A Grip on Sports: Another word is needed to describe recruits, schools and their relationship

A GRIP ON SPORTS • When we coach basketball, one thing we try to do is include lessons on other elements of life. You know, like words. Every once in a while, we use a word that elicits blanks stares. We get it. It’s a teaching moment. We explain what the word means. We call it our SAT word of the day.

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• But it’s not just the vocabulary section of that grueling test we’re focused upon. Words matter. Always have. Picking the right ones can spell the difference between success and failure in a lot of mediums, including this one.

Which is why we have decided to embark on a solo crusade to scrub the word “commitment” from the recruiting lexicon.

It no longer fits, if it ever did.

When a high school (or, now, a college transfer) announces their “commitment” to a school, people ooh and ah about what it means for their school. The truth? Nothing. Even those who may end up signing their name on the dotted line are not “committed” in any way. Not on their end, not on the school’s end. It’s more of an engagement than a marriage.

And yet that term isn’t right either. Most engagements don’t include both parties making a public announcement and then spending the next few weeks looking around for someone else to marry – outside of, maybe, Jennifer Lopez or Billy Bob Thornton, who, despite being engaged a total of a dozen times combined, have yet to be engaged to each other.

Another term has to be available, right? The word “commitment” just doesn’t work.

Take, for a current example, how it was used this year in the case of five-star high school safety Peyton Bowen.

In January, the Denton, Texas product announced his “commitment” to Notre Dame. And held steadfast. Until Wednesday, the first day of football’s early signing period. He told the world, via social media, he wasn’t signing with the Irish. He was headed to Oregon instead. It was called (yep, you guessed it) a “commitment.”

Except he never signed a letter of intent with the Ducks. Instead, he signed with Oklahoma.

Let’s summarize. For 11 months, he was “committed” to Notre Dame. For an hour or so he was “committed” to Oregon. And now he’s headed to Oklahoma.

If that’s a “commitment,” we’re the next coming of Ernest Hemingway.

We’re not, and neither is the word correct. After all, there were more than a dozen players “committed” to Colorado up to a couple weeks ago. All were given assurances their scholarships would be available no matter who the new coach was. Except they weren’t. Heck, many of the guys already playing for the Buffs didn’t survive the highly touted Deion Sanders takeover.

Announcing a “commitment” isn’t a two-way street folks. It’s not even one-way. It’s a dead end if either party wants it that way.

A better label has to be found for athletes who want the world to know they have truly decided to attend a certain school or, as is the case way too often, want everyone to know who is recruiting them so they can garner attention from other schools higher up on the recruiting food chain.

Maybe the term “announced” might work, as in “Player A has announced he will attend South Central Louisiana State University.” From then on, we can just say they have “announced.”

It’s true, but boring.

Maybe “declared” is a better word. “Player B declared Thursday he will be signing with Western University in the fall” has a decent ring to it. Sounds a little more definitive but doesn’t bind anyone to anything. It just allows the player and the school to get on the record that they, you know, will be getting engaged someday.

Or even, if it all works out, walk down the altar together.

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WSU: You know who was committed to each other? For eight years, Mike Leach and Washington State. Which means Leach went through a boatload of quarterbacks. Theo Lawson talked with three of Leach’s more successful passers and asked them to share their memories of the recently passed coach. … Current coach Jake Dickert has thoughts on each of the recent signees with the program. … The men’s basketball team took the court last night in Hawaii looking to end a two-game losing streak. The Cougars did, defeating George Washington 66-64 on Jabe Mullins’ 3-pointer with 3 seconds left. Colton Clark has this story. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and college football, Jon Wilner talked with Merton Hanks at the conference office about the delayed 2023 football schedule. He shares in the Mercury News the reasons why it has yet to be released. … Washington has another key player coming back. … We touched on this above but Oregon’s recruiting class, while highly rated, fell back slightly. So did its roster. … Oregon State welcomes a highly thought-of offensive line transfer. … Stanford has hired a former Wisconsin assistant as its defensive coordinator. … Sanders’ contract was approved by Colorado’s Regents. … The defense at USC needs a strong Cotton Bowl outing. … Arizona had a strong recruiting class. … Kyle Whittingham has a great view of what Utah’s success means. … The Rose Bowl game on Jan. 2 will be the last true Rose Bowl game. After this year, it will just be another playoff game. … In basketball news, Oregon State’s offense has been playing catch-up all season. … A win record for a head coach owes a lot to the assistants. … Stanford picked up a win. … Arizona defeated Morgan State, giving coach Tommy Lloyd a 45-5 record through his first 50 games.

Gonzaga: We noticed former Eastern coach and GU assistant Ray Giacoletti sitting in the stands near the Bulldog bench at the game with Alabama. Jim Meehan caught up with him and has this story. … Elsewhere in the WCC, BYU picked up another win. … Pepperdine lost to Hawaii. … Santa Clara had a great second half and rolled over visiting Boise State.

EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, as we said, Weber State lost at BYU. … Portland State defeated Cal Baptist. … Northern Colorado has a staff member who does it all. … In football news, Montana had a couple of All-American players. … Montana State still focuses on high school players in recruiting. … So does UC Davis.

Preps: Dave Nichols has a roundup of Thursday’s prep action, which wasn’t too crowded.

Seahawks: Each of the Hawks’ Pro Bowl players had a different reaction to the honor. … Saturday’s game in Kansas City will be ice cold. And it will decide what the rest of the season looks like. … Pete Carroll said Ryan Neal won’t play but Kenneth Walker III will.

Kraken: A two-goal lead deep in the third period didn’t stand up and Seattle lost to Vancouver. … Still, the Kraken are gaining fans.

Sounders: The World Cup will be in Seattle in four years. And throughout the North American continent. It’s on our bucket list.

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• See you on the other side – of Christmas. For the first time in more than a decade – as least as far as we can remember – we’re taking off a couple consecutive days. Resting an injured shoulder is part of the reason. The remainder? It just seems right. Until Boxing Day …