Tuesday Recruitin': Ok, no more 'silent verbal' talk

JoePa cares not for your fancy recruiting talk... Does this photo ever get old? We think not.

Recruiting fans are a unique lot. That much we know. What I apparently should have also known is to study the handy recruiting dictionary before I wrote last week's update.

If I had done just that, I probably could have avoided the push back against my use of the words "silent verbal" when describing East Stroudsburg CB prospect Kyshoen Jarrett. But now I know.

After a few seconds of Googling "silent verbal," I came across a pretty basic description at Visual Box Score of what that term actually means, and why there is even the necessity of its existence in the first place:

"To understand how "silent verbals" occur, just remember the rules that apply in recruiting. The NCAA does not allow coaches to discuss a recruit until the athlete and his family have signed and returned a valid LOI, and until the official NCAA signing period has opened. Prior to that, a school could hypothetically get a verbal commitment from the #1 prospect in the nation, but they couldn't announce it publicly. Prior to the NCAA's official signing period, all public announcements must come from the athletes themselves. Sometimes their families or their friends may leak something to a member of the media.

However, the school and its coaching staff cannot talk about prospects in public until the kid returns a signed LOI on or after the official signing date. Doing so constitutes a violation of NCAA rules."

So this is a rules thing, above all else. The reason we even have silent verbals is due to the fact that its up to the athletes to announce their own verbals, because the coaches can't speak a word to anyone about any recruit until that letter is faxed to the Lasch Building.

Hey, I think I actually learned something this week. Whaddya know!

Visits 'n such...

Speaking of Jarrett--he went to Wisconsin last week.

Dominique Noble will visit next week, July 27. WV RB prospect Allan Wasonga (Rivals/Scout/ESPN) will also come to Happy Valley that day. Wasonga doesn't have an offer yet, but depending on how things shake out in other areas (read: Savon Huggins), it could happen.

Ishaq Williams will go to Ohio State in mid-August. This is one of those *cringe* visits for Penn State fans, because you just know the Buckeyes will come out guns-a-blazin' for this kid.

Quinta Funderburk is cousins with Kevin Newsome. Huh, I did not know that.

"I found out last week that I am cousins with Kevin Newsome. I went to a cookout with my aunt and Kevin was there so we spent some time passing the ball around with each other there. He said some stuff but really wasn't in my ear too much."

Darius Jennings had to reschedule his planned July 31 visit to Penn State.

Happy Trails...

Terrell Chestnut will play in the Big East. That means no Penn State. If Jarrett verbals to PSU, no one with a shred of sanity will remember Chestnut.

Outside the Valley...

IN RB D'Angelo Roberts became Indiana's 20th commitment last week. I only mention this because a while back Roberts was rumored to be waiting on a scholarship offer from Penn State. We never heard anything beyond that, so take it for what it's worth. Penn State was interested in this guy, making it interesting that IU was able to keep him within the Hoosier State.

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