Just because a child commits to a school doesn't mean he is automatically on the squad. He still has to have the grades to get into school and he still needs to tryout for the team. Yes he can be cut, even though he committed in 9th grade.
Kids getting recruited and then cut after fall ball is something that happened to a kid our family knows well. He quietly transferred to another school at XMas and was much happier. We also knew the family of a kid who was told he was being dropped as a recruit when the new coach was hired at Penn State a few years ago. The coach asked the club coach for the kid to call his cell at a specific time, the kid called and the coach dumped him on the phone in a less than two minute phone call while he was sitting in the kitchen wearing a Penn State sweatshirt. I have some pretty serious trust issues with coaches who promise what they will do, say what they will do. If you pick a great school where you'd be happy without lacrosse it can never end badly...I just can't sell that to a teenager who wants to be cool and committed. Hard one.
Some programs re-allocate scholarships, some don't. Some of the top 4 programs have non scholarship players starting while top flight recruits receiving 50-75% are practice players. When you arrive on the campus as a freshman, its a blank slate aka what have you done for me lately. If you committed as an underclassman in high school and rest on your laurels, look to sit on the bench for four years. Don't count on any coach's verbal commitment. Its not a done deal until you've signed your NLI and then its only (usually) a one year commitment. Frankly you're much better off getting academic money vs a partial athletic scholarship.
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