2017 Commitments

I should think he's the first 2017 in Virginia to commit.

Holy moly!

How many 2017's are already committed?  We're talking about kids who haven't played a varsity HS game yet.

Congrats to the young man.  Because of the family experience, I should think he's the rare exception where both sides knew each other well for quite some time. 

Meaning no disrespect to him or his family, but I would hope he's the exception and not an indication that people are really going to move the recruiting time table up that far. 

I believe there are 7 or 8, as per Perfect Game.  Half from Cali.

Maybe it's me.  My son's focus and mine is to concentrate on improving his skills. Practice reps, game reps, speed, strength and agility are the focus.

And you're correct, 2017's haven't played a single game of HS spring ball.  My son has only one marking period of the sixteen he'll do in HS in the books.  He's played up on travel and with the HS summer and fall team, but there's time before he has to worry about college.  

At this point I just want him to enjoy the HS experience, not look past it.

But congrats to the young man.  Obviously he knows where he wants to go.

I checked the commits listed on the PG web site.  Apparently Alabama is into lining up freshmen in a big way.  Beyond them, there are just a few here and there.  I think we can safely assume that they are exceptional cases -- guys who stand head-and-shoulders above the rest, guys with pre-existing ties to the programs, etc. 

I'm not saying anything negative about someone like that committing.  But to me, freshmen committing definitely needs to be limited to the exceptional case.  I'd shiver to think of this becoming a typical occurrence.  And I'd sure hate to see it lead to a push for NCAA rule making, because if the NCAA took action you just have to know they would foul it up big time.

Holy moly is right.

Can somebody mark their calendars for June 2021 to see how his career with the Va Tech went?

This is a very slippery slope.  Great for posting on websites on the front end.  But typically forgotten about down the road when things change or don't workout.  I hope this does not become a trend.

Big brother is not yet on campus for another 18 months.  Is there perhaps close family ties?  Great grand parents, grand parents, parents all went there?  Father is in hall of fame?  Buildings on campus named after moms family?

Rich

www.PlayInSchool.com

And congratulations to him and his family.

I mean no disrespect.  Virginia Tech is definitely a school that warrants this type of commitment.  Top academics & great athletics!

Rich

Did these kids receive high scores at PG? I'm assuming they must of scored a 9 or better.

Mikey will be just fine at Va Tech. He and his brother are very talented. 

Neither have attended a PG showcase, so neither have been graded.  I suspect VT saw enough of them via the Canes to come to their own conclusions.

FWIW, the older brother is ranked in the top 500.  There are no rankings for the 2017 class yet.

A quick google search shows that although they may not be graded, they are in PG's system -

Mikey
http://www.perfectgame.org/Pla...ofile.aspx?ID=375510

Stephen
https://www.perfectgame.org/Pl...ofile.aspx?ID=291096
http://dynamicbaseball.org/fea...polansky-hickory-va/

Stephen's write-up says that Coach Hughes' son played on the Canes with him and that Coach Hughes has seen him play.  Clearly they were both on VT radar.  Sounds like a great example of talent, projectability & networking.

Stephen and Mikey's dad is a VT grad.  Dad also played baseball in college. 

Congrats

I think it is a little early for a 9th grader that has not even played any high school. I still think no 9th grader knows what they want. Good luck to this kid but I will be wondering how things are going in 5 years from now.

Go VA Tech!

I think this is bad for baseball and the kids.  So as we move the recruiting window up, now to 8th graders essentially, what happens to the kids that work their tail off and out perform the kids recruited early?  What happens to the kid that gets recruited early but never gets any better?  After spending four years wearing his Virginia Tech gear he finally gets to school and just isn't good enough? Who tells him and what does he do now?

Even worse in my opinion it pushes,dads and coaches to showcasing their little stars when they are 12/13ish.  This is going to lead to more poor sportsmanship, injuries to young players and kids not getting a chance to play so that daddy coach can make sure their son is next in line to be a superstar. 

I understand their are some special circumstances in the case above but when a school like VT gets into this trend I hold my breath.

Perfect Game lists nearly 3,500 commitments from the 2012 class, almost 3,200 from the class of 2013.  If the class of 2017 gets to 3,200 to 3,500 commitments when it's all said and done and 7 to 10 (or even double that number) of that total committed as freshmen in high school,  I would say they were special circumstances and not a trend.

