2021 commit

An 8th grader?  Wow

This is confirmed, hie travel team sent an email and twitter release...I guess Virginia can drop any academic reference from the program. Pretty sure you would have be enrolled at an actual HS to even have a transcript

wait till Va Tech and good old hail state hear this. They will be the Ripken World Series in August. Crazy as it sounds it won't be more then 2 or 3 years till it happens.

everyone associated with Virginia should be embarrassed....but I am sure they aren't 

Yeah saw the kid blew up this summer, sounds like a stud but wow. Hard to fathom how an 8th grader knows what they want in a college choice, congrats to him though, quite an accomplishment.

old_school posted:

This is confirmed, hie travel team sent an email and twitter release...I guess Virginia can drop any academic reference from the program. Pretty sure you would have be enrolled at an actual HS to even have a transcript

wait till Va Tech and good old hail state hear this. They will be the Ripken World Series in August. Crazy as it sounds it won't be more then 2 or 3 years till it happens.

everyone associated with Virginia should be embarrassed....but I am sure they aren't 

Do you have a link to the Twitter page?

Link?   Name of the kid?

BucksCountyBaseball
Nov 8
BucksCountyBaseball ‏@buckscobaseball
A huge congratulations to 2021 grad, Nick Bitsko on his commitment to the University of Virginia. Great honor for you and your family!
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old_school posted:

BucksCountyBaseball
Nov 8
BucksCountyBaseball ‏@buckscobaseball
A huge congratulations to 2021 grad, Nick Bitsko on his commitment to the University of Virginia. Great honor for you and your family!
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Thanks

I am sure UVA baseball only gets but so many "passes" on grades.  Plus, once they get there, they still have to do the work.  Personally know a kid from another sport at UVA who didn't muster the grades and is not on the team as a senior.  So much can happen.

 Someone revive this in 4 years and let's see where this fellow will be....UVA?  Drafted?  Other?

It just seems like the colleges are trying to get a jump on one another earlier and earlier, so it has finally leaked into middle school. Is it bad press for UVA?? Good press?? They really dont have much to lose with an offer because we all know how binding that is. 

When this kid is a senior he will be a totally different kid. So much more maturing and growth  between middle school and senior year of high school. Lets keep an eye on this over the next five years or so..... 

I got to know the family a little this summer. They are very grounded and the kid is very humble. 

I know that a lot can change but I wish this kid the best. 

A boy at my son's high school was a D1 commit before setting foot on a high school baseball field. He's already one of the best players in the state now as a junior so it seems to have worked out in this case.

I wouldn't think that UVA is changing anything with their academic requirements.

Remember, the entire risk of this falls on the kid.  If the kid has peaked, declines, gets injured, tanks grades, can't pass admissions, gets into trouble, etc., the school isn't on the hook in any way until NLI is offered and signed (November of the kid's senior year).

All this does is put a scarlet letter on the kid with regard to other programs.  In the current baseball recruiting environment, the kid is pretty much off limits to the other schools in that most any school that is anybody will not initiate any contact with the kid.

My prediction is (and has been) that the verbals will continue to get earlier and in greater abundance.  The gentleman's agreement of not recruiting verbals in baseball will go by the wayside and the wild west of commits, decommits, visits after commit, etc, that exists in football and basketball today will become the norm in baseball.

This is only the beginning.

Here's a blast from the past: http://community.hsbaseballweb...09s-first-commitment

10 years ago, committing in February of sophomore year was considered crazy. Now we're talking about eighth graders. In ten more years, will we be talking about sixth graders?

FWIW, Max Stassi has had a cup of coffee (30 games) so far in the majors, but he's still young (25). He never did go to UCLA -- was drafted in the 4th round and signed out of high school.

2019Dad posted:

Here's a blast from the past: http://community.hsbaseballweb...09s-first-commitment

10 years ago, committing in February of sophomore year was considered crazy. Now we're talking about eighth graders. In ten more years, will we be talking about sixth graders?

FWIW, Max Stassi has had a cup of coffee (30 games) so far in the majors, but he's still young (25). He never did go to UCLA -- was drafted in the 4th round and signed out of high school.

Thanks for sharing, fun to read some of the comments. From the shock and statements of how CRAZY is was for a sophomore to be committed, to a joke about 14U kid getting offers - you are right it will just keep getting earlier.

I motion to address all new parents in the maternity ward in regard to their newborn child's ambitions and intentions in committing to the school of their liking! Maybe while we're at it, we can have a scout observe the quick twitch muscles and get a profile started!

It will make for bragging rights throughout the nursery and for years to come on the play grounds!

It sounds ridiculous huh? - but high school players really are considered "infants" in the world of baseball. It's such a long process that takes many turns and forks in the road. There really is no reason to attempt getting out front in the recruiting process. In most cases, it comes back to limit players options down the road. I'm speaking to being loved and playing the game where the player fits.

I would say all nursery occupants who are 6' 2" 180 lbs and throwing 87mph are indeed prospects. I think this is a win for both the school and the player at this time. Particularly if the player does not want to deal with a bunch of schools recruiting him. If things change, then things change. But he has a high academic school with a great reputation lined up and they have a solid recruit lined up. No harm done to anyone.

As to the academic reputation of UVA, no impact, the kid still has to qualify and that may be a strong motivator for him to concentrate on his academics. I would say, the odds are he will be academically ahead of the bottom third of every major to mid major football program in the country.

I looked at the kid's PG profile picture. My son had the facial development of this kid as a senior in high school. When my son was fourteen he was a 5'4" roundfaced kid.

UVA isn't taking a risk. If the kid doesn't meet academic standards for UVA baseball players he's out of luck. I can understand a kid verballing early to a college like UVA. But I don't see any need to commit before playing post soph year summer. If you're that good there's a place for you then.

Sometimes I wonder if the player's and family's attitude is strike while the interest is hot. But if the kid doesn't maintain projected development interest will go cold quickly.

This is how how easy it is for a coach to get out of this situation ...

"Son, we did make an offer four years ago when you were fourteen. But I can't see you ever getting on the field for this team. We will honor your scholarship for one year."

The only way a kid still signs is it's the right college academically and baseball doesn't really matter.

At some point the colleges will be in hospital nurseries looking for big kids who are already going crib. I blew it for my kid when I didn't sign him up for the 1U Bay Bees.

Isn't it just as easy for the kid? Hey coach my girl is going to LSU. So am I. Maybe we can get lunch in Omaha.

Or

I am going pro.

But most schools will have some interest even if he just maintains what he has and now they won't be bothering him til he decides he wants them to.