I cannot post the link that discussed this topic because it comes from a competitor, but an excellent point has been brought up.
As we know, every recruit is not bound to sign a National Letter of Intent (NLI) that binds him to the school (and, to be clear, also binds the school to the recruit).
Every recruit can sign the Grant-in-Aid form that binds the school to the recruit but does not bind the recruit to the school until they attend classes. And as FYI, every transfer portal addition has signed such a form, and every high school and junior college prospect that will not sign between February 1st and April 1st is by default required to sign the Grant-in-Aid form rather than the NLI (Rachaad White who was a late junior college transfer addition did that, for example).
Now, in the era of NIL, you could see the coveted recruits from the high school ranks take that Grant-in-Aid route knowing that they have leverage over a school or even multiple schools in some cases as they basically buy themselves time to make sure that the promised and NIL deal does come through. And if, for some reason, if it doesn't, then you just sign with the other school that is coming through on the NIL deal.
So, you have someone like Jaden Rashada, who, as we know, received a somewhat rare release from his NLI he signed with Florida because a NIL deal did not come through. Therefore, what happened to him could be a cautionary tale, for lack of a better term, for future blue chip recruits, and as much as they want to be part of all the pageantry, so to speak, of NLI day, they may choose to take the perceived "boring" route of signing a Grant-in-Aid months later because it does retain their leverage when it comes to their recruitment and more importantly secures the coveted NIL deal.
So now that I said all of this, I know it's going to beg the question, what does a guy like Jaden Rashada do? Regardless of the school he chooses, will he sign the NLI or the Grant-in-Aid form?
Honestly, I don't know that even he and his camp know the answer to that question right now. It remains to be seen, even after what happened with Florida, how much would the NIL aspect will or won't affect his recruitment. And while he ultimately may sign the NLI, there is a chance that he may not do that on February 1st but at a date later than that; and maybe, again, because of what happened at Florida, he waits until after April 1st, then signs only a Grant-in-Aid and makes sure that there no repeat surprises with NIL, etc. True, that route guarantees that he will NOT be in spring practice, but as a reminder, if he does sign with TCU, it doesn't appear that he can attend their spring practice as it is.
Will high school recruits in the 2024 class and beyond take an approach that won't require them to potentially ask for a release from an NLI? Something to ponder for sure.
As we know, every recruit is not bound to sign a National Letter of Intent (NLI) that binds him to the school (and, to be clear, also binds the school to the recruit).
Every recruit can sign the Grant-in-Aid form that binds the school to the recruit but does not bind the recruit to the school until they attend classes. And as FYI, every transfer portal addition has signed such a form, and every high school and junior college prospect that will not sign between February 1st and April 1st is by default required to sign the Grant-in-Aid form rather than the NLI (Rachaad White who was a late junior college transfer addition did that, for example).
Now, in the era of NIL, you could see the coveted recruits from the high school ranks take that Grant-in-Aid route knowing that they have leverage over a school or even multiple schools in some cases as they basically buy themselves time to make sure that the promised and NIL deal does come through. And if, for some reason, if it doesn't, then you just sign with the other school that is coming through on the NIL deal.
So, you have someone like Jaden Rashada, who, as we know, received a somewhat rare release from his NLI he signed with Florida because a NIL deal did not come through. Therefore, what happened to him could be a cautionary tale, for lack of a better term, for future blue chip recruits, and as much as they want to be part of all the pageantry, so to speak, of NLI day, they may choose to take the perceived "boring" route of signing a Grant-in-Aid months later because it does retain their leverage when it comes to their recruitment and more importantly secures the coveted NIL deal.
So now that I said all of this, I know it's going to beg the question, what does a guy like Jaden Rashada do? Regardless of the school he chooses, will he sign the NLI or the Grant-in-Aid form?
Honestly, I don't know that even he and his camp know the answer to that question right now. It remains to be seen, even after what happened with Florida, how much would the NIL aspect will or won't affect his recruitment. And while he ultimately may sign the NLI, there is a chance that he may not do that on February 1st but at a date later than that; and maybe, again, because of what happened at Florida, he waits until after April 1st, then signs only a Grant-in-Aid and makes sure that there no repeat surprises with NIL, etc. True, that route guarantees that he will NOT be in spring practice, but as a reminder, if he does sign with TCU, it doesn't appear that he can attend their spring practice as it is.
Will high school recruits in the 2024 class and beyond take an approach that won't require them to potentially ask for a release from an NLI? Something to ponder for sure.
