Hi all. I am hoping someone can answer this question for me. What advantage is there to a school when an athlete pledges as a silent commit? The rumour is that Shipley was a silent commit to Clemson before he announced yesterday. I can see the advantage to the athlete. It lets them take officials and keeps the options open while recruitment continues. But what is the benefit to the school? It seems to me that ND has been burned in the past by some so-called silent commits. Either they wasted time and energy pursuing an athlete like Shipley who has committed someplace else or the lose a silent commit who ends up committing someplace else. The only advantage I see, which is nefarious, is that a school like ND got burned with the time and energy spent while they could have been pursuing someone else.
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Other than it's a signal the athlete is likely to officially commit/sign with the school. Generally, if you hear a rumor a player has silently committed, take it as that player telling the school they lead for him.
As it pertains to Shipley, my suspicion is he silently committed but held off on announcing so he could produce his announcement video.