The end of early verbals?

The lamenting among college golf coaches about the accelerated recruiting process involved with junior golfers—players committing to schools well before their senior years, causing coaches to offer scholarships earlier and earlier, causing players to commit earlier, and so on and so on—might be addressed in the coming years, thanks to similar issues being faced by coaches in several other college sports.

According to a story in the NCAA News, the Division I Recruiting and Athletics Personnel Issues Cabinet, which was formed to analyze college recruiting on a macro level rather than merely a sport-by-sport basis, has proposed legislation to stop early verbal scholarship offers to prospective student-athletes in all sports.

The proposal would prohibit verbal offers of athletically related financial aid before July 1 after a prospective student-athlete's junior year in high school. The proposal would also require schools have at least a five semester (or seven quarter) high school transcript on file before a coach could extend any verbal offer.

In turn, the cabinet is also proposing that begining Aug. 1 of a prospective student-athlete's senior year, schools would be permitted to make two phone calls to the player or his parent/guardian

Among the concerns of Petrina Long, the cabinet's chair, was compliance officials ability to monitor the proposal's enforcement.

The proposal is expected to be introduced into the 2010-11 legislative cycle with the Legislative Council casting its first official votes on the proposal at the NCAA Convention in San Antonio next January.