Verbal Commitments in College Volleyball Recruiting

Dear Coach,

Thank you for the advice you give Vball families. Your website is great!

My MB is a 5'11" junior and recently verbally committed to a really great D2 school.

Questions:

1.  The Coach put in writing a scholarship number that was nearly half the yearly tuition with the understanding she would receive monies via the academic side. She is almost at a4.0 gpa. Is this a good offer? Is it realistic to expect an academic scholarship to make up the difference or should we ask the coach if he could do better?

2.  The coach said he was excited about her signing the NLI in Nov. of her senior year. Once she signs this, if this coach were to leave, would the new coach have to honor the NLI?

3.  Could the coach change his mind after the NLI is signed?

4.  Should my daughter have a plan B school in case any of the above happens?

Thanks so much!

N.H.



Thank you for the compliments on collegevolleyballcoach.com and I am happy that it is a resource for your family! In my book, Inside College Volleyball, I have more information about the National Letter of Intent.

To answer your questions:

1.  Academic scholarships tend to be based more on ACT/SAT test scores, yet they are also combined with the student GPA.  For a NCAA DII school, a half athletic scholarship is a good offer.  I would expect that if your daughter tests well, and combined with the gpa, she should have a very good total package. The majority of admissions offices will have some type of a listing or matrix about the academic scholarship opportunities and amounts, as they relate to test scores/gpa.

2.  The National Letter of Intent is the legal contract between athlete and the school.  The NLI will be honored by a new coach because the contract is with the school.  The coach can easily change their mind about an incoming player, but financially/scholarship wise, they could not act upon this decision until after the first year.

3.  The NLI is just a one year contract - Remember that the NLI and scholarship are two separate issues.  The NLI is just for the first year of an athlete attending the school; it is just the ensure the first year is honored.  Schools will send separate scholarship papers to capture the various scholarship avenues.  After that initial year, the NLI leaves and the next year is up to the school/athlete.

4.  It is basically too late for Plan B, as she is going to be a Senior in 2014.  If the coach was going to get fired, it would have happened last spring - She will sign the NLI before the coach could be fired after next season.  

Your question clearly reinforces the need for VolleyFamilies to go through the process of asking a bunch of questions and to make sure a school's academic/social status takes priority.

Good luck,

Coach Matt