Looks like my youngest may have punched his ticket to the FBS. He is sitting on two verbal offers with the opportunity for a 3rd. We’re going to Tulane next week to sit in on a practice and see if that verbal becomes contract. Hawaii has offered, and New Mexico is coming out to see him practice this spring. Other schools have reached out from the FBS but no traction there yet. Still, having them helps move the needle in terms of getting him to where he wants to be.
To quote NCSA, “Because a verbal scholarship offer is made by the coach and not the athletic department, it is not binding. Instead, a verbal offer is more of an agreement that the student-athlete will attend the coach’s school and sign a financial aid agreement, which includes financial aid papers and a contract. At any time, a coach or the student-athlete can back out of a verbal agreement, if they so choose.” Equally important to note is the fact that, “When a student-athletes makes a verbal commitment, it serves as a signal to other college coaches to stop recruiting them.” So even if a student commits, it is not entirely binding. You are only bound once you sign that financial aid agreement, which is the college version of a contract.
I don’t know if we sign on this visit. It feels like the visit is more about them seeing him than the other way around. Likewise, the kid cannot sign with them until the early signing period. So that means he cannot officially sign any paperwork until early December of this year. Any commitment would need to be verbal. Sadly, any visit to, say, Hawaii, would need to be an official visit, because we cannot afford that ride. Tulane has offered 15 other safeties that we know of, and Hawaii has offered 2. So, there is still a chance he is not at the top of the list for Tulane or Hawaii, but based on published offers, he is at least in the top 3 for Hawaii.
This is the system we work with. There is a lot of power given to these schools and little given to these students to be able to control their own futures in the face of schools’ abilities to pull verbal offers. I wish it was different. Heck, I wish they took the time to really consider what they are doing to these potential athletes.
They won’t
Some Thoughts:
- Absolutely Bonkers Headline of the Day: “Jury finds Instagram and YouTube liable in a landmark social media addiction trial” We knew it would be true. The real question is, what does this mean? Do my kids get money? Or is this just more lawyer nonsense?
- Also this: “Perfect homework, blank stares: Why colleges are turning to oral exams to combat AI“
- And this… “Teens get probation after using AI to create fake nudes of classmates” I mean, what did you expect? Once upon a time kids used to write nasty stuff about people they “couldn’t get” in the bathroom stalls. The technology has improved and the tendency has not gone away.