Taylor King is the worm caught by the early bird.
A little over a year ago when his classmates were deciding where
to attend high school, King was settling on a college.
Already a hot commodity in recruiting circles because of his
6-foot-6 frame and smooth outside shot, King committed to UCLA just
a few weeks after completing eighth grade.
“It’s a burden off my shoulders,” said King,
now a standout sophomore forward at nearby Mater Dei High School.
“I just want to worry about the season and getting good
grades.”
Today marks the first day of the early signing period for
committed high school seniors, but King must wait another two full
years before he can send UCLA his letter of intent.
In a cutthroat market that punishes those who wait, King’s
situation is certainly not an aberration.
Coaches, pressured to build and maintain winning programs, must
find the best talent available. And in recent years, this has meant
scouting players at prepubescent levels.
“You don’t want to be left out,” women’s
basketball coach Kathy Olivier said. “If you’re one of
the last ones, and say someone saw them when they were 11 and you
saw them when they were 14, they would say, “˜Why so
late?’ They’re already developing relations with other
schools.”
Some coaches would love to see the athletes prove themselves
more in high school competition, but it’s a risk they
can’t afford to take.
With many of the top juniors and seniors in the nation already
committed, coaches are forced to look at younger age groups to stay
ahead of the competition.
And the best way to outdo a coach who has received a verbal
commitment from a highly touted junior is to get the same
commitment from an even more heralded sophomore.
“For the most part, we only watch the 18s to see our own
kids or the ones who are 16,” said UCLA women’s
volleyball coach Andy Banachowski of the 18-and-under club
volleyball scene.
Banachowski acknowledged that the coaches’ decision to
scout younger athletes is a response to their peers’ decision
to do likewise. The end result appears to be an irreversible trend
that produces verbal commitments at increasingly younger ages.
“You don’t want to see it accelerate, but you
don’t know how to slow it down,” said Banachowski, who
has landed a recruit in the Class of 2007.
Needless to say, this approach of recruiting athletes, some of
which haven’t even completed a year in high school, carries
some drawbacks.
“It’s a very inexact science,” Banachowski
said. “Looking at kids younger and younger makes it even more
inexact.”
For the young recruits, the promise of an athletic scholarship
regardless of future injuries or other setbacks is often too
tempting to pass up.
Though they must pay for their unofficial visits, it is a price
they are willing to pay for the peace of mind that comes with
it.
“It is wonderful,” said Ashlee Trebilcock, a senior
guard at Newhall Hart High School who committed to UCLA
women’s basketball team two years ago.
“Everyone else is writing essays and not knowing where
they’re going, but I don’t have to deal with the
suspense.”
Athletes who commit early express a sense of relief that the
process is over, thus enabling them to concentrate on other aspects
of high school.
However, because the verbal commitment is non-binding and
athletes can not sign a letter of intent until their senior year,
he or she is not completely removed from the recruiting
process.
King noted that other schools are still trying to pursue him in
spite of his pledge to Howland and the Bruins.
“Some coaches are still after me to come to camps and
things like that,” King said.
Still, both King and Trebilcock have repeatedly affirmed their
loyalty to UCLA and have been able to reap certain benefits because
of it.
Though coaches are unable to directly contact them, the
committed athletes are free to initiate the lines of
communication.
Trebilcock took advantage of her early commitment by going to
Olivier’s summer basketball camp and consequently developed a
relationship with the coach and the rest of the team.
“I went to the Wooden Center and started playing pick-up
games with some of the girls,” Trebilcock said. “I feel
like part of the team already.”
Her experience is a privilege more high-school athletes will
likely obtain as this trend becomes even more commonplace.
All of which makes the worm just as fortuitous as the early
bird.