Wisconsin Badgers 2018-2019

[Timothy A]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2018-2019

Back in the country and have updated the spreadsheet with Ava's commitment.

I feel like I have missed a few others, so let me know who else I may have missed.

Thanks a ton for doing the sheet, you have no idea how cool it is to have these sheets. I think Chayla Edwards' sister Laila committed (2022 grad). I don't have verification at this moment.

 

[gwhinwi]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2018-2019

https://www.neutralzone.net/womens/player/laila-edwards-6739/

Looks like a commit to me.

I've got her added to the sheet.

 

[Hockeybuckeye]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2018-2019

@ToddMilewski #Badgers women's hockey gets a commit from 14-year-old goalie Ava McNaughton from Pittsburgh Penguins Elite.

Welcome to the den Ava!

Please correct me if I'm wrong but aren't there new rules out or coming soon from the NCAA preventing any kind of commits from kids this young?

 

[Sieve1]

Please correct me if I'm wrong but aren't there new rules out or coming soon from the NCAA preventing any kind of commits from kids this young?

Not yet. Supposedly coming in the spring which is why we’re seeing so many younger kids announcing now.

 

[Hockeybuckeye]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2018-2019

Not yet. Supposedly coming in the spring which is why we’re seeing so many younger kids announcing now.

Thanks for the info. So if they're all verbal committing now then I assume there is some type of grandfather clause in the new rules coming that won't nullify these verbals, otherwise what would be the point of committing now, correct?

 

[Still Eeyore]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2018-2019

Thanks for the info. So if they're all verbal committing now then I assume there is some type of grandfather clause in the new rules coming that won't nullify these verbals, otherwise what would be the point of committing now, correct?

There's nothing to nullify. A verbal commitment is in no way binding. The point of doing them now isn't that the new rules will disallow early verbal commitments. It's that the new rules will prohibit communication between a coach and a prospect, so there wouldn't be any way to make a verbal commitment.

 

[Sieve1]

Thanks for the info. So if they're all verbal committing now then I assume there is some type of grandfather clause in the new rules coming that won't nullify these verbals, otherwise what would be the point of committing now, correct?

A verbal is just a handshake deal (although a very public one) until the NLI is signed senior year. Coincidentally today is signing day! Congrats to all the 2019s signing their letters! So any player who verbally commits to a school, whether as a 7th grader or in Sept of Senior year, is at some risk of not actually going to that school, until the NLI is signed AND the player is accepted by Admissions. Ivies don’t have NLI’s because they offer no athletic money, but players can sign a “likely letter” which states that the player will accept a spot in the team and is “likely” to be accepted to the school. Also D3 schools don’t do NLIs because they offer no athletic money.
A lot can happen between 8th grade and senior year- and it’s not unheard of for kids to decommit or get dumped by a school. Coaches come & go. Players don’t get good grades, get injured and plateau...
The new rules will ban ANY contact between players & coaches until Sept 1 of Jr year which will prevent all of the crazy early commitments and give players and coaches a better sense of what’s best for them. But the looming changes have created a run on committing younger players to get them in under the wire.

 

[GTOWN]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2018-2019

A verbal is just a handshake deal (although a very public one) until the NLI is signed senior year. Coincidentally today is signing day! Congrats to all the 2019s signing their letters! So any player who verbally commits to a school, whether as a 7th grader or in Sept of Senior year, is at some risk of not actually going to that school, until the NLI is signed AND the player is accepted by Admissions. Ivies don’t have NLI’s because they offer no athletic money, but players can sign a “likely letter” which states that the player will accept a spot in the team and is “likely” to be accepted to the school. Also D3 schools don’t do NLIs because they offer no athletic money.
A lot can happen between 8th grade and senior year- and it’s not unheard of for kids to decommit or get dumped by a school. Coaches come & go. Players don’t get good grades, get injured and plateau...
The new rules will ban ANY contact between players & coaches until Sept 1 of Jr year which will prevent all of the crazy early commitments and give players and coaches a better sense of what’s best for them. But the looming changes have created a run on committing younger players to get them in under the wire.

Are they closing the loophole of using the player's coach or "friend" to contact the girl?

 

[shelfit]

Are they closing the loophole of using the player's coach or "friend" to contact the girl?

And what about a kid calling a coach at the coach's office phone number, or making unofficial visits to college campuses and talking with coaches in person during those visits before they are seniors in high school?

 

[joecct]

And what about a kid calling a coach at the coach's office phone number, or making unofficial visits to college campuses and talking with coaches in person during those visits before they are seniors in high school?

No problem with that.

 

[Sieve1]

And what about a kid calling a coach at the coach's office phone number, or making unofficial visits to college campuses and talking with coaches in person during those visits before they are seniors in high school?

If it’s done like the lacrosse rules (which they’re saying it will be) then there will be no contact allowed between coaches and players before 9/1 jr year. That includes the player calling or texting the coach. Club coaches will still be able to communicate with college coaches so a player could get an idea of who is interested and hope her phone rings on 9/1. But the current system of club coaches setting up phone calls and face timing tours between players & coaches will not be allowed. Of course, it won’t take long for schools to find loopholes, such as college players or faculty members giving prospects “unofficial” campus tours because athletic department personnel can’t...

