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Post by elevationvb on Jun 28, 2014 23:29:28 GMT -5
They start high school in August.
Just can't see how this is a good thing.www.mystatesman.com/news/sports/basketball/college-can-wait-right-ut-garners-pledges-from-thr/ngTwM/?icmp=statesman_internallink_textlink_apr2013_statesmanstubtomystatesman_launch#b1280d40.3588825.735413Sedona Prince wrapped up her college future two months before becoming a high school freshman. Prince recently committed to play women’s basketball at Texas. She would join the program for the 2018-19 season. The 14-year-old girl’s first day as a Liberty Hill High School freshman is still two months away.
Prince, at 6 feet 5 inches, isn’t your typical teenager. She’s the kid in the class picture who’s more than a foot taller than some of her classmates. Wears size 16 shoes. On a basketball court, she has already been seen by dozens of college scouts.
Prince, though, is hardly unique.
The Longhorns have received two more commitments from girls who finished the eighth grade roughly a month ago — 6-4 Charli Collier of Crosby and 6-2 Shae Routt of Sugar Land.
That’s three incoming 6-footers, but the Longhorns must wait four years before they get here.
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Post by NebraskaVBfan93 on Jun 30, 2014 11:55:35 GMT -5
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Post by Wolfgang on Jun 30, 2014 12:10:19 GMT -5
I wonder if this is going to be good for the kid. Imagine yourself as a sophomore in high school with a scholarship offer to the college of your choice. What do you do in the following three years until high school graduation? Do you:
(A) Take it eazy-peezy because your college future is all set? -OR- (B) Work harder to improve your game so that your future coach isn't disappointed in you when you get to college?
I'm inclined to think most kids will do (A). When things are handed to most kids, they sit on their arse and do nothing. They also tend to mistakenly assume that they will always possess their physical gifts. It's a kind of arrogance that dumb young kids tend to have. When I was fresh out of college, I started work at a company and I stupidly assumed I was smarter than everyone else. Well, I was wrong.
On the other hand, high performing athletes may be different from most kids. They didn't get to where they were without some diligent effort and some inner drive. Perhaps they know that they have to get better in order to compete at the collegiate level. It's also possible (but I don't know for sure) that the college coach may have sent their recruits some workout instructions and regimen with certain goals/milestones they MUST hit at the end of each quarter/year, otherwise, the scholarship may be retracted. It could be something as simple as: (1) running a mile in under 6:30, or (2) maintaining a certain weight, or (3) bench pressing N lbs. I'm not sure what measurables there are in volleyball. Working on a jump serve successfully M% of the time? I don't know. If I were the coach, I'd do exactly this to protect my "investment." What I don't know is how often and how much I'm allowed to communicate with my recruit -- even after the verbal.
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Post by elevationvb on Jun 30, 2014 14:07:01 GMT -5
Have to disagree with you on this one - - I think Pelini's idea is even worse because it would increase the power of the major college coaches.
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Post by NebraskaVBfan93 on Jun 30, 2014 16:01:33 GMT -5
Have to disagree with you on this one - - I think Pelini's idea is even worse because it would increase the power of the major college coaches. How is that? Here are a couple excerpts from his proposal. "Pelini thinks high school players should be able to sign with teams as soon as they receive scholarship offers. If coaches choose to offer scholarships to freshmen and sophomores -- an increasingly common tactic -- they have to be prepared for those players to sign on for the distant future."If somebody has offered a kid, let him sign, it's over," Pelini told ESPN.com on Wednesday. "That will stop some of the things that are happening -- people just throwing out offers, some of them with really no intention of taking a kid.""Make [the offer] mean something," Pelini said. "People will be like, 'Whoa, I've got to take this kid now.' It will slow things down for the kids, for the institutions. There will be less mistakes." "Pelini added that prospects should be able to be released from their letters of intent if coaching changes occur." If anything, these ideas offer more protection for the kids.
