Maine Recruit Updates: All Are Welcome.......

[all bear]

Re: Maine Recruit Updates: All Are Welcome.......

Why?

Because he didnt commit to BC

[walrus]

Because he didnt commit to BC

+1, its OK at BC but nowhere else

[claver2010]

Re: Maine Recruit Updates: All Are Welcome.......

Why?

Because he's 13

+1, its OK at BC but nowhere else

No, it's disgusting regardless of school.

BC is doing fine on the recruiting front though, thanks for the concern.

[J.D.]

Re: Maine Recruit Updates: All Are Welcome.......

didn't realize BC even had a commitment from a 13 year old. wait...they don't.

anyway, this isn't just a Maine thing. it has gotten out of control everywhere. these commitments so early on mean absolutely nothing to begin with. other schools/major junior won't back off. there is plenty of time for this kid to change his mind. happens all the time.

[northeastern]

Re: Maine Recruit Updates: All Are Welcome.......

13 yrs old.. wow! He prob will play some junior hockey somewhere & get into it a bit & thrive hopefully ..before heading to campus (for Maine's & his own sake).
All the best to him, must be very good.

[Priceless]

Re: Maine Recruit Updates: All Are Welcome.......

Because he's 13

No, it's disgusting regardless of school.

I understand the concern, but if the NCAA is going to consider leagues that can sign kids as young as 16 "professional" and eliminate any college eligibility, then college hockey is going to have to go after them younger.

Rather than rewrite what I've already written on this, here is some of what I said on Facebook:

I would add that with this move, Oliver increases the odds that he will have a somewhat normal childhood and teen years. He will not be inundated with email, letters, texts etc from college coaches and will not have to go through the whole recruiting process. In that regard, his high school years will be better than a lot of kids his age because he already knows where he wants to go to college and what he wants to do there. For most college-bound kids, that adds a lot of stress to already stressful years. Yes, he has made himself a bit of a celebrity by announcing now, but A) he already was a minor celebrity thanks to those trick goals and B) this notoriety will be fleeting.

[walrus]

Re: Maine Recruit Updates: All Are Welcome.......

didn't realize BC even had a commitment from a 13 year old. wait...they don't.

anyway, this isn't just a Maine thing. it has gotten out of control everywhere. these commitments so early on mean absolutely nothing to begin with. other schools/major junior won't back off. there is plenty of time for this kid to change his mind. happens all the time.

Didn't BC have a or some 15 yr olds commit awhile back? Maybe it was another school but I seem to remember Chris!!! being all excited about it

[Drew S.]

Didn't BC have a or some 15 yr olds commit awhile back? Maybe it was another school but I seem to remember Chris!!! being all excited about it

I think Hanifin and Fitzgerald were only 13 or 14 when they committed a few years ago.

[northeastern]

Re: Maine Recruit Updates: All Are Welcome.......

Didn't BC have a or some 15 yr olds commit awhile back? Maybe it was another school but I seem to remember Chris!!! being all excited about it

Cam Askew was 15 when he committed to NU.. then decommitted & committed elsewhere.. then decommitted & now think is playing in the Q..

[ck1969]

Re: Maine Recruit Updates: All Are Welcome.......

I understand the concern, but if the NCAA is going to consider leagues that can sign kids as young as 16 "professional" and eliminate any college eligibility, then college hockey is going to have to go after them younger.

Rather than rewrite what I've already written on this, here is some of what I said on Facebook:

Dude you are sooo far off. He's 13. he doesn't really know where he wants to go to college......If he wants to go to college.... what he wants to do in 5 years. He's barely hit puberty. Clearly you aren't a parent and don't remember what you were thinking about at 13. Let the kid be a kid. I'll bet you a million dollars right now he won't be at Maine in 5 or 6 years from now. This is the parents doing not a 13 year old. It shouldn't happen and it pizzes me off.....If you couldn't tell!

[CollegeHockeyRinkReport]

Re: Maine Recruit Updates: All Are Welcome.......

First off - to stop all the insanity here.

For all any of us know, Maine doesn't even want him. Anyone can say that they've committed to anywhere. Princeless and CK both have points. It's absurd, but hopefully by colleges engaging earlier, major junior is less of a factor.

[ck1969]

Re: Maine Recruit Updates: All Are Welcome.......

First off - to stop all the insanity here.

For all any of us know, Maine doesn't even want him. Anyone can say that they've committed to anywhere. Princeless and CK both have points. It's absurd, but hopefully by colleges engaging earlier, major junior is less of a factor.

I think this is looking more like a publicity stunt by the parents to get his name out there on a national level. I bet his parents screamed at little league umps too.

[northeastern]

Hell, and they're even more reliable than the 50 year old hockey coaches, who barely know what they are offering you for scholarship money, because they can't actually be held to it. The kid has a bad year at 16 and they cut what they promised him, tell him they need him to spend 4 years in Fargo, or lots of other steps.

The incidents to 13 year olds backing out are outdone by the incidents of 50 year olds backing out.

Make the coaches sign a binding contract, and they'll hold off making promises to 13 year olds.

no kidding.. verbals .. take em out of the equation. It's all about LOIs.

[all bear]

Re: Maine Recruit Updates: All Are Welcome.......

"I would add that with this move, Oliver increases the odds that he will have a somewhat normal childhood and teen years. He will not be inundated with email, letters, texts etc from college coaches and will not have to go through the whole recruiting process. In that regard, his high school years will be better than a lot of kids his age because he already knows where he wants to go to college and what he wants to do there. For most college-bound kids, that adds a lot of stress to already stressful years. Yes, he has made himself a bit of a celebrity by announcing now, but A) he already was a minor celebrity thanks to those trick goals and B) this notoriety will be fleeting. "

Bingo. This is the most important thing. He might actually have an enjoyable high school experience with minor distractions. Imagine how easy it will be for him to say "sorry, I've already committed to Maine, where I always wanted to go and where my Dad went to school. But thanks anyway for the thought."

Everything else is all window dressing and irrelevant imo.

[Priceless]

Re: Maine Recruit Updates: All Are Welcome.......

Dude you are sooo far off. He's 13. he doesn't really know where he wants to go to college......If he wants to go to college.... what he wants to do in 5 years. He's barely hit puberty. Clearly you aren't a parent and don't remember what you were thinking about at 13. Let the kid be a kid. I'll bet you a million dollars right now he won't be at Maine in 5 or 6 years from now. This is the parents doing not a 13 year old. It shouldn't happen and it pizzes me off.....If you couldn't tell!

I think he does know. Kid I grew up with had his heart set on Bowdoin College from the time he could walk. Kids at NYA are VERY driven to excel and many choose colleges early. It wouldn't surprise me if some of his classmates already have a good idea where they want to go. I would estimate over half my class eventually enrolled in the same college we envisioned as sophomores. But yeah, he might change his mind, get burned out on hockey, grow freakishly tall and switch to basketball or follow scholastic dreams that take him elsewhere. You can't be 100% sure.

I would agree that 13 is too young, but as I said, if the NCAA is going to consider major juniors as "professional" then college coaches are going to have to start younger.

According to NYA coach Eric Graham, other schools had already talked to him - it wasn't just Maine. As long as the recruitment rules remain, I think we're going to see more 13- and 14- year old kids making these commitments.