Article on early - REALLY early - college commitments

[HuskyNan]

In the past month, Missouri has received three commitments from prospects who have played a combined 13 high school games. Cunningham was joined by Pingeton’s nieces, Bri and Cierra Porter, who gave MU verbal pledges before their sophomore and freshman years. Months earlier, Te’a Cooper committed to North Carolina in the eighth grade.

“The school has to offer to stay in the game,” said Mark Lewis, a longtime women’s college basketball assistant who writes about recruiting for ESPN.com. “It’s like poker. You may not know whether the kid’s a good student — in ninth grade, who can tell? — and there’s a lot of things you don’t know. But you’ve got to offer right out of the gate or you’re not going to be considered.”

Recruits pick colleges before high school

 

[ndmb]

I don't know that there's really any way to make these early commits go away with NCAA rule, but they're still very troubling. 13 years old is far too young to be making an informed decision about college.

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

Apparently their academic credentials and record, yet to be established, are irrelevant.

 

[EricLA]

I don't know that there's really any way to make these early commits go away with NCAA rule, but they're still very troubling. 13 years old is far too young to be making an informed decision about college.

i agree with you. i believe Geno will surely avoid doing that, but if all the top players start verbaling early (9th and 10th grade), then other top schools will be forced to adjust. i hate to say it, but if that DOES happen, i can see schools recruiting right over kids who verbaled that early but fall in the rankings. Avant is a perfect example - verbaled to tennessee in 8th grade i believe, and was considered the top prospect at that time.

by the time she was a senior, she was in no one's top 20 and it wouldn't have surprised me to see tennessee recruit right over her - which perhaps they did in getting Massengale.

 

[Kibitzer]

"All the top players" are never going to unanimously start committing in 8th or 9th grade because "all of the top players" don't (all) have irresponsible parents and coaches. And maybe, just maybe, there are some (not all) wcbb coaches who are smart enough to see the perils inherent in honoring such premature commitments.

When that coach in Missouri takes that team to the Final Four, wake me up.

 

[BRS24]

Ok, this is what I don't understand - "It will be two years before college coaches can call, three years before she can officially visit schools and longer before senior prom." It's more of a rhetorical question, but how to recruits commit if there's no contact (I know, so naive!)?

 

[HuskyNan]

Ok, this is what I don't understand - "It will be two years before college coaches can call, three years before she can officially visit schools and longer before senior prom." It's more of a rhetorical question, but how to recruits commit if there's no contact (I know, so naive!)?

Usually contact is made through a high school or AAU coach. This is allowed by the NCAA.

 

[ndmb]

Usually contact is made through a high school or AAU coach. This is allowed by the NCAA.

Also, recruits are allowed to call coaches.