Players start making verbal commitments in late summer and early fall, but recruiting news really heats up in early October and peaks in November during the week of the fall signing period . Recruiting news then slows down during much of the rest of the winter. News tends to pick up again in March and peaks again during the spring signing period. It is non-binding. While most schools will back off a player and stop recruiting him once he gives a verbal commitment to another school, not all do, which tends to annoy the coach who got the verbal commitment.
Verbal commitments can come very early in the process or just before the official signing periods.
Coaches, of course, love getting early verbal commitments. The Letter of Intent is the holy grail of college recruiting. Getting a Letter of Intent from a top recruit is the reason college coaches travel the country relentlessly, call 17 year-old kids once a week just to chat, mail them letters every week and otherwise humble themselves. It is a document signed by the recruit pledging to attend a particular school, play basketball for the school and to accept a scholarship. Usually the recruitment of a prospect ends once the player signs a Letter of Intent.