Inside Pitch: Sept. 1 Will Be a Big Day (Good & Bad) For 2020 Recruits

When the Early Recruiting Rule was passed in April which stipulated that “the recruiting contact of prospective student-athletes (PSA’s) not be allowed until September 1 of the athletes’ junior” it meant that tomorrow (Saturday, Sept. 1) was circled long ago for the Class of 2020 grads aspiring to play at the collegiate level.

Technically, at 12:00 am Saturday morning, college coaches can legally start calling prospective recruits and off-campus recruiting contacts can also begin as of this weekend.

So what does that mean? It will likely mean one of three things:

1. It will be a day of “confirmation” for many already committed recruits who will hear good news about moving forward. They’ll get set up on when to visit camps on campus or take unofficial visits to their school of choice.
2. It will also be an exciting day for many uncommitted juniors as well as they will start getting offers, some by the truckload. For example, I know of one top-rated California pitcher who is expected to get as many as eight offers this weekend from Power 5 programs in the SEC, Big Ten and ACC.
3. However, Saturday won’t be as pleasant for some already committed recruits who will be told their scholarship offers are no longer valid. I’ve talked to club and college coaches who have verified that, for a variety of reason, some players will get the unpleasant phone call learning they no longer are in the plans of the university where they thought they would play. That’s not necessarily bad, however; we heard of one top player that was asked to take a severe cut in percentage of scholarship covered. The Big 12 dropped her, but within a day or two an SEC school swooped in and offered her more! So, as the cliché goes, as one door closes…

A LOT will be happening in the softball recruiting world beginning this weekend and I’ve heard from several college coaches that it will be like football where committed players are fair game, meaning top programs will be more prone to “poach” or go after players previously committed before the Early Recruiting Rules went into effect.

As one SEC coach told me at PGF Nationals, “Anything and everything goes now… any player previously committed is fair game for us to go after.”

We at Extra Inning Softball will definitely be following what happens to the 2020’s… it’s not coincidence that we’re doing our Extra Elite 100 for the 2020 class starting Monday–it gives us a good reason to keep in touch with top players and coaches and provide updates as they happen!

If a player gets offers, accepts an offer, changes from one program to the next or if a player becomes available or back on the recruiting market, we’ll be happy to let the softball world know what is breaking.

If you have news to report about your favorite player or team, please email us at: [email protected].

Some have said starting tonight at midnight it will be like the Wild Wild West with coaches coming out with (recruiting) guns a-blazing. We’ll see… but like is the case always in this great sport, it’s bound to be a fun show to watch!

— Brentt Eads, Extra Inning Softball