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Post by elevationvb on Jun 30, 2014 16:52:03 GMT -5
Have to disagree with you on this one - - I think Pelini's idea is even worse because it would increase the power of the major college coaches. How is that? Here are a couple excerpts from his proposal. "Pelini thinks high school players should be able to sign with teams as soon as they receive scholarship offers. If coaches choose to offer scholarships to freshmen and sophomores -- an increasingly common tactic -- they have to be prepared for those players to sign on for the distant future."If somebody has offered a kid, let him sign, it's over," Pelini told ESPN.com on Wednesday. "That will stop some of the things that are happening -- people just throwing out offers, some of them with really no intention of taking a kid.""Make [the offer] mean something," Pelini said. "People will be like, 'Whoa, I've got to take this kid now.' It will slow things down for the kids, for the institutions. There will be less mistakes." "Pelini added that prospects should be able to be released from their letters of intent if coaching changes occur." If anything, these ideas offer more protection for the kids. Sorry, but I think an 8th grader being able to sign a letter of intent is a terrible idea - - even worse than allowing verbals at that age.
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Post by NebraskaVBfan93 on Jul 1, 2014 1:07:43 GMT -5
How is that? Here are a couple excerpts from his proposal. "Pelini thinks high school players should be able to sign with teams as soon as they receive scholarship offers. If coaches choose to offer scholarships to freshmen and sophomores -- an increasingly common tactic -- they have to be prepared for those players to sign on for the distant future."If somebody has offered a kid, let him sign, it's over," Pelini told ESPN.com on Wednesday. "That will stop some of the things that are happening -- people just throwing out offers, some of them with really no intention of taking a kid.""Make [the offer] mean something," Pelini said. "People will be like, 'Whoa, I've got to take this kid now.' It will slow things down for the kids, for the institutions. There will be less mistakes." "Pelini added that prospects should be able to be released from their letters of intent if coaching changes occur." If anything, these ideas offer more protection for the kids. Sorry, but I think an 8th grader being able to sign a letter of intent is a terrible idea - - even worse than allowing verbals at that age.I don't disagree. And with the schools being obligated to honor a signed letter of intent, there would be a LOT fewer of them actually making offers to kids so young.
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Post by elevationvb on Jul 1, 2014 9:54:00 GMT -5
Sorry, but I think an 8th grader being able to sign a letter of intent is a terrible idea - - even worse than allowing verbals at that age. I don't disagree. And with the schools being obligated to honor a signed letter of intent, there would be a LOT fewer of them actually making offers to kids so young. You may be correct about that, but the powerful schools like Nebraska, Texas, Alabama . . . depending on the sport . . . would not stop in my opinion. If Texas can offer 3 8th graders now for women's basketball, what would stop them from offering letters of intent?
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Post by NebraskaVBfan93 on Jul 1, 2014 11:57:38 GMT -5
I don't disagree. And with the schools being obligated to honor a signed letter of intent, there would be a LOT fewer of them actually making offers to kids so young. You may be correct about that, but the powerful schools like Nebraska, Texas, Alabama . . . depending on the sport . . . would not stop in my opinion. If Texas can offer 3 8th graders now for women's basketball, what would stop them from offering letters of intent?
Because as it stands now, the offer is basically meaningless. I don't get why that is hard to understand. I would give great odds that were the current offer to come with any kind of formal commitment to the athletes from the school, as Pelini is proposing, Texas definitely wouldn't have offered all three, and maybe not any of them. Another thing it would do is take one small step toward taking collegiate athletes of the pedestal we often put them on. It would eliminate the pomp and circumstance that often accompanies the signing of a letter of intent. It happens mostly in football and basketball. You've seen them... the reporters with all their cameras and microphones set up on a table with a half dozen hats representing all the schools in contention for the services of the prized athlete. I despise that crap. When was the last time that happened to some kid who got a scholarship to go to college based on their academics? Every once and a while I might see a small blurb in the paper about someone who will be attending one of the more prestigious institutions, but if I'm not looking for it, I will probably miss it. My own brother got a full academic scholarship to Harvard some years ago. The publicity he received beyond his family was virtually nil. Okay... Kinda went off on a rant there. Sorry bout that!
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