<p>My take on this is, with a high AI and the coach more interested now than he was before, he doesn’t want to “waste” a LL on a very highly-qualified candidate. There should be a plan B and C in place for the OP’s son just in case, but with that high stats, I think the coach is being smart if he has a limited number of LL and doesn’t want to “waste one” on a player who doesn’t need it. In my son’s sport, the LL is reserved for national caliber players who would never get in without a coach’s interest, think 4th tier.</p>
<p>I believe some schools offer academic LLs, but am not sure if they are offered in ED. I would depend on the pre-read results and have applications for other schools done/ready when December 15 rolls around.</p>
<p>As for announcing a commitment - leave it up to your son to announce if he is verbally committed, and don’t announce it unless he wants you to. I think it’s only fair that way.</p>
<p>Hopefully this rough time will be a distant memory as of January 1…</p>