PRO: With time, everything changes

Just like a girl going through puberty, things change.

For high school athletes – whether it is over an extended period of time or a decision they came to overnight – the school they had once committed to may not necessarily be the best option for them when time comes to make a final decision.

After all, people tend to forget whom the recruiting process is geared toward – the athlete.

Though colleges like to believe the athlete is worried solely about its program, the recruiting process is nothing more than an audition for schools to prove to that specific athlete that they would fit in best there.

And though athletes often revoke their verbal commitment to a school, it is often the case that something had changed from the time they committed.

Lets face it.

Coaches leave, bigger recruits commit and sometimes better opportunities at another school surface. The school the athlete once committed to is no longer the right fit for them.

So when they leave – though it isn’t fun for the school they decided not to attend – can you really blame them?

There was one particular recruit that revoked his offer from Arizona and decided that ASU would be a better fit that everyone is getting bent out of shape over.

Gerrell Robinson – one of Arizona’s most promising recruits at one point – made it clear that he wanted to be a part of a
winning squad.

He told the Wildcat last February that if Arizona didn’t win eight games this year, he would consider offers from a different school.

Arizona fell short of that mark, and Robinson decided ASU would be a better fit, as they were in the running for a possible Bowl Championship Series game berth after winning 10 games.

The bottom line is signing day is Feb. 6, and until a recruit’s name is on the dotted line, nothing they say matters.

College football is a game of depth and experience, and as time goes on things change.

Would you expect a garment of clothing from a girls freshman year of high school to still fit when she goes to college? I don’t think so.

– Ari Wasserman

CON:Why make a promise you won’t keep?

Remember in the movie “”Hook”” when Peter (Pan) Banning told his son, Jack, he’d be at his little league baseball game? “”My word is my bond,”” Peter kept saying.

Well Peter didn’t make it to his kid’s game and lil’ Jackie eventually sided with Captain James Hook.

Bad things can happen when you break your promise.

When an athlete verbally commits to play for a collegiate team and then retracts that promise, his or her once-future teammates suffer, as well as the coaching staff.

The Arizona football team has recently lost four big-time prospects with three of them bailing for ASU. It’s not the fact that they’ve now chosen to be Sun Devils that’s maddening. It’s the fact that they’ve backed out on their word, causing coaches to play catch up and recruit more players, hoping they’re on the same level as the first player.

It’s true for basketball recruits, too. Arizona guard Jerryd Bayless once changed his mind about his verbal promise to be a Wildcat but later recommitted. “”You have to figure out what is best for yourself and follow your heart,”” he said.

The nation’s top high school senior, point guard Brandon Jennings, did the same – but eventually signed with Arizona.

“”To me, I don’t know why anyone would commit if they thought they might change their mind,”” said UA interim head coach Kevin O’Neill.

So if players can back out so easily, why can’t coaches?

While he was the head coach at Northwestern in 1998, O’Neill once revoked a scholarship offer to a recruit after injuries hampered his performance at a summer camp, igniting a lawsuit, according to The Daily Northwestern.

“”If a guy

committed to me and he didn’t get better over two years, I’d have no problem saying you can’t come,”” O’Neill said.

But then O’Neill would be backing out of his promise to give that player a scholarship and a spot on the team, wouldn’t he?

It doesn’t matter who you are, your word should be your bond.

– Lance Madden