{"id":685,"date":"2010-06-30T11:14:05","date_gmt":"2010-06-30T17:14:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.nsr-inc.com\/\/?p=685"},"modified":"2010-06-30T11:14:05","modified_gmt":"2010-06-30T17:14:05","slug":"ncaa-proposes-end-to-controversial-verbal-offers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/ncaa-proposes-end-to-controversial-verbal-offers\/","title":{"rendered":"NCAA Proposes End to Controversial Verbal Offers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prospects, Parents and Coaches Breathe a Sigh of Relief\"\"<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In a surprising, but long-coming announcement, the NCAA<\/strong><\/a> last week said that legislation would be introduced which, if passed,<\/a> would bring an end to the controversial practice of verbal offers from member coaches to prospects.\u00a0 The proposal would pertain to all\u00a0NCAA sports and divisions.\u00a0 With passage, the new rule will usher in a more competitive age for college recruiting.<\/p>\n

The Division I Recruiting and Athletics Personnel Issues Cabinet<\/strong> <\/a>on June 24 released plans to present the legislation for NCAA full body review and perhaps membership vote at the upcoming NCAA Convention<\/strong> <\/a>to be held in San Antonio, Texas, January 12-15, 2011.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

Much will be debated in the meantime, but it appears the measure has a clear path for immediate adoption, especially with the simultaneous announcement of an adjunct proposal which would allow coaches to begin contacting prospects by telephone on or after July 1 following prospects’\u00a0sophomore year in high school, a year sooner than is now allowed.\u00a0\u00a0 This\u00a0concession\u00a0will most likely appease coaches, but it may\u00a0also signal a new round of concerns from parents and NCAA\u00a0student-athlete advocates.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

However broadly accepted, the custom of early offers has not escaped frequent criticism over the years, most often revolving around a central issue \u2013 pressure.\u00a0 From a prospect\u2019s viewpoint, the pressure to commit is palpable and can be emotionally debilitating, exhilaration aside.\u00a0 Many argue that placing youngsters under such intense stress unfairly skews their high school experience, academically as well as athletically.\u00a0 Many parents who experienced their children\u2019s anxiety over making an early decision, say there is not ample time to properly evaluate all the options which may present themselves.\u00a0 Moreover, they assert that their children should not be subjected to tactics which could distract from being able to enjoy high school.\u00a0 Coaches opposing verbal offers, faced with media pressure to get involved and get commitments from top prospects around the country or within their region, say they do not have the proper time to develop relationships with prospects.\u00a0 To them, making verbal offers is a gamble which has only about a 50-50 chance of working out for the best.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Gillespie's offer was called "exploitive."<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A cloud of uneasiness has been wafting over journalists and bloggers covering and commenting on college sports for a number of years.\u00a0 Eamon Brennan<\/strong> on Rivals.com described the offer then-Kentucky head basketball coach, Billy Gillespie<\/strong><\/a>, made in 2008 to eighth-grader Michael Avery<\/strong> <\/a>from Lake Sherwood, California, as \u201ccreepy\u201d and \u201cexploitive.\u201d\u00a0 Referring to DePaul<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s offer this past year of a basketball scholarship to 14-year-old Jahlil Okafor<\/strong><\/a>, blogger Matt Norlander <\/strong>said, \u201cListen, this kind of courtship is greasier than a muffler-shop floor.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0So, when this past February, Southern Cal<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s head football coach, Lane Kiffin<\/strong><\/a>, made a verbal offer to 13-year-old, Delaware middle school quarterback, David Sills<\/strong><\/a>, and Sills committed, eyebrows were raised as the writing on the wall was big enough to see from Los Angeles to Indianapolis \u2013 soon the\u00a0practice of early offers\u00a0will\u00a0 be out of control.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The NCAA <\/strong>apparently sees the road ahead, doesn\u2019t like\u00a0the\u00a0landscape\u00a0and plans to put a stop sign in the middle of the freeway.\u00a0 Apparently, they have had enough.\u00a0 The new legislation should bring fast moving NCAA <\/strong>coaches to a screeching halt.\u00a0 But, what residual impact should we anticipate?<\/p>\n

It is widely known that coaches at every NCAA<\/strong> level make offers to underclass prospects.\u00a0\u00a0It is more than a fad, though.\u00a0 It has become a part of the culture of college athletic recruiting — moreso than may be apparent on the surface.\u00a0 With the new ruling, however,\u00a0we should expect the dynamics\u00a0of recruiting to change\u00a0significantly as coaches will line up ten deep each year on July 1 to make offers to\u00a0rising seniors.\u00a0 The pressure which the NCAA hopes to\u00a0lift\u00a0off everyone concerned\u00a0may actually become more intense.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
There could be as many fireworks on July 1st as July 4th in the future.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n
It is not a stretch to predict that coaches will be scrambling to get their calls through to prospects on that day.\u00a0 Expect creative coaches to find ways to circumvent the rules\u00a0as they strain\u00a0to be the first to reach their most prized recruits.\u00a0 Meanwhile, prospects and parents will be\u00a0nervously sitting at home waiting on\u00a0“the” call while\u00a0coping with what could be a flood of other\u00a0offers.\u00a0\u00a0<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

It likely, then, that July 1\u00a0will become the most nerve racking and anticipated day of a recruit’s life.\u00a0 Will the call come?\u00a0 When it comes, what do I say?\u00a0 All that pressure which previously would\u00a0have been spread out over time will now rumble through living rooms around America like an\u00a0midwestern\u00a0tornado.\u00a0\u00a0It will\u00a0be Nutszoid City, especially the first year, and then it will get really crazy.\u00a0 If nothing else, it will be awfully interesting, if not fun,\u00a0to watch.\u00a0\u00a0But, if you are in it, that is, a\u00a0recruit in the middle of it, well, there’s no\u00a0way to predict what\u00a0it all might be like.\u00a0 But, to use a popular ’80’s phrase — buckle up sports fans!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Oh, and expect July 1 to take on a name, or\u00a0a clever, catchy tagline to excite\u00a0fans and perhaps make or break recruiting classes\u00a0and,\u00a0in the end, some coaching careers.\u00a0 Every\u00a0sports broadcaster in America will point toward 7\/1.\u00a0\u00a0The hoopla will be over the top.\u00a0 It will be bigger than huge and, of course, somebody will figure out a way to make Hummer-loads of money from this new Holy Cow Day.\u00a0 It will be something to look forward to and something to remember – that’s for sure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Prospects, Parents and Coaches Breathe a Sigh of Relief In a surprising, but long-coming announcement, the NCAA last week said that legislation would be introduced which, if passed, would bring an end to the controversial practice of verbal offers from member coaches to prospects.\u00a0 The proposal would pertain to all\u00a0NCAA sports and divisions.\u00a0 With passage, … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/685"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/685\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}