We’ve all seen scenarios where a committed athlete will decommit and sign with another school. We wanted to understand the dynamic at work that leads to these kinds of situations. We surveyed college coaches to understand what they do when an athlete they are recruiting commits elsewhere.
All coaches are by nature competitive, and it turns out, most college coaches don’t want to take no for an answer. Our survey found that only 41% of college coaches will stop recruiting an athlete after the athlete tells him he has committed to another school. One of the most surprising results from our survey was that the 41% number was consistent from D1 to D3 and for JUCO and NAIA coaches.
A majority of coaches, ~59%, will continue to pursue the athlete. Our survey found that 35% of coaches will take just one more shot at recruiting the athlete, while 24% of coaches won’t quit until signing day.
Most college coaches know that they need to continue to recruit athletes that have already committed to their program. However, a majority of coaches are surprised to see that almost one in four programs will continue to recruit their committed athlete until he signs his final paperwork.
Therefore, high school athletes should be prepared for very persistent recruiting efforts from college coaches. If athletes want college coaches from other schools to withdraw their efforts after he has committed to another school, the athletes should be firm and consistent. Tell the coach no, and if that doesn’t work, stop answering the coaches calls, texts, and messages.
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