Someone posted in a now deleted thread, and I'm paraphrasing here, perhaps the reason some of our targets are verbaling elsewhere is that we have some super secret verbals lined up and have moved on. It's worth discussing.
Secret commits theory
- Thread starter etowncoug
- Start date
If a guy doesn’t firmly commit within the timeframe WSU gives him, his offer is gone. If a guy commits during his visit someone else is losing an offer.
The only potential secret commits I could see is someone from Hawaii, Samoa or the Pacific that is under the radar.
Big dlinemen! Three big guys and a large linebacker in addition to two more promising cornerbacks.
What leverage do we have? We have 6 spots to fill, it's not like we can be pulling offers if kids aren't on board when we'd like. We might have one secret commit, but it's unlikely in an era where everyone is using social media to promote their ultimate destination.
Well if someone referenced or used another sites info I would imagine you would make the same business decision ....
It is a relatively new phenomenon. I wish I could mute threads that go off the rails.
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True, wouldn't want to imply we don't have a lot of irons in the fire. If we have four DL visitors coming in to fill 2 spots, I don't think you can drop any of those offers if kids are still making a decision. You can say: "if two of these other kids take the offer it won't be there", but dropping anyone from consideration means you need to hit on your remaining targets.
Meh, I've followed recruiting for years, and people always bring up this "secret commit" idea. It's just never really the case. The only thing I can remember that you could classify as a "secret commit" was some of the kids from Samoa. Otherwise, why would we ask some kid from CA or WA to keep their commitment a secret?
Lots of excitement in the next 48 hours. We won't be spending the morning checking names off the list, it'll be genuine intrigue on where our targets end up.
Agree with you about 95%, but I can recall a small number of "signing day surprises" over the years where the recruit said he had committed to WSU and told the coaches, and knew he was signing with WSU, but it didn't come out until signing day. This is in addition to Coach Joe's guys back in the day from Samoa. Not frequent but I remember it happening a few times ... can't cite anything to back this up, though. Just remember it a few times.
The reasons for WSU wanting the secret commit are pretty clear in an age of lazy recruiting by Pac-12 poachers. That said, I also can't imagine actually telling the kid to keep it quiet, since you're pretty much saying "hey, keep this quiet so programs with bigger reputations don't also offer you." Not going to happen other than in unusual situations where the position coach handling the recruitment is really tight with the recruit and the recruit is on board with it for whatever reason.
In any case, I don't think that's what is going on this year. I think this year is pretty much what you see is what you get ... a new staff from G of 5 targeting a few high-level G of 5 / fringe Pac-12 recruits, most of whom they had already been recruiting, and us striking out in a few cases somewhat unexpectedly due to an unusually strong recruiter at UNLV and/or the recruit having been committed there a long time and wanting to stick with his commitment.
Also, from what I've read in recruits' accounts of visits to Pullman, Rolovich isn't exactly laying the hard sell on these guys ... he's emphasizing that they need to make the best decision for themselves, etc. That should pay some long-term dividends but it may not have been the thing to sway some of these guys in this abbreviated exercise.
Update on the final 7 spots.
Chau Smith is a verbal.
Alphonse Oywak seems to have us as the favorite.
Leshaun Bell raved about his visit on Twitter.
Leaves 4 spots where we really don't know who decides to sign.
Chau Smith is a verbal.
Alphonse Oywak seems to have us as the favorite.
Leshaun Bell raved about his visit on Twitter.
Leaves 4 spots where we really don't know who decides to sign.
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