<p>Verbal commitment from an Ivy coach means you can get a cup of coffee if you have two dollars along with the verbal commitment. It means absolutely nothing until the time you have received a likely or an admission. The coach can no longer push for an admission if the applicant can’t play and it is in their best interest to find another player who can actually play.</p>
<p>Once they are admitted, it is a different ballgame. The players can get hurt and may miss a season or their entire student playing career. I have heard of at least two players at Harvard who missed the 2011-12 season in their sport after joining in 2011.</p>
<p>Ivy league is a sports league with no athletic scholarships and only need based aid. So not sure why people are shocked that athletes get recruited. The colleges allocate between 10 and 14% annually for athletes who are able to make the AI cut academically. All one has to do is read the local paper around signing time to see which athlete was signed (issued likely or admitted) by which Ivy. These announcements usually come out before EA/ED decisions are announced, early to mid November.</p>