by Vess Express » Fri May 16, 2014 12:00 pm
I’m going to say that even if you can get a verbal at 14-15, there's not always a definite future.
I know a JC coach and a Div. II coach in our area very well. Last year, the JC coach had one girl come to him a month or so after signing day, asking if he still had any money available. The girl said that just before signing day came, the other coach said “Sorry, but now we only have XX% still available for you”.
At the beginning of this year, he had two girls come to him, and the Div II coach had one, all looking to see what was still available. All 3 had been offered reduced scholarships just before signing.
If people are going to keep verballing their kids in 8th and 9th grade, you better hope everything works out as planned, you better hope an outstanding late bloomer doesn’t show up, and you better hope the girl continues to improve as a player. Many big schools know that you will voluntarily lock yourself in with a verbal, but they can still change their mind. No school that I know of has taken back an offer, but they have lowered it considerably.
I know some of you are going to say “that’s not the way it works 99% of the time”, but I do know these instances are fact. It’s just that many are not telling the true story when it doesn’t work out for them. It’s an embarrassment for the girls, and the “second choice” schools don’t want to say anything either.
Undoubtedly, there will be a different story go around – “I didn’t want to go so far from home”: “I felt this team was a better fit for me”: etc., etc.
