Good Tuesday morning readers. I am going to take my best shot at writing a mostly serious article today. I said mostly serious, so don’t be surprised I cant contain myself.
The Big Ten Conference has proposed reducing the years of NCAA eligibility of 21 yr old freshmen. A dumb ass proposal likely to be shot down, but lets address the real problem. Keep in mind kids, that the Big Ten proposal has no bearing on D3 programs only D1.
TJHN would propose the Elimination of Verbal Commitments, and a change to National Letter of Intent signing rules and procedures.
Before you all freak out, just hear me out. This makes sense and protects players and parents, while forcing NCAA programs to become more responsible with how they handle commitments, and how they manage their scholarships.
We would propose that Verbal Commitments be completely eliminated, or be made non binding on the part of the player, should a player receive a more attractive offer.
We would also propose that NLI signings be made 24 to 36 months prior to the player entering an NCAA program. This would put the actual scholarship dollars in writing, and force schools to honor their commitments.
The 36 month NLI could be signed as a Senior in High School, and the NCAA program would have to bring in the player within 24 months of the player graduating High School. They could bring him in sooner, but could not bring him in later than 24 months. This eliminates the multiple deferrals that some coaches use to delay player enrolment.
The 24 month NLI could be signed within one calendar year of the player graduating from High School. This would force schools to again plan in advance for the players arrival.
If these simple changes were made, in conjunction with the absolute bullshit of the “Verbal Commitment” programs would be held accountable.
See a “Verbal Commitment” means nothing. You get no financial guarantee as a player, but the school keeps you from talking to other schools who may want to bring you in sooner, or offer you more money. It serves no purpose and is no more than a promise to continue to keep watching a player. Verbal Commitments are broken so often they are worthless.
“Verbal Commitments” are nothing more than summer bragging rights to players and parents while they wait to see how much money they might get.
“Verbal Commitments” have created the absolute insane rush of parents wanting or thinking their child needs to be verbally committed. It creates unreasonable expectations for players and parents that carry with them unreasonable pressures to perform.
The idea that 14 and 15 year old players are committing to NCAA programs is simply beyond stupid. Committing to a player at 14 or 15 will result in more “misses” than it will “hits” in recruiting NCAA athletes.
The “Verbal Commitment” leads to more broken hearts, and players leaving the game because of the broken heart of not getting the commitment, or not getting the scholarship money they thought they were getting.
In a time when Freshmen can be red shirted now, and stay in school for five years, why not get them in earlier working on their education if you want younger players Big Ten Conference?
Why try to punish or penalize older players who take more time to develop, or take more time to make a decision because you cant control yourself from talking to players who haven’t hit puberty yet?!
The analogy here is the NHL Salary Cap. The reason the cap was put in place and seen as being necessary is because the Owners couldn’t control their own spending. They felt they needed to spend more to win or compete and they created their own problems.
In NCAA hockey, the Coaches think they need to commit earlier and earlier every year in order to lock up what they really hope will turn out to be a good NCAA player. This leads to over committing all the time that is no different than over spending.
The “Cap” or “Rule Change” has forced teams to be more responsible, has created parity, and a better product on the ice for those of us spending our money to support the product. In the case of you NCAA public Universities, we pay your salary with our tax dollars, so you might want to listen.
Coaches and Athletic Directors along with Administrators are always preaching about accountability. How about you have some accountability for a change!
*The Death Pool is a mix of comedy, and satire in connection with recent events. It is not an official report of current events although it may look as though the news is so accurate that it could one day happen or may be happening.
