The first Wednesday in February is usually when student athletes take part in the cultural phenomenon that has become recognized by media all over the country with the signings of high school athletes as they get recognized. A majority of student athletes from the Inland Empire and specifically, Southwest Riverside County, are quickly becoming noticed because of the talent pool here locally and are being recruited by colleges and universities nationwide.
National Signing Day is the first day that a high school senior can sign a binding National Letter of Intent with an NCAA school, committing in writing to attend that school in exchange for a commitment from the school to receive financial aid (scholarship).
Once an athlete signs an NLI, all participating NCAA schools are forbidden to further recruit that athlete. Up until that time, an athlete can make a verbal commitment that can be changed or revoked at any time; coaches from other schools can still continue to recruit that athlete. Programs and schools compete aggressively with one another for the athletes’ commitments and media and recruiting services feed the hype surrounding those decisions.
The first day of the early signing period this year was Wednesday, Nov. 11, and with only two local schools reporting so far, here is a look at the colleges and universities to which some of the area athletes will be taking their talents.
Murrieta Mesa High School announced last week that several student athletes have signed early letters of intent.
Ryan Wade will be taking his running skills to compete in track at Cal State Fullerton. Ryan was also instrumental in the football program as well, playing both JV and Varsity in 2013-2014. Ryan is the #3 returning 100m Runner in D-2 SS and runs legs on both relays that are some of the best in CIF. Ryan will play a large role on the team as they look towards the goal of being CIF Champions. Wade currently holds the following school records: 200m 22.24, 4x100m Relay 42.05, 4x400m Relay 3:21.68.
Mesa’s Baseball program will be seeing a number of its senior’s suit up at the collegiate level next year as they have five players moving on to play at the next level.
Andrew James “Andy” Thomas, Varsity Baseball, signed a National Letter of Intent to Baylor University. Thomas is the first D-1 baseball player to sign from Murrieta Mesa High in school history and has played the position of varsity catcher since his sophomore year. He has played with the Southern California Bombers Baseball Club several years at high-level travel ball and with the Baltimore Orioles and San Diego Padres scout teams. With a 4.3 GPA, Thomas was courted by US Naval Academy, Pepperdine, UCSB, CSLBU, Brown and Duke among others.
Other notable players from the baseball program include Nate Stilinovich, who will be joining the baseball team at Arizona Western College, Justin Randle, who will be taking his skills to Columbia College of Missouri, Brad Prebay, who will be joining his teammate Justin Randle and Christion Anderson, who will be staying in the state of California when he attends the University of Antelope Valley.
Great Oak High School will be sending the following student athletes off after graduation in 2016:
Cindy Marina – Duke University – Volleyball
Bailee Huizenga – Arizona State University – Volleyball
Amy Underdown – Northeastern University – Volleyball
Samantha Rice – Vanguard – Volleyball
Isaac Cortes – Stanford – XC/Track
Spencer Dodds – University of Texas – XC/Track
Jack Li – University of Colorado, Boulder – Golf
Kendall Hodges – Cal Baptist – Golf
Kristi Wiggins – Oklahoma State University – Equestrian
Adam Utter – Florida Southern – Lacrosse
Jacob Yordy – Jacksonville – Lacrosse
Tyler Palmer – Colorado Mesa – Lacrosse
Zack Noll – University of Oregon – Baseball
Eric Sanchez – Cal State San Marcos – Baseball
Brandon Stewart – UCSD – Baseball
Autumn Storms – University of Arkansas – Softball
Dylinn Stancil – University of Mississippi – Softball
Ashlyn Henderson – University of MI – Softball
Cole Spencer – University of CA, Berkley – Cross Country
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