a competitive Nescac team. When we, after getting info from these boards, insisted on a pre-read the coach waffled til 2 days before the ED deadline, eventually telling me in a stressful phone call “It didn’t look good” . My son cried, and it was a hard life’s lesson. When I asked the coach why he had waited so long he told me, and I quote, “we didn’t want to see DS competing against us” !
That’s why I am always posting these cautionary notes.
Your son’s instinct was good!</p>
<p>From my viewpoint the Coach put contingencies on your son’s verbal commitment thereby not making it a verbal committment or obligation. If the Coach had told your son that he was “good to go” that would be different. </p>
<p>Truthfully, I think the Coach-in-question should be commended for being honest with your son. Whether it was honest feedback or an attempt to boost the overall class SAT numbers (allowing him to get a borderline recruit) we’ll never now. But he was forthright and there is something to say for that. Too often coaches are the masters of ambiguity, deception, and mis-remembering. This guy was straight with you and that is refreshing especially in high academic recruiting.</p>