RANKINGS
EVENTS
I COMMITTED
COLLEGE
ABOUT
We’ve given various viewpoints of the Early Recruiting process, which is being evaluated today through Wednesday by the NCAA, including the perspective of a mother whose daughter committed early, thoughts from club coaches and the official position of the NFCA.
In this article we hear from players who themselves have committed early.
Taylor Pannell, an infielder from Milan, Illinois who plays for the Beverly Bandits 14U Futures team, is one of the Top 10 players in her class as featured in our Elite 100 for the 2022 rankings and an Auburn commit as of January 2018.
We also profiled Taylor as part of our Extra Star Power series and are proud to have her as one of our corps of standout player bloggers.
In this Extra Inning Softball exclusive, she shares her perspective on why the Early Recruiting process worked for her and contacted some of the friends she’s made along the way to get their insights and perspectives…
There are many benefits to early recruiting in the game of softball.
For me, it was more exciting then stressful being recruited and going to prospect camps and visits as an 8th grader. I have traveled places I would never have seen without being recruited.
Now as an 8th grader, I know I am going to Auburn University and I can my play for myself and not worry about who is in the stands watching so committing early took the pressure away for me.
Being recruited early has taught me communication skills that I did not have before as talking to all the coaches on campus visits or on the phone has improved my ability to talk to those I do not know.
Also, you get an opportunity to create bonds with your future teammates as an early commit.
Early recruiting also gave me the chance to meet players my age across the country. Now I am good friends with some of them and talk to them on a regular basis.
Here are some of my softball friends’ perspectives on their early recruiting journey…
*****
“I feel that I had a lot of benefits from early recruiting. Early recruiting gave me many opportunities to visit top programs such as ULL, Ole Miss, Oregon, Oklahoma, and Mississippi State. On these visits I learned a lot about each college and what they had to offer a student-athlete like myself. I was also able to meet and form relationships with other athletes across the country. Most importantly, it helped me realize that I wanted to stay in my home state and become a Rajun Cajun.
Halie Pappion—2022 (P)
Diamond Sports Hotshots
Louisiana – Lafayette
“While I can say that I am very honored to be included in such a prestigious group, my early recruiting experience was very unexpected and stressful. Though, I did enjoy many things about the early recruiting process, I still have to admit it was a challenging time for me. There are many benefits to recruiting early, so I feel the decision I made was done for the right reasons even at this early stage. For example, the pressure you put on yourself during showcase tournaments is less. You feel free to play for growth and development more than to impress the coaches. Knowing I am already committed has given me a goal to work towards, both athletically and academically, and I feel it has given me a focus and replaced some of the doubt and stress I was under.”
Sydney Doloszycki—2022 (SS/2B)
Beverly Bandits
Syracuse