The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly made softball recruiting a wild and crazy ride over the last year.
With the Dead Period—where DI coaches can’t have in-person or face-to-face contact with prospective student-athletes and their families—being pushed back six times this year, the latest extending it to Jan 1, 2021, it’s created some unusual situations with players committing.
We’ve seen more than a few cases where players have been offered and verbally committed without having been to their future university and that’s the case with talented 2022 infielder/outfielder Emma Tatum, who attends Huntington (Texas) High and plays for the Hotshots Premier HTX 16U team.
The junior who carries a 5.39 GPA and was Class President last year, wrote us on Thursday explaining:
“I have not actually been to Kansas yet, which is also part of the story; of all the camps I went to, Kansas was always the camp that I could never go to. God’s plan and timing is amazing!”
Emma continued:
“I am scheduled to go to Lawrence, Kansas, in two weeks and take an academic tour (Jayhawk Days) as the school is hosting in-person visits in their admissions department. I won’t be able to meet with coaches or visit athletic facilities because of the Dead Period, but I will at least have the opportunity to see the community and campus and my future home!”
The Texan, who was selected as the Newcomer of the Year in District 20-4A as a freshman, talks about her recruiting journey here and what made her fall in love with the Big 12 university prior to her first trip to campus…
https://twitter.com/EmmaTatum16/status/1302247776030523393
*** Scroll down to read about the main factor that sold Emma on KU…
