What are the potential implications of redshirting a new freshman recruit that I did not inform before signing him? Can he reject it? Do I risk him transfering after the redshirt year? Can they "see" the benfit of increased playing time as a red shirt freshman next year?

Pros and cons if you would.

Thanks.

Recruits cannot reject a redshirt. However, if you apply it without prior notice, you'll likely see a significant drop in their work ethic. The drop can be reversed if you remove the redshirt. Sometimes, if you remove it and then re-apply it, they'll accept it and you won't get the work ethic drop, but I'm not sure if that still works.

Significant drop like 5-10 points or 20-30?

He may take it without a drop but if WE drops it could be anywhere from 1-2 points to 40-50+. It all depends on his attitude, how many players are ahead of him, and pure randomness. The best thing to do is to try to RS him and take it off if the drop is more than you like.

And if you take it off, the WE goes back to his recuited level?

yup, you get it all back so no harm in trying

if you want to be SURE that he will take it, you need to use the RS button during recruiting - but that can also make it harder to sign the guy - its one of those choices....

I always redshirt, if he rejects, pull it and re-apply. It may take up to 3 times but he usually takes it. In the rare case that he doesn't you can always redshirt somebody else.

Also, you can get a good sense of RS implications during recruiting if you've evaluated him. If he's a recruit that "takes the bus to school" or "turns in a $20 bill he found" (or whatever it is) then that's a good indication that he'll take a RS without complaints or a WE drop. At least that's been my experience.

I've never used the RS button during recruiting. I'm too afraid the kid will stop considering my school.

I think part of the implications also draws from who is in front of him in the depth chart. If you've got a good senior and a good junior at that position, he's likely to take a RS without the WE drop because, presumably, he understands that he's not going to play much this season but likely will the following season when he's still got 4 years of eligibility.