Verbals! Verbals! Verbals!!

[extiger]

I have a question about verbals. Its obvious verbals are non binding, but I cant help to wonder if some of the schools making verbal offers will renege in the end. Take Arkansas for example, they have verbaled about 25 kids. Is there a chance that all these players will be on the team along with the existing roster?

[Tyler Durden]

Where are you getting that '25 players verballed' figure from?

[extiger]

Where are you getting that '25 players verballed' figure from?

Gold Verbal Commitments...

http://www.goldfastpitch.com/verbals/

[Tyler Durden]

25 verbals spread out over 4 years. No, there is no chance that all of those players will be on the roster with the existing players. Hope that helps you.

[extiger]

Poor kids...

[PDad]

25 verbals spread out over 4 years. No, there is no chance that all of those players will be on the roster with the existing players. Hope that helps you.

What are the odds the head coach, Mike Larabee, will still be there?

[hit4power]

The current roster shows 26 players on the Arkansas team and somewhere in the back of my mind there is some weird rule in Arkansas that explains why they have such a huge roster. I doubt they have 25 kids verballed in any given year, but it wouldn't surprise me that they have way more verbals than most teams - they'd have to in order to sustain a roster that size.

[Pale Rider]

Doesn't mean the kids that have verbally committed are getting a dime...
A BUNCH of those are simply 'Im gonna pay for my kid' to play for AR I would imagine...

[Vess Express]

I have to wonder if that doesn’t hurt some teams in recruiting.

Let’s say a girl is at first interested in Arkansas, and sends an email. She even puts it on her recruiting site as a desired school. As time goes by, she notices the large size of the roster, and the huge amount of verbals that are already out there. And, even though Arkansas is a pretty popular choice for a lot of Texas girls, I have yet to see a representative at any tourney or showcase in Dallas/Ft. Worth, Houston, or Oklahoma City. So, the girl never sees or hears about any Arkansas coaches. It seems likely that the girl would begin putting more effort into schools that appear to still be needing players.

I know they have some small camps in Fayetville, but I am curious about how Arkansas is getting most of their players.

[AlwaysImprove]

I think the issue with this many on the bench goes a bit deeper. It was actually more common to see these large numbers on a number of teams 5 years ago. UCLA, ASU, UW, AZ all seemed to have rosters in the 27+ range. They all seem to have trimmed back down to the 18 or so level.

IMHO the reason these teams trimmed down was that they quickly realized it is not about having loads of kids, but being able to put the right 9 kids on the field at the right time of the year. The smaller rosters have allowed them focus down. Focus more on improving the quality of the kids than can compete and make them better.

This is contrast to the thinking that led to the larger rosters. First off the girls were "free". They were willing to sign on to play softball at zero cost to the program. Second, there was a bit of a betting game that one of those girls may break out, so worth keeping them around just in case. Third, they felt they were keeping those kids from other universities.

Most of all though, it seems having these large rosters tended to create a permanent "bench class". These are kids that are fine riding the bench, they are happy to be in that school, and happy to call themselves on the team. The problem is your middle of the road kids are going to get sucked up or sucked down. You need those kids always trying to step it up, not just accepting their role on the bench.

Nowadays when I see that large of a roster, I tend to associate it with some of the coaches that are not very sure of their recruiting abilities. Which naturally hints at not the best ability to assess talent. And often in the large roster teams you hear of claims of coach favoritism.