Early commits to FCS schools... is it the portal?

[Tribe4SF]

Clearly the landscape for high school players has changed since covid and the advent of the new portal. I've seen a trend of earlier commitments of high school kids over the past few years. W&M has nine already committed which is unprecedented for us. Historically we would begin to get commits after camp season which begins next week and it wasn't long ago that a commit before August 1 was unusual. Are others seeing this as well?

[Milktruck74]

This is just one semi informed opinion... I think kids are looking at D2 and FCS offers as stepping stones. With one time transfer and the portal, the FCS is the new Juco. In the past, a kid would take their time to make sure a better offer didn't come along last minute. That CS kid would often wait to see if the P5 school was going to come through before they committed to 4 years. Now they are only committing to a season. So maybe they are more willing to commit earlier knowing that it isn't forever.

I actually know this is happening in basketball all the time, D1 coaches are telling recruits to go D2 and develop/get playing time for a year and they will circle back to them. And its even easier with FB, since the kids can transfer after a semester and be in spring camp.

[Jacks02]

I think FBS is shying away from second tier high school players and just building rosters from the portal instead.

Let smaller schools develop the high school kids and then take your pick from the portal after they've grown up and are ready to contribute.

[KPSUL]

I think FBS is shying away from second tier high school players and just building rosters from the portal instead.

Let smaller schools develop the high school kids and then take your pick from the portal after they've grown up and are ready to contribute.

This seems to be the best explanation, if in fact there are more early FCS commits than in the past. This doesn't seem to be happening at UNH, it's pretty much business as usual. The majority of offers we make through the Spring are to guys who also have, or will have, FBS offers as well. We get a small fraction of commits at this point of the process.

[Tribe4SF]

This seems to be the best explanation, if in fact there are more early FCS commits than in the past. This doesn't seem to be happening at UNH, it's pretty much business as usual. The majority of offers we make through the Spring are to guys who also have, or will have, FBS offers as well. We get a small fraction of commits at this point of the process.

That's why I'm asking. We've never seen this much activity this early and are now at 10 commits with most having FBS offers. The last few years the process had accelerated some but this year has been surprising.

[KPSUL]

That's why I'm asking. We've never seen this much activity this early and are now at 10 commits with most having FBS offers. The last few years the process had accelerated some but this year has been surprising.

W&M may be able to rival the Ivy League Schools for a certain type of top quality recruit due to its very strong academic reputation. There is FBS level football talent out there that understands the value of graduating from a top college or university and is realistic enough to see the long odds of ever making it as an NFL career player. Most of these kids have probably been influenced and mentored by parents or other positive influencers in their life. Most of the Ivy league (Harvard and Dartmouth for sure) have a long recruiting reach so their top recruits are from all over the nation. I'm thinking that W&M has always been able to carve into this market to some extent and a great 2023 season just enhanced that.

[Tribe4SF]

W&M may be able to rival the Ivy League Schools for a certain type of top quality recruit due to its very strong academic reputation. There is FBS level football talent out there that understands the value of graduating from a top college or university and is realistic enough to see the long odds of ever making it as an NFL career player. Most of these kids have probably been influenced and mentored by parents or other positive influencers in their life. Most of the Ivy league (Harvard and Dartmouth for sure) have a long recruiting reach so their top recruits are from all over the nation. I'm thinking that W&M has always been able to carve into this market to some extent and a great 2023 season just enhanced that.

You may be correct with this. 7 of the 10 are National Honor Society kids and one has offers from every Ivy school. That's not unusual for us but the early commits are.

[KPSUL]

You may be correct with this. 7 of the 10 are National Honor Society kids and one has offers from every Ivy school. That's not unusual for us but the early commits are.

W&M has a football recruiting advantage over the Ivies by playing in a conference that is more serious about football.

[NY Crusader 2010]

W&M has a football recruiting advantage over the Ivies by playing in a conference that is more serious about football.

The full scholarship is the bigger factor. While the Ivies can offer a substantial amount of need-based aid, it is need-based. And not everyone is receiving close to a full ride.

[bonarae]

W&M has a football recruiting advantage over the Ivies by playing in a conference that is more serious about football.

And also playoff-participating. The only postseason opportunities Ivy players get are in postseason all-star games. xsighx