Here's a perspective I hadn't thought about: a friend at OHIO Admissions wonders how this can happen when Admissions cannot require a decision until May 1 of senior year.
Would an early commitment mean the university must admit the student, or would the commitment be contingent upon the student/athlete graduating with enough credits/gpa/etc. to be admitted?
And I'm not sure I agree with letting the student de-commit if the coach leaves; it seems like they should be committing to the school. Just my two cents.
I don't see how May 1 is a conflict in this case with the current signing period occurring in February. From my experience in admissions, it seemed that most athletes had not submitted any admissions-related documents until after they had signed. I also got the impression that almost all athletes apply only to the school they commit to.
A school does not have to admit an athlete just because he signs. Do you really think an athlete with a 2.3 GPA and a 17 ACT is going to make it to Northwestern or Vanderbilt? At a MAC school, there can be some leeway in admissions standards compared to non-athletes who apply to the school, but even then, not everyone makes it immediately. Look at Trae Clark, Chris Murray, etc. Those cases will be moved from the admissions office to NCAA compliance review.
Any student's admission to a college is contingent on that student fulfilling all of the requirements for high school graduation. If I review an application and all I have to work with is a transcript through junior year, I have to use that information to predict how the student will perform in senior year and how s/he will perform in college. I believe there is a national regulation that states colleges cannot begin to make admissions decisions for fall applicants until September 15 of a student's senior year in high school. Bringing this back to an early signing period, I don't see how a July or August period would conflict with admissions. An athlete could sign in the summer, apply once the school's application is available, and be admitted if they meet academic standards. In fact, an early signing period could benefit athletes at risk of not meeting academic standards because they would have more time to focus on the subjects that they know they need to improve, more dates available to take the ACT/SAT, and time for any tutoring to take effect.