<p>This whole thing is getting so out of hand, and as always, this verbal commitment business is really more to snag the athlete than the other way around. An athlete basically makes a verbal commitment to a school and the coach makes a verbal commitment that he/she will be on the top priority list for admissions consideration. Most of the time, the coach know pretty well who and what he can get past admissions, so if the student stays on course, all is usually fine. However, a verbal commitment is NOT BINDING for either side. What it does is put that commitment on the shoulders of a kid and a family so that the coach can pretty much count on that kid putting that school as #1 on his list after the info has been published and distributed everywhere. It also makes it very difficult for other kids who are trying to find out where they are in the recruitment process, if they do not know who is already on the coach’s list and have committed. This is a piece of info that athletic recruits need to get to know where they stand with a coach. Only the very top recruits are going to be given the go ahead to go public with the verbal commitment. This is, by the way, what all the competitive schools want to get out of an athlete. Many will get that “you are my first choice” commitment from the athlete, and that is becoming what is necessary to be on the priority/scholarship list. It still is not the final list, because NO obligation exists on either side, until the admissions offer is given and the letter of intent signed. This has become a quasy world, bringing up the ante in the athletic stakes.</p>
<p>My son was not on most first lists. There were kids who had committed. But I know personally of one kid who did not get in after all of the hoopla. It was a devastating blow to the family, as he did not apply anywhere else. He ended up doing a year at an open enrollment college, working on his sport at a competitive club, and got in as a transfer student with his eligibiity intact the following year. He just could not be accepted to the academically competitive college where the commitments were made, both ways, because he just did not make the cut grades/sat wise. </p>
<p>We have friends right now with a giant of a son who is getting “offers” of commitment from a number of schools. They are more worried about getting the kid through high school, as he has had a number of discipline/academic problems. But he is hot, hot, hot athletically, and yes, the coaches have basically offered him first shot on the list, and are bugging him for a commitment. He is a rising senior. And, yes, NCAA rules are being followed to a T, which means as a Technicality. None are being broken explicitly, but, man oh man, they do give a lot of license.</p>