Jack Passan, the son of MLB insider Jeff Passan, announced his commitment to play college baseball at Williams College on the early morning of July 1. He accidentally started a recruiting controversy.
The rising senior in high school might’ve exposed his future institution of higher learning for a recruiting violation. Maybe.
When it comes to college baseball, the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) competes on the Division-III level of collegiate athletics. It is comprised of 11 highly-selective liberal arts institutions with some of the largest financial endowments in the world, including: Amherst, Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, Connecticut, Hamilton, Middlebury, Tufts, Trinity, Wesleyan and Williams. The conference originated in 1955 and was officially formed in 1971. It has not changed since 1983.
All of this goes to say that the NESCAC is very prestigious and specific. The conference does not adhere to the same admissions process as other schools on the Division-III level.
First and foremost, all D-III schools do not offer athletic-based scholarships. So when a program “offers” a recruit, it is more so an agreement that there will be a roster spot available if the athlete is accepted to the school on academics. Most conferences allow their schools to extend those “offers” as soon as an athlete reaches his or her sophomore year of high school. Not the NESCAC!
In the NESCAC, coaches can begin to make verbal offers to an athlete starting on July 1 prior to his or her senior year. Not before. This comes after what is called a “pre-read.” A pre-read is a preliminary review of a prospective student-athlete’s academic record conducted by the college admissions office at the request of a coach. It gauges whether the athlete is likely to be admitted to the college or university.
The timing of Jack Passan’s commitment is suspicious.
Williams College might’ve committed a violation with Jack Passan. He announced his commitment at 9:31 a.m. ET on Tuesday, July 1. His commitment hinges on the admissions process.
Casey D’Annolfo is confused by how quickly Passan was able to commit. D’Annolfo serves as the head lacrosse coach at Tufts, which competes against Williams in the NESCAC. He thinks the Ephs committed a violation and directly flagged the conference on social media.
Good to see Williams College is extending offers before anyone else in the league is allowed to. Sure there’s a good reason for this, NESCAC
— @CoachDAnnolfo / X
To be fair, Jack Passan could’ve received a phone call on early Tuesday morning with an offer. We don’t know when Williams reached out. He committed to the admissions process. Nothing is official.
However, D’Annolfo makes a good point. How did Passan already have a full commitment graphic made? How was he able to commit so early on the first day he was offered? There are questions to be asked.
Jack Passan might’ve accidentally exposed Williams College for a recruiting violation. Awkward.