After signing her NLI yesterday (first day of early signing period), my daughter went public with her choice on social media (but only after getting the okay from college coach).
It was nice to see the outpouring of support she received from friends inside and outside the sport. At least one other kid in her weapon for the HS class of 2018 also went public after her NLI signing for another Div 1 non-Ivy…will be very interesting to watch how the various “seats” get filled in this game of musical chairs as the recruiting season unfolds. Relieved and grateful that the process is over for my D.
D went public on SM Monday night when the NLI was in hand. Amazing the positive response both from her future teammates but also from the athletes at other schools she was considering. Agree 100% - great to have it done.
@cornelldad10, for D1sports, not certain why it’s the student athletes job to fend off other coaches until NLI is signed - a great example is football where prospects continue to field best offers all the way to NLI day. I think if it makes the student athlete and their parents more secure that’s totally understandable.
For D3 sports, in certain conferences that type of coach’s request would be both discouraged and potentially sanctioned.
D’s school posted about her NLI signing on their SM sites yesterday and this morning. Loving the response from girls with whom she has competed with or against through the years. It’s been overwhelming almost. Very happy to be done and looking forward to savoring this final year of JO competition before she flies the coop across the country. Now what to do about my name here on CC? Two kiddos, two different schools! lol
My daughter got a lot of calls from D3 coaches after she’d signed her NLI, with them specifically saying “You know, you can still play immediately at a D3 school. You should still come visit.” No honor among thieves.
@twoinanddone I was very put off by the response of some D1 coaches after our daughter called them to turn down their offers and signed a NLI elsewhere. Some really played hard ball with the poor kid, one even miraculously finding more money and not accepting that it was about fit rather than money. The only response from coaches should be “Congratulations and best wishes for continued success”.
Chembiodad: I can only speak regarding wrestling. In D1, each program is limited to 9.9 scholarships. When a coach offers a wrestling prospect scholarship money or a likely letter in the Ivy League (both very limited resources), he must receive a public commitment that the wrestler is bound to his program. The kids know that is part of the deal. The coaches can’t hand out innumerable offers, hoping that the right number of kids accept. Nor can he wait until the day that early decision applications are due. A coach is constrained by admissions to make only a limited number of offers. Thus, they make an offer, ask the kid to make a decision within a reasonable period (usually after an official visit), and if the kid doesn’t sign on, the coaches have to move on. This has to be a public process. A verbal commitment has no value to the coach or the athlete unless it is public. It is very much a signal to other coaches to stop recruiting the athlete. Now, an athlete can always change his or her mind and open up the process. But, until then, the other D1 coaches are to stay away.
@cornelldad10, understand but I think that’s only because, like most, it’s a non-revenue generating sport - if it’s football or basketball coaches would push right up to the last day. That said, D1 timed sports do not have early commits as kids get faster and sometimes get slower so waiting until NLI (or at earliest a month before) is typical.
@twoinanddone I was surprised that athletes
on the team were actually following the SM activities of a recruit that they had spent only a few days with. I was also surprised that athletes in teams that she didn’t select would take the time to reach out to her.
There are football and basketball coaches who tell recruits that once they are committed they shouldn’t go to any more camps or on any more visits. Mark Diantonio at Michigan State very publicly pulled an offer from a kid last year for this reason. But yeah, football recruiting in particular (probably because of the sheer numbers) goes right up though signing day. Also, fwiw, I personally know a wrestler who switched his commitment at the eleventh hour from one major D1 program to another. So it happens in other sports, even if not as frequently as basketball and football.
Very surprised by the wrestling practice of insisting that the commitment be made public. I would find that somewhat insulting – you don’t trust me when I say I’m committing to your team unless I put it online? Furthermore, there are plenty of other non-revenue sports where coaches don’t require the public notice and trust that a kid will tell coaches that they have already “verballed” and trust that those other coaches will back off. That said, what we’ve seen in the past few years is that the verbal commitment means less and less – kids are changing their minds and coaches are unilaterally reaching out to committed kids to poach them away. And in many of those cases, the kid in question has made his/her verbal commitment public on SM and on recruiting sites. In fact, some of the coaches who try to poach them do so precisely because they saw the kids name listed online as committed to a rival program. Just very surprised at the different practices among sports.
Addendum: despite my screen handle, I have have no knowledge or experience regarding Cornell’s recruiting practices. My wrestling son’s experiences were with other programs.
@twoinanddone: As to your post #104…I dunno, I guess I figured kids, social media, saltiness. I guess I was most surprised (pleasantly) about the thumbs-ups offered by kids higher up the Class of 2018 depth chart than my D.
We are in the middle of a D3 ED wait period to hear if we are accepted. Son has a 3.75 unweighted GPA, 1450 SAT and is on coach’s list but no guarantees. I am a bit taken back to see another athlete with worse credentials announcing his commitment to the same college as well as several others touting multiple “offers” or commitments from D3 schools. For me, it isn’t a done deal until Dec 15th.
@djphaneuf, agree, preemptive grandstanding happens all the time, especially in sports that are driven by travel club teams and showcase events - it’s a big money maker so those sports are highly motivated to make it part of the DNA. That said touting multiple commitments in the D3 arena is crazy as that’s a great way to get a coach to move on - this isn’t like D1 recruiting prior to a NLI being signed.
@Chembiodad the trainers and AAU Teams are the worst offenders and should know better. No such thing as a D3 offer until December 15th although I do understand that coaches at some colleges have more influence than others with admin office.
@djphaneuf, agree that waiting the 30 days makes sense; still leaves plenty of time to celebrate the achievement with teammates, coaches, friends, and family. Good luck to your son as he sounds like he’ll make a great D3 student-athlete - our DD is thrilled with her experience so far on a D3 NESCAC team.
We are waiting. D’s coaches know and a few teachers, but otherwise she has just told folks she has applied ED to XX school. Her AAU coach did ask if he could announce and she said no. I think some kids and parents do not understand a verbal yes from a D3 school could end up being a no. Unlikely, but possible.
We’re in a similar situation, @mamom and I agree. S also applied to a D3 school for ED1. I teach and coach in his HS so my AD, his counselor and some of my colleagues know. We also have other schools in the mix just in case. As a coach, I’ve heard all too often of things not happening the way we are hopeful they will - both in the sport I coach and his. Until we know for certain, I’m not ready for him to close those doors yet. Thankfully, he would be happy at any one of his choices, but for a few more weeks we are sitting on pins and needles, waiting patiently and hoping for an early Xmas gift :).