How does the offer process work?

[BarnBoy]

Ok, so I am curious. Is there an official process for offering a recruit?

How do services like 247Sports and Rivals find out about the offers?

I am guessing coaches try to do this in person? Maybe not possible all the time?

Does the coach have to go through the college/university so an official letter is sent out?

People on this site always talk about "non committable" offers. What's that? Is there such a thing?

Very curious if anyone has any official insight into this process.

 

[DeathClutch]

My understanding of a non-committable offer is when a coach gives an offer to a kid that may be farther down on their recruiting board that they are interested in seeing more from. It shows a higher level of interest to said player, but it is not technically an actual offer. It could turn into a committable offer if lets say a couple players at the same position, ahead of the player on the recruiting board, commit elsewhere or the player improves his level of play and moves up on the recruiting board.

 

[Dr.Don]

In order to figure out things like this, one must be committed first.

 

[Tim1406]

How do services like 247Sports and Rivals find out about the offers?

Coaches and schools cannot comment on recruits until they have signed. As services get their knowledge from players, the player's family and friends and the high school and AAU coaches.

I am guessing coaches try to do this in person? Maybe not possible all the time?

I assume this changes player to player, and situation to situation.

Does the coach have to go through the college/university so an official letter is sent out?

Probably not at first though I don't know this one for sure. My sister is a Woman's Basketball Coach(DII-juco) and she doesn't have to get approval first she can just talk with the players about it from day 1. Though I suspect some coaches for some recruits want it to look formal when they officially offer a kid and will send it out on letterhead.

Please, everyone else, correct me if I'm wrong on these responses.

 

[60's Guy]

I think Tim is pretty much right on. Each school, each coach does it a little bit different in my experience. For DI
scholarships, unless you are Kobe it's most often "interest" versus an offer. Certainly to begin. Sometimes parents
and players confuse "interest" with an offer and tell people they received an offer because a lot of the contact is verbal. Sometimes it's a verbal trial balloon too: "If we offered would you accept?" etc

With interest they still come watch you play and banter back and forth to build a relationship.

Offers ultimately are written to be valid but always started verbal in my experience...usually on the phone.
Everybody is different but I think most times they gauge interest through AAU coaches or the high school coach
depending. They ask lots of questions typically of coaches. It'd be rare or you are really, really good to
get a written offer without lots of verbal contact or texting back and forth.

Offers are up to coaches...not schools...or find a new job. Then the school approves enrollment.

 

[Winasota Gopher]

None of us know.

 

[GopherJake]

I hope this question makes sense. What about pecking order of offers? That is, if we offer 3 PGs, we obviously have an order of preference. Are some offers contingent? That is, is our #3 choice able to accept the offer, contingent upon one last chance to #1 and #2? Or is it strictly whoever commits first gets it?

 

[Tim1406]

I hope this question makes sense. What about pecking order of offers? That is, if we offer 3 PGs, we obviously have an order of preference. Are some offers contingent? That is, is our #3 choice able to accept the offer, contingent upon one last chance to #1 and #2? Or is it strictly whoever commits first gets it?

It depends on how good the players are relative to each other. So if #1 is far and away the best then #2 and #3 probably wont have a committable offer until #1 has decided or told the coach he likely is going elsewhere. if #1 and #2 are close they probably have a first one to commit situation and #3 has to wait and if they are all relatively the same(in terms of fit for program and talent) then it is likely just a first one to commit from any of them. But each coach handles that differently and you can probably slow play a recruit to help slow down the process of them committing to early.

 

[oleboy41]

There’s no ‘official’ offer that is NCAA sanctioned. Some schools/coaches will send a letter basically saying ‘we’re offering you a scholarship’ but its not binding or anything, any more than a verbal offer. A Letter of Intent is binding and that’s what a player actually signs to accept a scholarship offer. In some cases there are forms other than a LOI a recruit signs if they’re greyshirting or transferring though. The rest is just communication. Sometimes coaches give conditional offers ie “we’re offering you for this week and take it or we’re moving on” or “if this guy we have ahead of you doesn’t commit then you have a committable offer” or “we want you here but we’ll let you know if we have a scholarship for you at the end of the season”. Parents and kids just need to know what the deal is. In football you often see guys that want to commit but the staff tells them to hold off for a while as they wait on other kids (or sometimes they just don’t return a players calls for a while)

 

[Gopher Warrior]

Ok, so I am curious. Is there an official process for offering a recruit?

How do services like 247Sports and Rivals find out about the offers?

I am guessing coaches try to do this in person? Maybe not possible all the time?

Does the coach have to go through the college/university so an official letter is sent out?

People on this site always talk about "non committable" offers. What's that? Is there such a thing?

No official process.

In theory, from sources other than the D-I school (e.g., the kid, coaches, family, friends, etc). In reality, the information can come from anywhere. Often it's from the kid... as a kid or a HS/AAU/other coach, there may be a perceived incentive to "have offers." That said, what is not truly an offer may be called an offer by some.

"Offers" are very often not made in person. There are a variety of reasons for this including the limitations of the recruiting calendar and rules.

There is no such thing as an official letter. There are letters that "appear official", but in most cases there is nothing binding. If you look at many offer letters you will see disclaimers... (e.g., this offer depends on x, y and z).. but letters are generally not required or binding. "More formal" than a phone call... is probably better terminology than "official"... an NLI or agreements related to financial aid grants are "binding" and worthy of being called "official"...

The thing to remember is recruiting is fluid. It's not a standard, strictly formulated process. Misunderstandings do happen. "Offer lists" you'll see online are usually incomplete and/or outdated... "past and/or present interest lists" may be a better descriptor.

"It all depends"

 

[BarnBoy]

Thanks, everyone.