 

[shelfit]

If it’s done like the lacrosse rules (which they’re saying it will be) then there will be no contact allowed between coaches and players before 9/1 jr year. That includes the player calling or texting the coach. Club coaches will still be able to communicate with college coaches so a player could get an idea of who is interested and hope her phone rings on 9/1. But the current system of club coaches setting up phone calls and face timing tours between players & coaches will not be allowed. Of course, it won’t take long for schools to find loopholes, such as college players or faculty members giving prospects “unofficial” campus tours because athletic department personnel can’t...

Looks like you and joecct are saying two different things. This shows there is already confusion about the new rules.

 

[Sieve1]

Looks like you and joecct are saying two different things. This shows there is already confusion about the new rules.

It’s true there is confusion about exactly what will be allowed since the NCAA hasn’t voted on anything yet. They’ve just indicated that they are considering new restrictions that will be based on the restrictions recently adopted by US Lacrosse. Many club coaches think that new restrictions will be adopted “in spring” likely after Nationals. What exactly the rules look like remains to be seen, but the college coaches are not waiting around to find out. Hence, lots of early commitments.

 

[Hockeybuckeye]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2018-2019

A verbal is just a handshake deal (although a very public one) until the NLI is signed senior year.

Yes, I am quite aware of this as my daughter was a collegiate athlete albeit not in hockey. It seems to me that all those rushing to verbal before the rules change seems to violate the intent of what the NCAA is trying to do. In my experience it's simply not logical for a middle school girl to verbal no matter that it's non binding. I have personally known one girl from Ohio to verbal in softball to Oregon when in 8th grade but she was ranked as the #1 prospect nationally by her senior year and tore up the PAC 12 her freshman year! But that's such a rare exception in any sport.

 

[shelfit]

It’s true there is confusion about exactly what will be allowed since the NCAA hasn’t voted on anything yet. They’ve just indicated that they are considering new restrictions that will be based on the restrictions recently adopted by US Lacrosse. Many club coaches think that new restrictions will be adopted “in spring” likely after Nationals. What exactly the rules look like remains to be seen, but the college coaches are not waiting around to find out. Hence, lots of early commitments.

Plus college coaches will always find loopholes or new ways around the rules. I like the idea of coaches not being allowed to talk with prospects until the specified date mentioned previously. Let kids be kids for a little while longer as they enjoy their time in high school. The problem is mostly with their parents as they look for athletic scholarship opportunities for their little superstar athletes earlier and earlier as they try to keep up with the Joneses. Parents see their children's teammates getting offers so they naturally think their little wonder-child is better than those teammates so they shop their kids around to find a college coach that might take interest. Very quietly it also creates bad blood and lots of talking behind each other's backs on those teams which is great for team dynamics and chemistry. On a similar note, you see it every year before tryouts too. By mid season you see and hear parents comparing notes on where or which team their daughters are going to tryout for the following year. It has gotten ridiculous. You just hope the players themselves can still enjoy playing the sport they love while hopefully finding ways of shielding themselves from all the scholarship discussions of their parents.

 

[Hockeybuckeye]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2018-2019

I think shelfit makes some very good points but there's another thought. Imagine if you will where you have a VERY young girl who verbals to the college she's dreamed of playing for and for the next several years she's walking on air that her dream is realized. But guess what? College coaches are looking at new prospects ALL THE TIME and by the time said young lady is old enough for that NLI she finds said coach has found a better catch and the interest for this girl is no longer there and she's left crushed. Or there's been a coaching change and interest in this girl left with the old coach. This does happen so I would agree that by only to be able to be in the pipeline at a later age may minimize this scenario.

 

[Timothy A]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2018-2019

Early verbals.....I can only speak for UW, but the fear of verballing then getting dumped seems overblown at least from a UW perspective. There's an awesome spreadsheet for the UW women's recruits that lists all the verbals 4 years out and I don't recall any player who has verballed (therefore on the list) not ending up on the team, unless there was an occasional issue getting into school which neither side would confirm. Johnson also runs a lean roster. Next year he has 12 F and 7 D on the team, the following year 12 F and 6 D. Yes, he does have a glut of G's - 4 on the roster now, but Soup was someone they always liked and when the sue locked the doors, they brought her in. What's the harm in verballing early? I don't think many 8th graders know where they want to go to school 5 years later, but these are not typical kids, they are driven, goal orientated kids, it kinda makes sense for them to be working outside the box of a typical 8th grader.

 

[Lindsay]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2018-2019

It amazes me that coaches can tell who’s going to be good by 8th grade. Seems like a risk on both sides, but obviously it works out. Are there many kids that don’t verbally commit until 11th grade anymore?

 

[joecct]

It amazes me that coaches can tell who’s going to be good by 8th grade. Seems like a risk on both sides, but obviously it works out. Are there many kids that don’t verbally commit until 11th grade anymore?

Lock em up so a competitor can't get them. Somewhere along the line the kid looks and sees 20 commitments for 5 open scholarship slots. Then the shuffle board starts.

 

[ARM]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2018-2019

Are there many kids that don’t verbally commit until 11th grade anymore?

I would think that the European kids will decide later, but I don't know what age is typical.