Gary Haning on early commitments

[brentt]

Everyone has an opinion on softball players committing earlier and earlier and most feel it's a not-so-great thing.

If you read the interview we did with Patty Gasso last week you remember she said: "I'm not a fan of early recruiting, but the bad thing is if I don't go after a player when she has obvious talent I'll be left behind."

Gary Haning wrote a piece for StudentSportsSoftball.com we published today where he actually proposes some ideas on early recruiting including going the football and basketball route of "soft" verbals, where a player commits but can still take trips.

He has some interesting ideas and, in my opinion, is at least putting suggestions out there for discussion!

Read his entire article here: Gary Haning on Early Committing

--- Brentt Eads, StudentSportsSoftball.com

[Pale Rider]

And sanity rears its ugly head...Good read...
I know kids who don't even have hair in their armpits yet who swear XX and XX are begging them to play...
Wonder how many QBs get looked at hard in Jr High?...much less 'committed'

[Pale Rider]

Early verbals will continue until coaches start getting burned by their offers. As long as the kid pans out it is win for the coach.
As Patty said she can't be the only one to sit around and wait if other oaches don't stop the practice as well. She would just miss outline players.
The ultimate control lies with the parents And as long as the parents of those early verbals are happy there is no incentive to stop

Amen...wonder when we'll see something like the TX cheerleader thing...Pom Pom Mom becomes Xeno Mother?...
Know a man $50k in credit card debt over ball ...he's crazy

[DonnieS]

I remember when the girls got to be that age and we would look around to find competitive tournaments. After and before the qualifiers, most everything was showcases. DD2 says, "When can we get back to having fun playing softball?" Which to her like most of yalls kids was competitive - double elimination, loser brackets, etc. winners playing on Sunday afternoon, losers doing their 2 and Q. I explained that showcases made it easier for the coaches to see them , etc. etc. Her words, "Screw em, if they want to see us play real softball, they can find us."

[PDad]

Early verbals will continue until coaches start getting burned by their offers. As long as the kid pans out it is win for the coach. From what I've read on HB, some coaches reduce their risk/exposure by making smaller offers (e.g. 30% 1 yr) on the early verbals. They're making a calculated risk/reward offer. Coaches that get burned on large offers (e.g. high% for multiple years) will still make offers - they just won't be large ones.

As Patty said she can't be the only one to sit around and wait if other oaches don't stop the practice as well. She would just miss outline players.
The ultimate control lies with the parents And as long as the parents of those early verbals are happy there is no incentive to stop

Individual players are in a similar position to Patty - they lose opportunities if they wait too long and schools commit their money to other players. The only way the participants can change the process is if they agree as a group.

Truthfully, I'm more concerned about the thousands of families that make awful financial decisions while chasing the brass ring than the few early verbals that don't work out. Better information and more transparency would help everyone make better decisions.

[AlwaysImprove]

I remember when the girls got to be that age and we would look around to find competitive tournaments. After and before the qualifiers, most everything was showcases. DD2 says, "When can we get back to having fun playing softball?" Which to her like most of yalls kids was competitive - double elimination, loser brackets, etc. winners playing on Sunday afternoon, losers doing their 2 and Q. I explained that showcases made it easier for the coaches to see them , etc. etc. Her words, "Screw em, if they want to see us play real softball, they can find us."

We should put DonnieS kid in charge. I always enjoy fastpitch. Regardless the level. There is no sport in the world, including soccer as boring as showcases.

[DonnieS]

I remember when the girls got to be that age and we would look around to find competitive tournaments. After and before the qualifiers, most everything was showcases. DD2 says, "When can we get back to having fun playing softball?" Which to her like most of yalls kids was competitive - double elimination, loser brackets, etc. winners playing on Sunday afternoon, losers doing their 2 and Q. I explained that showcases made it easier for the coaches to see them , etc. etc. Her words, "Screw em, if they want to see us play real softball, they can find us."

We should put DonnieS kid in charge. I always enjoy fastpitch. Regardless the level. There is no sport in the world, including soccer as boring as showcases.

She has a lot that same attitude in everything - I'm thinking a career in the Foreign Service specializing in diplomacy.

[AlwaysImprove]

Back to early verbals. The concept to soften the verbals by having people take trips to other universities will be tough to get going in softball.

Football programs have huge budgets, and wasting a few flights on risky prospects that have already soft committed is totally within reason. Even in football, this privilege is usually reserved for a 5 star. top 20 in the nation recruit.

Softball teams have very constrained travel budgets. They need to get need to get something from every trip.

[ontheblack]

Early verbals will continue until coaches start getting burned by their offers. As long as the kid pans out it is win for the coach. From what I've read on HB, some coaches reduce their risk/exposure by making smaller offers (e.g. 30% 1 yr) on the early verbals. They're making a calculated risk/reward offer. Coaches that get burned on large offers (e.g. high% for multiple years) will still make offers - they just won't be large ones.

As Patty said she can't be the only one to sit around and wait if other oaches don't stop the practice as well. She would just miss outline players.
The ultimate control lies with the parents And as long as the parents of those early verbals are happy there is no incentive to stop

Individual players are in a similar position to Patty - they lose opportunities if they wait too long and schools commit their money to other players. The only way the participants can change the process is if they agree as a group.

Truthfully, I'm more concerned about the thousands of families that make awful financial decisions while chasing the brass ring than the few early verbals that don't work out. Better information and more transparency would help everyone make better decisions.

And a lot of this is on the TB org that trades on its name. Transparency starts with making sure parents and kids understand the process. That education wont be done by the TB orgs.

Haning, Hay, Brett, etc have a golden opportunity here with PGF sponsored education to inform their customers of the good, the bad, and the ugly of the softball recruiting process.

[Fredegar]

Back to early verbals. The concept to soften the verbals by having people take trips to other universities will be tough to get going in softball.

Football programs have huge budgets, and wasting a few flights on risky prospects that have already soft committed is totally within reason. Even in football, this privilege is usually reserved for a 5 star. top 20 in the nation recruit.

Softball teams have very constrained travel budgets. They need to get need to get something from every trip.

Regarding having people take trips to other colleges, hopefully it's happening more than you think. Yes, it sucks spending our own money to make these unofficials, but the goal is to make an informed decision. Like many of you, we spent the time/money on a few unofficials. Before that, we went to a camp or two, took a couple campus tours, etc, to give her (and us) an idea of what she wants in a school.

So while softball players typically can't wait till senior year to get their 5 free official visits, families can, and should, make several visits before verballing.