Timing on a verbal??

[WilcoFan]

I'm sure this is an very individual thing but my wife and I are a little uneasy at the stage of recruiting my 2012 daughter is at. A little advice from thise that REALLY KNOW will be invaluable.

Situation is 2012 daughter plays in midwest. Infielder, good hitter, lacks the foot speed to just be a dead lock for a big rogram. But is very good for the region, plays on established 18U team, been to the big events, done the emails for two years now.

She has already been on multiple visits, has 6-8 schools of varying size interested. Three of big conference schools, 3 mid level schools, and talking to some good quality academic D3's (Good grades, good ACT). Actually seems to be gaining some momentum with schools, but no verbal's yet.

My assumption has been that the highest level players and programs have probably closed out the recruiting process or are close. The whole process seems to be an uphill battle for the midwest players. So here are my questions:

1) Am I accurate in my assumption that better programs have closed out? Should we just stop communicating with them?

2) When do the "second tier" D1 players start to get picked up? When is it really getting late?

3) It seems the more academic schools both big and small seem to wait longer...Is that true? When do they start committing?

4) How honest can/should communications be when a verbal does come with that team? Can or should you "pressure" other schools that you are communicating with?

Travel ball coach is advising to pick out what you want that is realistic and start hitting 3 or 4 schools hard trying get the commitments rather than waiting for them.

It is a new one time process for us and we are feeling a little over our head.

[SoCalFP]

Is your daughter playing in any more showcase events? There is still the late signing period in the Spring, so it is not too late at this point time.

[jonriv]

Although many of the major programs have secured a good portion of their 2012 class- there is still time- some Div I teams have not finished their 2011 classes yet. Verbals are nice, but things can change before the final signing date. Keep with the showcases and e-mails- most of all keep up the grades

[Gone in 2.6]

I'm sure this is an very individual thing but my wife and I are a little uneasy at the stage of recruiting my 2012 daughter is at. A little advice from thise that REALLY KNOW will be invaluable.

Situation is 2012 daughter plays in midwest. Infielder, good hitter, lacks the foot speed to just be a dead lock for a big rogram. But is very good for the region, plays on established 18U team, been to the big events, done the emails for two years now.

She has already been on multiple visits, has 6-8 schools of varying size interested. Three of big conference schools, 3 mid level schools, and talking to some good quality academic D3's (Good grades, good ACT). Actually seems to be gaining some momentum with schools, but no verbal's yet.

My assumption has been that the highest level players and programs have probably closed out the recruiting process or are close. The whole process seems to be an uphill battle for the midwest players. So here are my questions:

1) Am I accurate in my assumption that better programs have closed out? Should we just stop communicating with them?

2) When do the "second tier" D1 players start to get picked up? When is it really getting late?

3) It seems the more academic schools both big and small seem to wait longer...Is that true? When do they start committing?

4) How honest can/should communications be when a verbal does come with that team? Can or should you "pressure" other schools that you are communicating with?

Travel ball coach is advising to pick out what you want that is realistic and start hitting 3 or 4 schools hard trying get the commitments rather than waiting for them.

It is a new one time process for us and we are feeling a little over our head.

It might be a little tricky for those that have been through it to give you advice on the timetable thing since the process is accelerating every year. My kid is only 3 years older than yours and it has REALLY sped up in that short time.

What we did to get a feel for what was going on is a lot of us dads from the class of 2009 were in contact via the phone throughout the process. You'd be surprised how much you can learn/find out by networking with all the people you've gotten to know through the sport over the years, who are going through the same thing you are.

Also keep an eye on Spy softball. See who's commiting where.

Our personal experience as far as the verbal, we never asked/pressured a school to offer. We were honest and up front and didn't try to play games or play one against the other. At the end of the day, it's better to go where you are really wanted (Saves you an uphill battle when you get there).

However, balancing all that with your dd's academic needs makes it even more complex.

[TulsaEliteGold]

She is a 2012, you still have plenty of time. The biggest window for 2012s and D1 will be this Fall thru next summer. Only a few of the Top 25 have totally finished with 2012 money, most D1s still have plenty of D1 money for 2012s, the majority havn't veballed any 2012s yet. All of my (5) 2010s and (6) 2011s who played for me verballed/signed D1. The majority verballed between Nov-Feb of their Junior year following the Fall Showcase season. None of my 2012s have verballed yet, but many have been on visits and started receiving offers.

Now to answer your questions to the best of my knowledge:
1) Am I accurate in my assumption that better programs have closed out? Only a few of the Top 25 have totally finished with 2012 money, most D1s still have plenty of D1 money for 2012s, the majority havn't veballed any 2012s yet. Should we just stop communicating with them? Not unless they tell you they are finished with her class.

2) When do the "second tier" D1 players start to get picked up? During the Summer after Junior year and Fall of their Senior year.

When is it really getting late? Late-Summer after Junior year

3) It seems the more academic schools both big and small seem to wait longer...Is that true? Not always, but probably for the most part.
When do they start committing? There's no set time; they too are all different. They usually have to make sure the athletes will be approved and that can make them wait longer.

4) How honest can/should communications be when a verbal does come with that team?
Very honest.
Can or should you "pressure" other schools that you are communicating with? I wouldn't reccomend this unless she has other offers on the table that she likes and those coaches who offered are pressuring for a decision.

[hitthedamnball]

This is a good website to track verbals and get a picture of where most schools are with their recruiting. http://robocoach.websitetoolbox.com/pos ... ly+verbals

[WilcoFan]

Thanks for the replies. It gives me a much better feel for the situation.

My DD is certainly still active in exposures, doing emails, making visits. As I quickly mentioned in first post she even seems to be gaining new interest almost weekly. Of course mainly from schools she has been emailing for what seems like forever now.

I think the comment that most activity takes place between end of fall exposures and Feb makes most sense to me. Last summer at exposures it seemed pretty early in the summer most schools had moved on to 2012 (not all, but most) and I had that on my mind.

The websites for commitments are a big help also. Realize they are not gospel but it helps.

[Hawk17]

One piece of advice that I have is "Don't get caught up in the frenzy." Sometimes parents and athletes get concerned because they hear of other athletes getting a verbal and they wonder why it hasn't happened for them. As long as she keeps doing what she needs to do, staying in touch, etc. it will work out.

[Jayhawk]

I believe that you can actually lose some money if you verbal too early. You really don't want to be too early and you definately don't want to be late as the money has dried up. Being in the middle is where most of the better offers seem to come from. (most of that experience is through soccer rather than fastpitch but I assume the principles are the same)

The problem with being one of the first to verbal is that the coach usually thinks they have nearly unlimited options. Therefore they are a little more stingy with the money offered as they wait for that superstar. (I suppose if you were one of the top recruits in the country it would be different) After they lose a recruit or two then they loosen up quite a bit.

I know of quite a few instances where some top-flight athletes didn't really get that good of a deal but they wanted to "get it over with and be done early". Six months later kids came along with less talent and similar academics and got significantly more money. (again the disclaimer about this being mostly soccer athletes)