Recruiting: One Month until National Signing Day 2012

PHOTO BY CHUCK LIDDY - THE NEWS & OBSERVER

With National Signing Day exactly four weeks away, February 1, 2012 and the new year upon us, I wanted to post a small bit on the college recruiting front that will hopefully be of some help to those out there that have recently completed their senior season or are an underclassmen thinking about what's next in the process.

During this past season I had a number of informal conversations with student-athletes and parents of student-athletes regarding the college recruiting process and unfortunately it seems that in may ways the knowledge gap still exists - something that quite frankly isn't positive for the student-athletes or their high school programs.  I've always thought that the more the high school student-athlete knows about the system and the more their family understands about how it all works, the higher the probability that the student-athlete will end up in a situation that matches not only their athletic pursuits but also the academic side of things.

Rather than go into anything too in-depth, I'll throw just a few things out there:

Current Seniors:

For the seniors that are out there that are 'in-the-process' at the moment and haven't made a decision.  A few things to keep in mind.  Most D-IA or FBS schools at this point in time have the guys they've offered for this class and in many cases they have verbal commits.  Point is that in many cases unless you have been actively recruited by one of these schools, it is not the most realistic position to assume that an offer is still going to materialize.  I would add that as with most things, this isn't a 100% statement.  I can recall a tight end from the RDU area being offered by a major program in the ACC about a week prior to signing day.  As in he didn't have an offer from the school and then he did and it appeared that just weeks prior that the school had little interest in him.  So as I said, it's not impossible, but unlikely.  If you think a school is recruiting you at this level and you are 'waiting to hear from them'...point being that you are uncertain of their intentions, then do the following.  Pick up the phone, or have your high school coach pick up the phone and find out.  You'll get an answer and depending on the answer you can  have some peace of mind however the conversation goes.

I've Been Offered - Oh Really...Offers Demystified

In this installment of The Recruited I hope to provide a bit of insight concerning all those 'offers' that are supposedly being picked up by area athletes.  I think the best way to approach this topic is slowly.

From signing day back in February and up through the summer there will be a number of rising seniors that 'pick up offers' from schools.  But what exactly is an offer and maybe more important, are all offers the same?

Well, perhaps the question I put forth is a bit ill-posed.  As I look back I can recall many a time when someone said they had been offered by a school, but when individuals in the know commented on the specific topic, it was clear that said individual had not been offered.  My point with this story is that in many cases there were student-athletes that for a number of reasons, the majority of which benign in nature, simply didn't understand what constituted being offered. Moreover, based on their interactions with a specific school, they had reached a point where in their mind and potentially in the minds of some individuals around them, they had indeed been offered.  In fact they had not - in many cases they were simply being recruited officially by the school.  This was a recurring story and speaks in many ways to the fact that understanding the system is important to those that are a part of the process.