<p>This is really for any sport where an athlete has been offered and commits. How do struggling seasons or subsequent performances affect commitments in effect? </p>
<p>Not talking about injuries, just situations where an athlete or their team is having a difficult season following an offer and commitment.</p>
<p>Are D1 or D2 or D3 offers ever withdrawn due to performance? Are Likely Letters solid even if an athlete really falls off game athletically in the remainder of a season (if academics stay the same)?</p>
<p>I tried to look this up but couldn't seem to happen upon the right terms that let me pull up any answers.</p>
<p>I know the old adage about "nothing is final until the acceptance letter" (and not even then) but was just wondering about verbal commitments.</p>
<p>Yes. An Ivy LL is only going to be rescinded for grades or ethical issues. The athletic component has no bearing.</p>
<p>As for early verbals, they are contingent on a whole bunch of things. If a HS sophomore superstar drops out of sight junior year, the coach will probably find a way to back away from him.</p>
<p>verbals mean NOTHING,ok so don’t really hang your hat on them. AT the end of the day all divisions all leagues it is about the best available athlete that meets admissions requirements. </p>
<p>everything after that is up for grabs,the hotshot at the beginning of the season and easily be usurped by the performance of the next great hotshot and remember most coaches jobs hinge on the performance of 18-22 year olds, so they are looking for the best performers.</p>
<p>schoolhouse - words well taken, just wondering what happens with offers already made. Not just in the recruiting process.</p>
<p>How does a verbal offer and commitment get rescinded? Does a coach call up and just say, based on your recent performance, we’re withdrawing our offer?</p>
<p>The actual way it’s phrased doesn’t really matter - “we’re moving in a different direction, we’re concerned about your fit with the program, etc” .
The message is the same though - we don’t think you’re the same athlete you were. Take those verbals for what they’re worth, gang.</p>
<p>My son made a verbal for his sport Nov of his junior year. The concern of his coach was what if the college backs out. When we asked this the answer was “There is not a snowballs chance in hell we would back out of a commitment we make to an athlete and we expect the same from that athlete as well”.
My sons sport is an equivalency sport and a small community so if a coach backs out on a kid it will get out and it will hurt that program for future recruiting. I have not heard of ANY coach backing out on an athlete in this sport, however I have heard of several athletes who have.</p>
<p>^momof2010, I know we’ve been over this ground quite a bit - and I agree, early verbals usually pan out and coaches have their reputations to protect when it comes to recruiting. But I think one reason that you seldom read about a coach reneging is that it’s an embarrassing situation for the recruit. If the athlete’s skills fall way off after the verbal, the coach may say, ‘hey, I’ll still honor my verbal, but we’re bringing on x guys at your spot’, kid reads the writing on the wall and rather than publicize the fact that the school coach didn’t want him, he frames it as finding a better opportunity elsewhere.</p>
<p>Good point varska, and it is probably different with the larger team sports. Did you by any chance come across any situation specifically where you know of a kid who this happened to?</p>
<p>In my experience, the more athletically competitive divisions & conferences (ie…ACC, SEC, PAC12) are at much more risk of a coach backing out of a verbal commitment than less competitive divisions and conferences. They are the strongest athletic conferences for a reason. I know a few people in this category who had this happen to them. Also, I’ve seen scholarships reduced right before they were going to sign their NLI due to a poor season.</p>
<p>Most of our posters and readers are interested in academic schools with athletics (Ivy, Patriot NESCAC, elite D3s, and D3s). This is a whole different dynamic because Admission’s has a bigger voice in your son’s or daughters acceptance. I think 99% of coaches honor their commitments. However, every so often we hear about some one who doesn’t honor their commitment either because of struggles on the field of play or struggles in the classroom. Reading between the lines (over the years), I think some coaches get out of their verbals by letting Admissions know during the ED process who they really want (a “short list”) despite a previous positive pre-read for the student/athlete. I think when it does happen, that is how it goes down. Bottom line…always have a contingency plan. JMO.</p>
<p>1.) Likely Letters are issued by admissions and not the coach and are an agreement by the admission committee to admit the athlete if certain academic standards are maintained. Theoretically once the likely letter is issued the coach no longer influences the admission process.</p>
<p>2.) Verbal commitment issued prior to official visits are general issued to top athletes. If these athletes suffer a loss in performance then it would have to be great enough to be below the lowest performing athlete in a recruitment class for a coach to consider pulling an offer. With the exception of injuries this generally does not happen.</p>
<p>3.) College coaches look at the performance of an individual athlete and not the high school or clubs team performance when they make recruitment decisions.</p>
<p>4.) D1 coaches can reduce scholarship prior to an athlete sighing a NLI however there can be consequences to doing this. In particular I know of one coach who reduced scholarship amounts and redeveloped a poor reputation in one region of the country. At the next national meet this coach was discussed and athletes from other parts of the US learned what this coach had done.</p>
<p>For my kid’s sport, xc/track, the coaches look at an athlete’s recent PR’s (junior year or later sophomore year) as an indication of potential. They are generally not concerned about any ups and downs, because trust me when I tell you that THEIR own college athletes also have ups and downs. It’s extremely difficult to maintain absolute consistency in athletic performance and even pro athletes have bad spells.</p>
<p>D definitely fell off her senior year, and no one pulled back an offer or even seemed concerned.</p>
<p>I am watching this thread! Our team as a whole has had a couple of bad breaks this season so far, though we’re grateful our son is holding his own. Thanks to everyone for sharing experiences because this was also on my mind.</p>