Has Caleb signed his LOI yet or has RU just not announced it yet? Also does Jacob Young have to sign anything like this as a transfer? I have not seen a public announcement on either yet from RU but they usually announce several at one time.
Caleb McConnell LOI
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I asked this last week and was told, essentially, not to worry about it. It is a formality. Personally, I don't understand why there has been no LOI. I was informed that the NCAA forbids signing an LOI on a visit, which makes sense, but it has been two weeks. What is he waiting for?
Being RU fans we all probably have this innate fear or sense that if something can go wrong, it will, but there are reasons for no letter yet. A good one is that he is waiting for an event, say Mothers Day, to have a signing with his family and make a show of it. That makes sense. All the other reasons are not that good so I will not even go there.
Also, do we even know if RU has even sent him e LOI yet.
I believe it is a right of passage for every RU player to have a "why hasn't XXXX signed his LOI" thread. I did a quick search and even Bullock had one.
https://rutgers.forums.rivals.com/threads/bullock-loi.88359/
https://rutgers.forums.rivals.com/threads/bullock-loi.88359/
Russ Wood confirmed that hoops verbal commits end the recruitment yet it's still not registering that McConnell is committed and signing with RU....perhaps they are waiting to see if there is a 3rd spring verbal commitment before the signing period ends in 3 weeks, before a formal press release happens.
Hawk, it has fully registered with me that he has committed to RU. That having been said, are you saying that basketball players who give a verbal commit are not permitted to decommit? I know that a verbal commit in football is essentially meaningless as kids flip all the time, and basketball seems to be far less volatile when it comes to kids flipping from one school to another so i am not suggesting this is like football but as I see it a kid who hasn't yet signed is certainly free to decommit if he chooses to do so. I am not saying McConnell is playing any recruiting games here and I fully expect him to sign but asking what the hold up is seems like a fair question.
It's very rare that a commitment happens two weeks ago and a kid decommits...obviously there are decommitments tied to assistant coaches leaving programs and rare factors but i am trying to understand why fans equate football verbals to hoops verbals....both sports have vastly different recruiting patterns.
There’s still an open scholarship...so it’s possible. Just saying there are a lot of possible reasons.
Hawk, I am not equating FB and BB recruiting. Your post said that his verbal put an end to his recruitment. I was just pointing out that it doesn't. I know that football verbals are off the rails when it comes to actually being solid but my point was that kids can decommit. In both sports. Or the school can change their mind and pull an offer. I don't think either Pike or Caleb are going to do that, I am just asking why the delay. This is the signing period. Have we sent him the LOI? Is there a problem with grades? Is he waiting for a special occasion? What's the hold up. That's all.
Again, his recruitment is over.....the football centric thoughts and the thought of something being wrong is not warranted...is just doesn't apply here in hoops and especially in this case....the school will control the communication of the recruits LOI signing....
There are hundreds of kids around the country that have committed to schools since December or January once the Fall signing period ended....and all without a signing period that started this month and ends 3 weeks from now....if you can tell me how many of those kids are still being recruited by other schools and have decommitted, I'd like to see the numbers for it.
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Ok, I will say it again, I have not said he will decommit. All I said is that as long as there is no LOI he CAN decommit. Also, you point out the number of kids who committed to schools after the early signing period and ask hoow many decommitted. I don't know. Can I ask how many of them still haven't signed their LOIs since the new signing period began? My question is simple. Since the signing period has begun, why can't he sign? Is there a concern over grades? Is our staff having second thoughts? Is he simply waiting for a special day or event on which to sign? What is holding it up? That's all. This is not football centric. It is a simple question, why hasn't he signed his LOI? Does he even have one yet? If not, why not?
Again, the school controls the process, not the player....there's 3 weeks left in the signing period....RU has coaches on the road for the next 2 weekends at recruiting events, I'm sure once these next 2 weekends are over and once the end of the signing period is here, would be the best time to announce McConnell, Young and perhaps another player/piece to the 2018 class.
To add some clarity to the situation (not RU or McConnell related), there are situations where a player isn't 100% certain he will qualify....in those instances, a school may want to make sure they wait as long as possible before announcing a signature, which is binding to the schools 13 ship count....if a kid verbals and doesn't qualify and doesn't sign, there is no downside.
It's not relevant to McConnell, but there was a tweet earlier this week that one of Seton Hall's walk-on guards, was transferring out, to earn a full scholarship somewhere else (the players name is Phil Flory, who played minimum minutes, but was a 3* player)....what happens if Seton Hall figures out that they may have a ship open for him and doesn't want him to transfer ??? Maybe a kid currently committed isn't going to qualify (not a decommitment, but perhaps needs a year a Prep School)....maybe a transfer out hasn't been formally announced and they would like to offer or extend that scholarship to the former walkon.....keep in mind, ships are not automatically renewed every year.
On the football side, a very similar situation happened with WR, Eddie Lewis, who was a 2017 recruit....RU wasn't sure he was going to make it by the spring of 2018 as a qualified player, so he instead prepped and came into the program as a 2018 recrui....obviously not the same situation as basketball, but there's nothing here, other than RU deciding on when to announce their signings.....my other guess is they will be focused on what other players may get drafted today, what free agent signings happen on Sunday and into Monday for other players.
There's also an important lacrosse game this weekend, vs Ohio State....There's B1G baseball....Spacing out the news cycle is now more of a thing than ever.
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Thank you. I am not being argumentative but I am curious as to what you mean when you say the school controls the process. Is there a rule in basketball recruiting that dictates that a player who has verbally committed to a school is no longer eligible to be recruited by another school or can not, on his own, look at or talk to other schools? I know it is not football. As I said, football commitments are virtually meaningless. But you listed several reasons why there may not have been a LOI sent to him. Does this mean that RU might be looking at someone else? It just seems to make no sense to me that a verbal commit doesn't sign during a signing period. I guess I am over thinking it but to me it is a mystery.
