Early Recruiting Announcements Made in College Men’s Gymnastics
Posted on 30 October 2012 by admin
I can’t recall in the past seeing many gymnasts, if any at all, announcing their college commitments before the early signing period. So far, as of October 30, five gymnasts have publically announced via Twitter and/or Facebook. There may be others, so please don’t hesitate to correct me on this. This is a very cool development for college MAG. Usually, the process is battened down as tight as a drum. Thanks to social media, many of our top high school seniors are talking about their college recruiting trips. The naysayers may think otherwise, but this has a positive effect on the younger guys, and creates a much-needed buzz for the sport. Oftentimes, college signings aren’t even announced until well after the end of the early signing period. There is no need for that. College MAG fans deserve to know about all the schools’ recruiting hauls as soon the ink dries on the Letters of Intent. This year’s week-long early signing period starts on November 14.
To give you an idea how big of a buzz recruiting news can generate, I was at SCATS last night when the boys team found out about Alex Powarzynski signing with Oklahoma. As they exited the gym into the lobby, virtually every boy was talking very excitedly about Alex’s news. This kind of thing offers hope and inspiration for the future. The sooner the news gets out, the better. These guys have worked their collective asses off for many years, and they deserve much more recognition. Let’s build some excitement!
Congratulations to the following club gymnasts who have announced their collegiate commitments. I will be happy to add to this list!
UPDATE (Nov. 8)
Illinois: Chandler Eggleston, Matt Foster
Iowa: Andrew Botto
Minnesota: Zach Liebler
Nebraska: Travis Gollott
Ohio State: Sean Melton, Jacob Dastrup, Andrew Rickly
Oklahoma: Colin Van Wicklen, Alex Powarzynski, Allan Bower, Lee Grogan
Penn State: Chris McSwain
Stanford: Akash Modi
Officially committed to THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY BABY!!! Lehhssssgooooooo!! #buckeyenation #futurebuck #yea instagr.am/p/RGLv1PAzzp/
— Sean Melton (@MeltonSean) October 22, 2012
Officially committed to Oklahoma!! Boomer Sooner!! twitter.com/ColinVanWickle… — Colin Van Wicklen (@ColinVanWicklen) October 29, 2012
Committed to OU!! #boomersooner
— Allan Bower (@Bowerpowerr) November 3, 2012
October 31st, 2012 at 9:17 am
The other awesome thing is that these kids have declared early enough for other kids to get considered. I am sure at least 6 schools were offering full (or nearly full) scholarships to Melton and Eggleston so now the schools that lost out can up offers to the next athlete on the list and still make the early signing period.
October 31st, 2012 at 9:37 am
Yes, Mike… it certainly isn’t uncommon for firm offers not to materialize until the start of the signing period or up to the last day. These early announcements are good for other gymnasts and the coaches.