[CardinalSagehen]

Per Rivals Kamari Ramsey was never 100% all in for Stanford. As much as it bewilders us, every year there are high school seniors, both athletes and non-athletes, who are admitted to Stanford yet decide to attend college elsewhere. I for one certainly wish Kamari nothing but success--except for the times he plays Stanford, of course.

IMO, you shouldn't commit until you are 100% in.
Of course, with players and coaches having no hesitation about changing schools these days, perhaps that is a bit of a quaint idea.

That or we should call it something other than "committing." According to the 247sports.com database, there have been 407 and counting decommitments this recruiting cycle. 

Maybe a better term would be "going steady."

How about "preliminary intention until I change my mind or something I prefer comes along."
At any rate, "commitment" is a misleading term given how casually recruits (and some coaches) take it.

It's a verbal commitment today. I think that's a pretty good representation of what it means. Very few kids renege on written commitments (aka, letters of intent).  In life and in business, people renege on verbal commitments all the time, which is why we have written ones. It's annoying but it's understandable.

Moreover, many schools (other than Stanford) renege on their offers to recruits (see Jim Harbaugh). It goes both ways - maybe someone else can verify this, but isn't it just as common for schools to make offers that they can't or don't end up wanting to honor as for recruits to flip?

[CardinalSagehen]

Per Rivals Kamari Ramsey was never 100% all in for Stanford. As much as it bewilders us, every year there are high school seniors, both athletes and non-athletes, who are admitted to Stanford yet decide to attend college elsewhere. I for one certainly wish Kamari nothing but success--except for the times he plays Stanford, of course.

IMO, you shouldn't commit until you are 100% in.
Of course, with players and coaches having no hesitation about changing schools these days, perhaps that is a bit of a quaint idea.

That or we should call it something other than "committing." According to the 247sports.com database, there have been 407 and counting decommitments this recruiting cycle. 

Maybe a better term would be "going steady."

How about "preliminary intention until I change my mind or something I prefer comes along."
At any rate, "commitment" is a misleading term given how casually recruits (and some coaches) take it.

It's a verbal commitment today. I think that's a pretty good representation of what it means. Very few kids renege on written commitments (aka, letters of intent).  In life and in business, people renege on verbal commitments all the time, which is why we have written ones. It's annoying but it's understandable.

Moreover, many schools (other than Stanford) renege on their offers to recruits (see Jim Harbaugh). It goes both ways - maybe someone else can verify this, but isn't it just as common for schools to make offers that they can't or don't end up wanting to honor as for recruits to flip?