Parents, Learn the Language of College Sports Recruiting.

For high school families with children involved in sports, recruiting can get confusing fast. A coach follows your child. A graphic gets posted. An “offer” comes up in conversation. Suddenly everyone is trying to figure out what it actually means.

And that word offer is a good place to start.

An offer means a school has expressed that it wants a player, but families still need to ask what kind of offer it is. A committable offer means the program is prepared to accept the player’s commitment and has room for him. A non-committable offer means the school has offered but isn’t currently ready to accept their commitment.

A verbal offer comes through communication with a coach and is not binding. A written offer involves actual scholarship or financial-aid information from the school. That recruiting graphic posted on social media? By itself, it is not a written scholarship offer.

The same distinction matters with commitments. A verbal commitment means a player has announced where he plans to attend, but he has not officially signed. A silent commitment stays between the player and coaching staff. A decommitment means he backs away from that decision, while a flip means he changes their commitment to another school.

Then there are the signals that can easily be overread. A camp invitation, questionnaire, coach follow, direct message, game-day visit or recruiting graphic may show some level of contact or interest, but none automatically means a scholarship offer is waiting.

Families may also hear coaches talk about a priority recruit, a player high on their recruiting board; a take, someone whose commitment they are currently willing to accept; or a Plan B, a player they like but who may sit behind another prospect at the position.

And do not overlook the basics. Ask whether the opportunity includes a scholarship, whether it is full or partial, whether there is actually a roster spot available and what position the staff is recruiting the athlete to play. A preferred walk-on is recruited to join the program without initially receiving an athletic scholarship, while a walk-on joins or attempts to join without one.

For parents trying to help their athlete through recruiting, one of the best questions may also be one of the simplest:

“When you say that, what exactly does that mean for my child right now?”

In recruiting, understanding the words can prevent a lot of misunderstanding later.