Rockne's Roundtable

If you demand your recruits not go on other visits then you must not accept visitors who are committed elsewhere. You can't play the "a verbal is a lasting commitment" card with one hand while ignoring it with the other hand.

Recruiting is what it is. Nothing is final, save for a signature on NSD. You win some and you lose some. It's the way it is.

The lack of true commitment is a trend across higher education - not just elite student-athlete recruits, but with all prospective students. I've worked in enrollment management for 5 years, and I've seen a shift happen just in that short time. You can compare the verbal commitment of athletes to the enrollment deposit paid by all students. In the past, when you paid your enrollment deposit, in the vast majority of cases it meant your pledge to a given school was set. The deposit is refundable until May 1 (a national standard, with the exception of early decision rules), but it was usually only in rare circumstances that students would withdraw their deposits in favor of attending another school.

Now the trend is that families pay multiple deposits ("securing" spots at multiple institutions knowing full well that their student is only going to one of them) or they wait until the very last minute. Even 10 years ago, most colleges had a pretty secure class by the end of March, but now the national trend for most schools is that it is very close or even after that May 1 deposit date before they know what to expect for the fall. In my opinion, there's nothing wrong with waiting to make that commitment - in fact, I can't imagine in today's economy that most people would commit without having all the facts about cost and financial aid at a given school. In most cases, people are waiting for the best deal - for a non-athlete, cost is often the deciding factor. For an elite athletic recruit, the "best deal" probably looks something like the earliest playing time, the best exposure, the nicest stuff, etc. I can certainly see the argument that it's okay to wait to see all of your options and have all the facts, but the fact of the matter is, schools are still pushing students (especially athletes) to commit early or the student risks losing a spot. It's kind of a crap shoot for many of these kids, and it's hard to blame them for wavering if they felt rushed into it. This was a lengthy way of saying that it's not all on the students - the colleges (not to mention the media attention surrounding a commitment) are largely at play here, too.

At the same time, so much of this has to do with the general attitude of the youngest generation. I'm not that much older than them, but my process of selecting a college and making a commitment was very different, and that was only 13 years ago. I can't imagine treating the process with the lack of respect I see every day now. I worked hard in high school, and I feel like I earned every acceptance letter and every scholarship offer, but I certainly didn't think I was entitled to it. There were just as many smart and talented kids out there, and I felt lucky to be considered among them. I think most of my friends would agree. Many of you here had to work a whole lot harder than my generation has to succeed, so I know you understand this. But that attitude has been replaced by the "everyone deserves a trophy for showing up" crowd. It's unfortunate, because I see so many students year after year that would be so incredible if they only believed it was important to care about the opportunities they have in front of them.

I guess the point of this rather lengthy diatribe is to say it seems like this is the way of the world. If we're going to be invested in following the recruitment of college student-athletes, we have to be aware that this is what's happening and try not to be surprised when things swing another way.

Kinsaih, great reply. +1 for you.
Those of us parenting kids nowadays have to break the cycle. Make kids earn what they get. No entitlements, etc.
Of course, there are so many families with only one, maybe two kids at most, they inevitably tend to get a little spoiled.