TPM: I would agree with you that it appears this trend (for lack of a better term) is more prevalent in some areas than others. I said across the country because there have been early commits all over, but more in some areas for sure. In fact, I would say this midwest region I'm talking about is unusual. I'm not a coach, just a family member of a player who has obsessively tried to figured out this early recruiting thing for about a year. The 2 pre-HS commits on his team last summer is actually what led me to this site. Then the third right after that really piqued my interest since only 1 of the 3 would be considered a "stud" on this site. I also agree with you that watching/scouting does not necessarily equate to offers.
The Columbia kid is definitely an outlier! I thought it was kind of hilarious which is why I posted it. There has to be more to the story. I even thought maybe it was a typo, but Google proved otherwise.
SomeBaseballDad: great point about potential/projectability. All of the people giving us advice (former travel coach, current travel coach, hitting instructor etc.) have all said that is exactly what the schools are looking at.