As far as the questions of what happens if he doesn't get better or gets to school and just isn't good enough, I would say those same questions are applicable to kids committing as Sophomores, Juniors or even Seniors.  They transfer to Division II, III or go Juco if they want to pursue college baseball.

Dawgs,

Your point is well taken, although I do believe the general trend of early committments is a little alarming.  Over time, things change.  I was an "early committment" many years ago.  Back then, committing in the summer or fall of your senior year was considered early.  To see kids committing in their sophomore or junior years, and that being considered "normal" today, is certainly a major sea change.  Then again, kids today have the benefit of playing on a number of college campuses, and seeing a lot more, much sooner in the recruiting life cycle, than we did years ago.

Separate note:  I understand your son had a great fall!  Best wishes to you and your family, and his continued success in college!

Older news but a couple of EvoCanes committed this fall

Tyler Soloman, C, Battlefield, committed to Vanderbilt

Tanner Morris, INF, STA, committed to Virginia

Rich

www.PlayInSchool.com

Not taking anything away from any underclassman's athletic ability but it seems like there is a lot of academic ground to cover for a 2017. 

Normally I'd agree.  But what if they are Top 100, top 50, top 10, or perhaps No 1 in the class?

Rich

www.PlayInSchool.com

Regardless of their standing still a lot of ground to cover from an academic standpoint.  Will definitely take a committed 2017 and engaged parents to stay the course.  Best wishes to these young men as they navigate 2.5 years of High School.

There are too many what ifs for us to be critical about early commitments.  You were referring to the academic ground a kid has to go but I am sure there are conditions with every commitment.  We want you to come here and we will take your commitment but to do so we need x on the SAT/ACT and a blank.baGPA.  I know that to be the case with some in state schools.  I was also at a coaching clinic last month and listened to an ACC school tell us they had 2 2019 commits. That's 8th graders.   How far is too far?  I have 2 elite kids playing for me right now and they both felt pressure to be committed summer after their soph years.  It's a tricky path but one some need more than others.  I truly believe offering kids earlier than most was a recruiting tactic (and a good one) by VT to help land some elite in state talent.  If they offer kids the same time as UVA and show the same "love" as UVA they aren't going to win a lot of those battles right now-it's just the state of those programs.  

Goodness.  I checked on the PG website and you can't even search for 2019s yet (at least on what you can see for free).

But it does look like Redbird needs to start a 2018 commitment thread.

I sent some video of our neighbor to Va Tech - they said he looks great and have him on the radar but 3rd grade is to young to recruit....they seemed a bit put off by the conversation since the kid is 8. It was odd but they also say 5th grade is when they get serious! "You want to lock them up before they get to the big field" they also mentioned calling ole miss since they aren't as stringent on the academic side!! 

The schools themselves should be embarrassed and the alumni - it cheapens them and their reputation. 

We're in the era of data collection and predictive analytics.

Predictive Analytics: based on past behavior data analytics, the ability to predict future actions when applying findings to the complete database. This is a given in the world of digital marketing: the second you enter a URL, your IP address is communicated to the URL's server, and you are in the database, tracked, measured, analyzed. And with your behavior in the DB, predictive analytics is applied and offers are directed to you with a high degree of probability that you'll bite (the collective "you"). 

In arguably the most quantitative sport on earth, the baseball database continues to get bigger and bigger (ask Perfect Game's PGStaff). And to that end, the ability to project is starting to have a quantitative aspect to accompany the qualitative aspect. Result: a program's capability of correctly offering is getting better and better.

Not foolproof at all, but the ability to project is improving. There's a bit of science behind it. And with this analysis, baseball separates itself from the insanity coming from AAU Basketball and the European soccer's offers to 5 year olds.

Bottom-line: I'm not surprised to see the offers going younger and younger. Frankly, it is inevitable. And with a fail-safe (pulling the offer), the program's risk is minimal.

Congrats to all the Commits!

A couple of EvoCanes recently committed:

Matthew Cooper, Norfolk Academy to Clemson

Andrew Abbott, Halifax County to UVA

Kyle Whitten, Osbourn Park to UVA

Khie Simms, OF for Clover Hill HS and the Virginia Cardinals, has committed to Old Dominion University.

I see numerous 2016 kids going to school and ALOT of them going to big time schools great recruiting class i have to say from the state of Va, I also know that the 2018 class has alot of talent, but i do not hear much of 2017 and honestly not sure if i know many in the class, who in 2017 is committed and going, it has been real quiet.