what exactly is a "verbal"?

<p>Duke,</p>

<p>I agree with you on the revenue sports. I’ve seen both players and coaches retract offers because a bigger, better deal or athlete comes along. Economic factors are at work here with more demand and less supply especially in basketball. There are only so many 6’7" skilled high school power forwards in the world.</p>

<p>The supply/demand equation is vastly different for non-revenue sports where the coach has power. The only way to protect yourself is to make sure you have a backup plan. A backup plan may include several schools that know you’ve committed to another school but would go to their school should things fall through. This needs to be done discreetly or possibly moving into another Division (ie D1 to D3) altoghether due to the NLI signing dates or LL timeframe. In our case, my son’s first choice was an D1 Ivy. His 2nd choice was another Ivy and 3rd choice was a D3 NESCAC. We could have made it work becasue of the recruiting timetables.</p>

<p>I’m a big believer in trust by verify with a life decision on the line.</p>