Contributor, Rick Paine, is an expert on the college recruiting process. He is also the Director of Swimming at American College Connection (ACC). ACC is a SwimSwam Partner.
Regular Signing Period:
When: April 12, 2017 through August 1, 2017
A National Letter of Intent and scholarship agreement cannot be signed before April 12. Remember, a National Letter of Intent in not issued unless there is some form of athletic aid.
Parents and recruits throw the term “signing” around pretty loosely so be careful what you listen to.
Dead period:
D-I and D2 coaches are not allowed to meet recruits face to face from April 10, through Thursday, April 13. They may, however phone or email prospective student athletes, and their parents in this time frame.
If you visit, don’t plan on meeting a coach.
Verbal Commitments:
When: anytime
What: you can give your verbal commitment to attend a school at any time and the coach can give you a verbal commitment for a scholarship offer or a spot on the team at any time.
Verbals are not binding, but rarely do the coaches renege on their scholarship offers. Usually it’s the recruit who backs out. If you give your word to a coach you should honor it.
If you don’t sign on April 12th, DON’T give up. A lot of coaches continue to recruit based on opportunities and not as much on a timetable. You never know when “you” might look like a good opportunity.
We have dozens of coaches contact us throughout the spring and summer looking for recruits for September.
DO YOUR HOMEWORK AND START EARLY!
What happens when you have a written scholarship offer from a D1 College & the Head Coach steps down 2 weeks before the signing period?
Ben – until a National Letter of Intent is signed, anything you have is non-binding.
Hey Ben,
Braden is correct. NLI’s and scholarship agreements are with the institution and not with the coach.
Hopefully the new coach will honor the commitment. Keep in mind that the new coach is getting a very late start with recruiting and my be glad to have recruits already committed. I would encourage this recruit to be ready to train well and have a great first season to prove themselves to the coach who didn’t recruit them. They may be subjected to more scrutiny in their first year.
Let the new coach know about their plans for the summer. This should help