Fixing a Flaw

College basketball has an early signing period for recruits who long ago made up their minds and committed to the school of their choice.

College football has no such early signing period.

It's one of the flaws of the system, and it's one that Jim Grobe and other coaches around the country would like to see changed.

Grobe, Wake Forest's coach, already has 16 commitments for his recruiting Class of 2009. But those commitments can't sign their national letters of intent until Feb. 4, 2009. So the next five months will be devoted to maintaining contact with those players, re-recruiting them if need be, and keeping fingers crossed that nobody will de-commit and start considering other schools again.

Some proponents of an early signing period are pushing for a Sept. 1 early signing date, since that's when offers can officially start going out to players in the recruiting Class of 2010, players who are just starting their junior year of high school.

Grobe would prefer an early signing period in December, after the season, but he has no major qualms with a Sept. 1 date. He would sign all 16 of his commitments today if he had the chance, because the Deacons' staff has done its homework and plans to honor all 16 scholarship offers regardless of what happens in the players' senior seasons.

"I think an early signing period makes perfect sense," Grobe said. "It would be a great money saver for us, and not only for us but for everybody. Right now we've got 17 guaranteed scholarships to give, maybe a couple of more depending on graduation and things like that. And we've got 16 commitments right now. If we could go ahead and sign those guys, why not?"

Grobe senses that more coaches than ever are agreeing with him, as the trend continues for players to commit earlier and earlier. Both schools and players seem to want to get the process over and done with these days, in what amounts to "a bird in the hand" mentality. In the area, Duke already has 22 commitments for its 2009 class, North Carolina 16, and N.C. State nine. Among the perennial national powers, Ohio State has 25 commitments for the 2009 class, Texas 19, LSU 18 and Southern Cal 16.

"I think for the first time more coaches are leaning toward an early signing period than not early signing," Grobe said. "That's a switch for us because I think in the past maybe it was 50-50, or even a little less than 50 percent in favor. Now I think it's gone the other way. Most coaches feel there's an advantage to it."

Grobe lays out the financial argument in easy-to-understand terms.

Current NCAA rules allow recruiters to make in-home visits once a week after Christmas, and schools feel compelled to re-visit each committed player to ensure that the commitment is strong.

"Typically what we'll do after Christmas, when we get through with the break, that's a dead period," Grobe said. "We'll basically be in every kid's house once a week every week until signing day. When you consider the travel to get there, whether it's by car or airplane, and the hotels, per diem and all that kind of stuff once a week, it can be a pretty hefty tag to see 16 kids. The head coach only gets one in-home visit, but the assistants can literally go once a week until the final week."

Of Wake Forest's 16 commitments, six are from Florida, four from North Carolina, three from Virginia, and one each from Georgia, Kentucky and Maryland. So that's a lot of time and expense that would be saved if everyone was already signed and sealed -- in September or December.

"The reason you go is to affirm your commitment to them by seeing them on a regular basis," Grobe said. "But if you sign them in the middle of December, that's pretty much affirming your commitment to them, isn't it?"

Grobe also likes the idea of an early signing period because it would clarify the entire recruiting picture. If a player signed, there would be no fear of him de-committing at the last minute, signing elsewhere on Feb. 4, and leaving the team the player originally committed to in a lurch. Often if a school gets a commitment from a player at a specific position, they back off other players at that position.

Grobe likes the notion of knowing who would be left on the recruiting board -- who is still available -- after an early signing period ended. That way, Grobe could more easily target players for the final scholarship spots available.

"You look at it the other way and let's say we were at eight commitments, by the time Dec. 15 came around, it would really clear the water if everyone else signed their commitments and got them off the table," Grobe said. "You would know who's left. There's a lot going on now where you don't know. You've got that stuff where a kid puts on five hats on signing day and then they finally pick the hat. Well, that would eliminate a lot of heartburn by then. There would certainly be some of that still happening, but if you're recruiting a kid that knows in his heart he wants to go somewhere else and goes ahead and signs, you would save a lot of money not chasing him around."

An early signing period would also guard against the growing trend of schools offering scholarships to players that they might not really want, just to get an offer on the table as a fallback.

"It would make you a little more serious about your recruiting and probably make you a little more focused on who you really want," Grobe said. "What we are seeing more of is schools that offer everybody, and then if I kid commits and they don't really want him, they'll say, ‘Look, we're sorry, we've changed our mind' or ‘We couldn't get you into school' or something like that.

"The only way we'll offer a kid is if he commits to us, we're excited to have him. That's kind of the way we work. Once we offer you, if you pick up the phone and tell us you're coming, as long as the offer's on the table, it's a lock. But some schools don't feel that way. They offer and they're not really sure if they want the kid or not, but they're afraid not to offer."

His biggest problem with a Sept. 1 early period is that it would force schools into a final frenzied recruiting push with some players at the same time that the season is starting. It's hard to mix preseason practice with the current team with last-minute recruiting trips before an early signing period.

So December would be ideal. But any kind of early signing period beats the current system.

"From my standpoint, I don't see a negative," Grobe said. "Maybe there is. Maybe there's one out there. But I just think it would keep some schools from treating scholarships like candy, and it would make people more focused on offering the right guy, it would really clear some things up, and it would make it much more cost efficient."

■ John Delong can be reached at jdelong@wsjournal.com.