Early Div I commitment

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Congratulations to Jessica Simpson (N. Canton Hoover) who has made an early commitment to pitch at Miami University (OH) in 2008.

http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/sports/16523934.htm

 

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Congratulations Jess! Good luck to you this spring at Hoover and with GS!!

Jamie Wolff

 

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Jessica,

Congratulations and good luck this summer with the GS and at Miami. You are awsome.

Pittsburgh Lady Road Runners.

 

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That's great news for Miami! ?They had a team ERA of 5.25 last year and none of their returning pitchers are listed as pitchers on this season's roster. ?They will be relying on a pair of Freshmen.

Have any other 2008 impact players made verbal commitments yet?

 

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Have any other 2008 impact players made verbal commitments yet?

In N. Kentucky just south of Cincinnati, Kirsten Allen, 2008 pitcher at Ryle HS has verbally committed to Oklahoma. ?

 

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Tiger, Jess should be an immediate impact player in the MAC.
It's great to see the new staff at Miami is interested in recruiting top-tier Ohio kids instead of groveling for fourth-tier SoCal kids as the previous staff appeared to be quite committed to doing each year!!!

 

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I don't know any of the details, but Miami sure beat everyone else to the punch on this one.

 

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BigTrain - absolutely agree, although they didn't pick up any Ohio players with their 2007 early signees. The top MAC teams in both the East & West divisions seem to recruit mostly home-grown talent. It will be nice to see them climb up in the RPI and get more wins against the Big Ten. I'm all for keeping Ohio's talent in Ohio!

 

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Tiger, Miami is most certainly the jewel of the MAC when it comes to campus & academics & weather. It and Ohio U are the southernmost schools in the conference in terms of geography.
There is not an immediate recruiting base for Miami as the Cinti metro area has always been a generation behind other areas in Ohio in terms of developing fastpitch softball talent.
But Miami certainly doesn't have to look too far -- Columbus, Akron/Canton -- to find true hotbeds of talent!!!
I've been there for an official visit, and although my kid chose to go elsewhere, it was an impressive school.
If Miami's ability to recruit a player of Jess Simpson's stature and ability is a portent of things to come, look out in the MAC!!! Miami always had all the natural ingredients -- all it needed was talent and coaching to dominate the MAC.
Maybe the MAC will have its first CWS team since Kent State in 1990.

 

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Bigtrain, some recent missing-link Cinti kids have been recruited by bigger programs than Miami and others at their D-1 level.
Shoot, maybe Cinti folks can't climb the poll fast enough to answer the phone or more players might get recruited, generations, Get real.

But anyways, congrats to any Ohio player that works hard enough to make a D-1 program and her parents that has givin up their life for softball.

 

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Big Train - Kirsten (greater Cinti) to Oklahoma? Big Guy - you're point exactly!

 

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Early Signing --- how early can a D-1 school sign a player?

Is Jess a freshman?

 

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As a Junior, she can't "sign" a NLI until the early signing period for the class of 2008 which is next November. ?However, there are currently no rules against making verbal commitments at any age.

 

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Brian, Kirsten who? Or is she like Pele. I'll ask this as a rhetorical question (because it's nobody's business): What did she get in terms of athletic money. Signing with a school, any school, and getting an athletic scholarship are two different things. Not meaning to denegrate any young lady who is moving on to Division I softball, but there are recruits and there are recruits. Good luck to Kirsten.
My only point was that the Cinti area has been dreadfully behind the times in terms of producing top-level DI recruits relative to Columbus and the Akron/Canton area. The reason -- Cinti appeared to be so dominated by a slow-pitch mentality until Patty Amrein made progress starting about a decade ago.
But progress is slow.

 

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Her name has been mentioned before, but for those wanting great advice about the recruiting process, you should check out Cathi Aradi's web site and get her book. ?Here is a recent post by Cathi on another softball forum; she has a new web address.

- - - - -
I want to let readers know that my web page has moved. It's now at http://www.fastpitchrecruiting.com. This site has my info on recruiting (Cathi Aradi), info on clinics, my book, my articles and FAQ's on recruiting and some great links.

I also want to remind families of a few indisputable facts. Recruiting will continue to get more competitive every year, particularly from the perspective of families who are new to the process and who wonder if they should believe everything they hear in the bleachers. (They should most definitely not!) Keep certain facts in mind from the get-go and you'll be in good shape. It's not necessarily about how good you are, but more about how smart you are in terms of knowing where to look. 100-125 kids a year out of 80000 will go to a Top 25 D-I team. (And from the looks of things, most of those kids are locked up early--e.g., many of these types of schools are essentially done recruiting 08 grads.) So where do all the other players go? Well, 75% of them will go to Div. II, III and NAIA teams based on the statistical breakdown of 4-year program affiliations. 90% of them will be playing at schools located East of Colorado, and while the West Coast still has a lot of cache with coaches, there is now so much good talent all over the country that just being from California will no longer guarantee you much of anything.

Except for the few lucky "lottery winners," most kids have to earn the right to play for a college team--and double that if they're expecting any kind of an athletic scholarship. The process of finding a college, let alone a scholarship can be pretty tough (and can be very hard on families, particularly those with unrealistic expectations.) So try to get as educated as possible and try to stay as grounded as possible, because that (plus the passion for the game, a little luck and the ability to show well when coaches are watching) significantly increases your chances for a successful outcome to your player's college search. Happy New Year
Cathi Aradi

__________________
Fastpitch Recruiting Web Source /
Preparing to Play Softball at the Collegiate Level
http://www.fastpitchrecruiting.com

 

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Out of NWO you have Marisa Everitt, Wizards travel, Rossford HS, is going to the Oakland Golden Grizzlies. You have Olivia Hegedus, Maddog travel, now Wizards travel, Perrysburg HS, is going to the University of Akron. Congratulations to both ladies.

 

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Miss Simpson will be a great asset to Miami U. NCS to your point I think the newspaper article I read said that she could not sign until the early signing period but verbally commited which you can do at any age.

 

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Hegedus is a senior. Simpson is a junior.

 

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Another NE Ohio early committment was made by Jessica Richards (Jackson) to Eastern Michigan. Jessica is a junior.

 

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Help me out here:

How can they verbally commit if the coach can't even talk to them "officially" til June?

Are they getting partial or full scholarships or did they just say they are going to play there?

I'm asking because I want to do all that I can for my players.