Mid-to-late November marks the early signing period in which college volleyball coaches first sign recruits that have made "THE commitment" and who've agreed to attend their school on a volleyball scholarship.
For many different reasons, not every volleyball player chooses the right "fit" the first time around and they often decide to transfer to another school or college.
In November, Volleyball Monthly focused on this issue and published a story entitled "Switching Sides" which refers to the "increasing number of student-athlete transfers' in NCAA volleyball and contains suggestions by a few Division I college coaches on possible rule changes and options that would limit what a student-athlete can do and where she can go once she has accepted a scholarship and made her commitment to play volleyball for a particular college or university.
Of course, the very opinionated (I'm just letting you know in advance) TV analyst and long time college volleyball color commentator and former club volleyball director Phil Bush had a few of his own opinions to share regarding "the commitment", the transfer rule and of course "Switching Sides."
Remember he expressed his opinion, you are welcome to express yours. Enjoy...
Commitment, the Transfer Rule and my thoughts about the Volleyball Monthly article "Switching Sides"
It's interesting to me that when Coaches request a “Commitment” from a Recruit- while we all know it is not legally binding and nothing gets “Signed,” that Tom and Beth are both for a rule that restricts the student-athlete’s right to leave a school and go elsewhere. I find it hypocritical. However, from their perspective, I understand that it would make their lives easier. However…..
Having been a Club Director with a very structured Recruiting Program, we told our players a few “truisms” about college volleyball, that may or may not always come out:
- You only have four (4) years to play...volleyball is a means to an end...getting your degree and having a future (a few can play pro, and a few can go further, but 98+% are done at the end of four (4) years- if they even make it that far)
- College volleyball is a job. Essentially you have two (2) jobs...being a student and being an athlete. Be sure that you want two full-time jobs!
- Select a school based on these things, in this order:
- Academics
- The Environment – where you will go to school
- Volleyball – because it is TRULY the least important
- Perhaps three out of 10 high school athletes have a great experience as a college volleyball player – so, at the end of four (4) years, while you may appreciate it, you will have learned valuable lessons in being part of a unit. You may not have much in the way of an experience to speak of, but you will have a Degree, and you will have a future, and THAT’s what matters. Most of them come out not having enjoyed the experience because of the relationship with their Coach or the huge workload it put on them.
- Any school that offers you a scholarship under the following circumstances should be treated with a great degree of skeptiscm:
- A “Time Limit” offer – “I need your decision by X date or I am moving on,” says the College Coach.
- The “Competition.” “I’m offering a scholarship to you and Player X. First one who says "Yes" gets the scholarship.”
- The “Preferred Walk-on.” No such animal. Its either a scholarship or a walk-on- nothing in between.
- Pressure to commit during a visit. We told all of our players to NEVER commit during a visit. Whenever this happened, it was ALWAYS a disaster for the student and the school. It’s a pure and raw emotional commitment, with little logic behind it.
- We also warned student athletes if we knew of situations where schools essentially held a player’s scholarship over their head year after year. As far as we were concerned, unless the player did something against School Rules, Program Rules or the Law, they were there for four (4) years. If a School didn’t like how their player “turned out,” that was on them. The school recruited the player and now they had to stick with their commitment. We were aware of multiple schools that threatened our players and said things like “We’re not going to take your scholarship away--YET.” The Coach would claim this was some perverse means of motivation. I believe it to be despicable behavior and an adult bullying a younger person.
Most players that had the best experience were:
- The ones who went to the “non-brand name” schools
- The ones who went where they were truly wanted, and not where they “had” to go – because they “loved the school” for all the wrong reasons
- The ones who played Division III or Division II volleyball where Student Athletics were focused on "Student First."
I used to end this conversation with high school freshmen/sophomores and their parents with an old John Thompson (former basketball coach) from Georgetown trick. I dropped a deflated volleyball on the ground and said that our concern was what happened AFTER the air was out of the ball.
I’m no longer part of a Club environment but I challenge anyone to tell me I am wrong. If I was a club director, I would be telling student athletes to treat the schools the same way football players do...make a soft Commitment and keep looking...all the way to when you have to sign a Letter of Intent.
To John Cook’s point: If a 14 year old walked in and said they wanted to come to Nebraska, I would say: “Take three or four visits and then come visit Nebraska so you can be sure that this is where you want to go.” Will John do that?
The term "Commitment" and the term "Offer" should not be made until the summer prior to the Senior year. If those two words or anything that resembles them cannot be made, then all of a sudden we are talking about 17 year olds making Commitments. If as 15 or 16 year olds they wanted to go on unofficial visits, that’s fine, but they should not feel pressure when they are 15 or 16 to “Commit” for fear of losing out on an opportunity.
I also find Burt Fuller's and Beth Launiere’s commentary interesting.
Regarding the transfer from Burt: “There was some guidance or coaching going on when the players wanted to transfer.”
Perhaps there was. I have no idea what happened- but at some point in time, I want a Coach to take some responsibility for a player transferring as well. It’s a two-way street: communication breakdowns, expectations not having been met, somewhere in there things happened BOTH WAYS.
I find the most successful coaches are the ones that focus on the relationship with their players and their player’s lives long term. Volleyball is just a game and for the players that are there for four years, while important, it is NOT the most important thing in their lives. I hope there was some soul searching done by Beth and Burt regarding player relationships and how they interact with 18-22 year old young ladies- to understand them a little more.
In summary, if we are going to be offering 15 and 16 year olds the chance to commit, then we have to offer them a chance to leave as well, because a LOT happens in a young person’s life from age 15 to 18.
I think Mike Hebert’s commentary reflects mine "the Transfer rule foremost should accommodate the student-athlete."
