One-Week Signing Window Opens Wednesday;
Florida Has Early Edge On Top Prospects
The NCAA early-signing period for most sports begins Wednesday, and basketball is expected to grab the national limelight. But almost every prominent high-school baseball prospect in the 2011 draft class is expected to ink a national letter of intent, so the day is no less important to baseball.
Of the top 100 high-school prospects as identified by Perfect Game, all but eight have committed to a Division I college. That includes the top prospect in the senior class, Tennessee lefthander Daniel Norris, who has committed to Clemson. Florida leads the way with five commitments in the Top 50.
Prior to the first official day of the week-long early signing process, all of the commitments are verbal, and non-binding. But it’s rare that a player has a last-minute change of heart and ends up signing elsewhere.
Players are not required to sign in the early period, but a vast majority of the elite-level prospects do. If they do not, they’ll have to wait until the traditional spring signing period, which runs from April 13 to Aug. 1.
The importance of the early period cannot be underscored enough as many of the projected top college teams in 2011 secured the bulk of their talent in the early period.
A school like Vanderbilt, which ranks as a heavy favorite to reach the College World Series next June for the first time, will pin much of its hopes on players like righthanders Sonny Gray, Jack Amstrong and Navery Moore, lefthander Grayson Garvin and shortstop Jason Esposito. All five rank among the top 100 prospects overall for next year’s draft, and all were part of a vintage Vanderbilt early-signing class three years ago. Gray, Armstrong and Esposito are projected first-rounders.
Baseball is unique among NCAA sports in that the recruitment/signing process is only half the equation. Colleges that get commitments from prospective players must sweat it out again in the draft next June, knowing full well that numerous players will forego playing in college for an immediate chance to play professional baseball.
Historically, about 50 percent of the top 100 high-school players each year end up in college.
The signing period also applies to junior-college players eligible to sign with a Division I schools, and most of the top prospects in the JC ranks will be involved with the signing process Wednesday, as well. That will include Angelina (Texas) JC righthander Ian Gardeck, the No. 1-ranked junior college prospect in the country for the 2011 draft. He has made a verbal commitment to Alabama.
Perfect Game has an updated ranking of the top 500 prospects in the 2011 high-school class, with a complete update of known college commitments. It is currently available to Premium-level subscribers.
We’ll also identify the top 100 prospects in the junior college class (with commitments) on Thursday. In addition to the player rankings, several stories will accompany our coverage of the early-signing period.