Talking with East St. Louis assistant coach Harith Mitchom, I asked him about how the benefits of early enrollment for Charles Bass, and here's what he said:
"It's devalued itself a little bit, because a lot of coaches want what's ready right now. So it's 50-50 if a high school kid is ready right now. But it definitely gives them a shot to see where they really are, both for the school and for the player. At one point, you wanted to go in January to have a shot at actually starting as as a true freshman, but with the portal, I don't know how beneficial that is because you know you can get a kid that has been two years playing at an FCS school and was very productive and very skilled. You can now bring him in and start where that wasn't so easy to do a couple years back. I think it's a benefit. It doesn't hurt to see where you are, but I don't know if it's as beneficial as it was, say maybe a few years ago before the transfer poll became a viable option for colleges."
"It's devalued itself a little bit, because a lot of coaches want what's ready right now. So it's 50-50 if a high school kid is ready right now. But it definitely gives them a shot to see where they really are, both for the school and for the player. At one point, you wanted to go in January to have a shot at actually starting as as a true freshman, but with the portal, I don't know how beneficial that is because you know you can get a kid that has been two years playing at an FCS school and was very productive and very skilled. You can now bring him in and start where that wasn't so easy to do a couple years back. I think it's a benefit. It doesn't hurt to see where you are, but I don't know if it's as beneficial as it was, say maybe a few years ago before the transfer poll became a viable option for colleges."
