Early verbal offers of athletic scholarships to be outlawed by NCAA?

  

  

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Last Tuesday evening we had a great Recruiting Summit, with hundreds participating by phone in this free 90-minute event. Jon & I taught some important recruiting techniques, helping take the mystery out of the whole recruiting game. We actually spent more time answering questions than we did teaching our prepared topics. From the comments that came in afterwards, people clearly enjoyed the event and found it valuable.

One of the questions asked was "Can you explain the whole thing about Verbal Commitments?" We answered that, though we occasionally hear of a young athlete making a verbal commitment - sometimes as young as Junior High - a verbal commitment is completely non-binding on either party. It may feel reassuring to the athlete, but the truth is that it's not even a guarantee that a scholarship will eventually be given.

Here's what the NCAA says about verbal commitments:

Q: Can I make a verbal commitment to a school and sign a National Letter of Intent with a different school?

A: Yes. A verbal commitment, stating publicly one's intentions to attend a certain institution, is a non-binding, oral agreement between you and the institution. The only binding nature of the commitment is your word and the institution's promise. The National Letter of Intent program does not recognize verbal commitments. It is not uncommon for a student to verbally commit to one institution and subsequently sign a National Letter of Intent with another institution. And, on some occasions, a university may accept your verbal commitment and later offer the National Letter of Intent to another prospective student-athlete.

But wait... there's more!

The NCAA Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee has just issued new proposed legislation that would stop early verbal offers in all sports. They say they've heard from coaches, prospects and families who felt pressured to make decisions earlier without the necessary information or academic qualifications.

The proposal would prohibit verbal offers of athletically related financial aid before July 1 after a prospective student-athlete’s junior year in high school. The proposal would also require institutions have at least a five-semester or seven-quarter high school transcript on file at the institution before extending any verbal offer of aid.

Click here to read the NCAA News article detailing the proposal.