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When the Word Isn't Quite Final
Dunbar standout Arrelious Benn continued to get phone calls and text messages from Notre Dame recruiters even after making a commitment to Illinois on national television.
(Jonathan Newton - The Washington Post)
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"When we find out a kid's orally committed," said Allen Wallace, who founded SuperPrep magazine in 1985 and is now national recruiting editor for the Web site Scout.com, "one of the first things I ask is, 'What are the percentages that the kid is going to follow through?' I ask if he's going to take any more visits or accept calls.
"Some of them treat their commitment as a fall-back position, like, 'At least, I'll have somewhere to go.' " Wallace estimated between 5 and 10 percent of all oral commitments are broken, but added, "It's hard to keep track of because it's so prevalent."
Sometimes a player will make a commitment, but then see his recruiting stock rise, either through strong summer workouts or a standout senior season, which will attract scholarship offers from higher profile schools.
Coaches said an oral commitment only shows a player is in demand.
After the oral commitment "people know who the competition is," Connecticut Coach Randy Edsall said. "Once that kid gives you a verbal commitment, you can't relax and stop recruiting. If you do, someone will say, 'When was the last time you heard from that school?' Then they come in and start recruiting him."
Said Virginia Tech associate head coach Billy Hite, who is beginning his 30th season with the Hokies, "You have to recruit him as if he hasn't committed to you until the national signing day."
An oral commitment is by no means binding, and schools have been known to back out as well. They may lose interest in a recruit, realize they made a poor evaluation before offering him a scholarship, or just recruit other more talented players at that position.
In June 2004, Northwest running back Tony Nelson orally committed to Clemson, and fielded a steady stream of calls from the Tigers' staff throughout football season. But for the last three weeks of December, Nelson never heard from Clemson.
"With Tony, the line of communication was open," Northwest Coach Randy Trivers said, "and then it was a dark period. That's when I knew something was up."
On Jan. 4, four weeks before signing day, Clemson recruiting coordinator David Blackwell called Trivers to say Clemson had withdrawn Nelson's scholarship offer because Nelson had not yet qualified academically. Left with few options, Nelson signed with Division I-AA Massachusetts, where he qualified academically, but redshirted as a freshman.
Pulling offers can be risky for colleges, however, because it can affect the way they deal with future recruits. Wallace said it happens enough, though, that players will continue to talk to other schools after orally committing to a program.
"They can always say, 'Hey, schools can pull my offer,' " Wallace said.
