It’s not even Thanksgiving –in fact Signing Day for the class of 2020 was only two weeks ago– but already we have written 100 articles on the verbal commitments from the high school class of 2021.
Because of changes to the recruiting schedule instituted by the NCAA over the last two years, prospective student-athletes are now able to take official visits to campuses beginning in August of their junior year. Therefore, they are making verbal commitments much earlier than in years past.
With 100 names in our database so far, we have written about 16 of the girls and 14 of the boys from our way too early lists of top-20 recruits from the class of 2021.
| Rank | Top 20 Boys from 2021 | Verbal Commitment | Top 20 Girls from 2021 | Verbal Commitment |
| 1 | Anthony Grimm | Texas | Gretchen Walsh | – |
| 2 | Aiden Hayes | NC State | Torri Huske | – |
| 3 | Matthew Fallon | – | Grace Sheble | NC State |
| 4 | Joshua Matheny | Indiana | Paige McKenna | Wisconsin |
| 5 | Jack Alexy | Cal | Ashley Strouse | Northwestern |
| 6 | Tyler Lu | – | Reilly Tiltmann | Virginia |
| 7 | David Curtiss | NC State | Annabel Crush | NC State |
| 8 | Tim Connery | Michigan | Brooke Zettel | Florida |
| 9 | Garrett Boone | NC State | Letitia Sim | – |
| 10 | Luke Barr | Indiana | Ellie Waldrep | Auburn |
| 11 | Hayden Zheng | – | Asia Minnes | Tennessee |
| 12 | Sam Hoover | NC State | Ella Bathurst | Virginia |
| 13 | Trent Frandson | Cal | Amy Tang | – |
| 14 | Connor Boyle | Virginia | Mackenzie McConagha | Wisconsin |
| 15 | Matthew Fenlon | – | Olivia McMurray | Texas |
| 16 | Peter Thompson | – | Mia Kragh | Cal |
| 17 | Arsenio Bustos | NC State | Micayla Cronk | Florida |
| 18 | Jack Aikins | Virginia | Rachel Stege | Georgia |
| 19 | Luke Hobson | Texas | Kate Morris | Virginia |
| 20 | Aidan Reagan | – | Mariah Denigan | Indiana |
You can read more about these athletes here:
- Way Too Early List of Girls from the Class of 2021
- Way Too Early List of Boys from the Class of 2021
Here are all the colleges that have received early pledges:
2021 Verbal Commitments (M&W combined)
| Alabama – 3 | LSU – 1 | Pitt – 1 |
| Arizona State – 1 | Michigan – 1 | Stanford – 1 |
| Auburn – 6 | Minnesota – 3 | Tennessee – 8 |
| Cal – 8 | NC State – 8 | Texas – 4 |
| Cincinnati – 1 | Nebraska – 2 | Texas A&M – 2 |
| Florida – 5 | North Carolina – 2 | Toledo – 3 |
| Georgia – 4 | Northwestern – 1 | UCLA – 1 |
| Indiana – 9 | Notre Dame – 2 | Virginia – 13 |
| Kentucky – 1 | Ohio State – 1 | Wisconsin – 5 |
| Louisville – 2 | Penn State – 1 |
Below you will find all the articles we have published to date about verbal commitments from the high school class of 2021. As always, you can sort by club team, college, conference, home state, school, LSC, etc. We are updating the database constantly, so remember to refresh it regularly.
(NOTE: If you have a commitment to report, please send an email with a photo (landscape, or horizontal, looks best) and a quote to [email protected]. Do not leave it in the comments below.)
High School Class of 2021 Verbal Commitments
High School Class of 2020 Verbal Commitments
High School Class of 2019 Commitments
High School Class of 2018 Commitments
Florida women are recruiting pretty well but the men are in need of a couple big recruits.
Alabama got the verbal from Ben Hines this week too
Did Aiden Reagan commit to Texas? Don’t see an article about it and you dont have him on your list. Jan Kartolczak is also 2020, not 2021 from UVA.
Upon quick glance there’s a lot of initial commits to places like Indiana, NC state, Tennessee, and Virginia. Is there a reason for the shifting focus away from NCAA dominant schools like Texas and Cal where there haven’t been a lot of commits? Currently I see a lot of competition for those two schools in the coming years with the way these programs have been recruiting.
Money and scholarships are a big factor. Cal and Texas have had big recruiting years the past 2 years, so money just may not be available for huge classes for Texas and Cal. Even still, Texas and Cal’s classes may not be large yet, they have very good quality and thats sometimes all you need.
Kaylee Hamblin is another girl committed to NC State for 2021
Huske to Stanford.
My gut tells me that’s where she will end up. She visited with Meghan Lynch, Gretchen Walsh, and Ashley Strouse, along with the 2020 Stanford commits. Strouse is going to Northwestern.
How did someone already verbally commit to Stanford @Braden Keith? I thought they require Junior year grades?
The only Jr Stanford commit is a diver. Not sure if diving follows the same process. No Junior Ivies’ commits yet.
Why would the top swimmers so eager to commit early? Couldn’t they pick and choose, with some leisure? What’s the rush?!
Scholarships drying up is the primary driver of the rush.
Having it done with and not having to spend hours on the phone with coaches every week when finals, AP tests, and Olympic Trials are coming up is another part of the rush.
Which doesn’t mean it’s “good,” but those are the pros of doing so under the current system.