At 12:42 AM -0400 8/24/96, J. Michael Jackson wrote: > Curtis T wrote: > > > According to "Eagle Notes" in yesterday's Boston Herald, Bobby Allen of > > Cushing has committed to BC for 1997-98. > > I would bet that this isn't ironclad. The Gopher basketball team had a > player commit for the 1997-98 season who has since backed out. Minnesota is > still high on his list, but nothing's guaranteed. Bobby Allen still might > reconsider. Yes, until a SA signs a letter of intent, he can still go elsewhere. There's no way Allen can have signed a LOI at BC yet. Doesn't mean he will go someplace else, but you are right, it is possible. I admit I don't understand the reasoning behind having players verbally commit since nothing is yet official and the player isn't bound to anything. This also happened when Jayson Philbin verbally committed to UNH last September and wound up at Merrimack instead. However, I am not sure that in that case, it was UNH who announced the commitment...I believe the announcement may have come from Philbin or his parents. I guess I don't see how it benefits a school to announce a player has verbally committed - and indeed, it may not have been BC who furnished the information about Allen to the Herald; the recruiting process is a two-way street and the SAs and their parents often talk to the papers for whatever reason. For the SA, it could help if he is still hoping to get a sweeter deal from another school, as Philbin apparently hoped for. But I cannot see why any coach would not wince at the knowledge that a recruit has announced his intent to the world before he has actually signed the LOI. And also, it is my understanding that schools are prohibited from talking publicly about players until they have signed the LOI, thus I have to believe the Herald's info did not come from BC. Even if a school or coach leaked the info to the press, I believe that would be a violation. Most coaches I know will not say one word to the press (or any facsimile thereof) about any player until he signs. --- --- Mike Machnik [log in to unmask] *HMM* 11/13/93 ***** Unofficial Merrimack Hockey home page located at: ***** ***** http://www.tiac.net/users/machnik/MChockey/MChockey.html ***** HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to [log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.