Recruiting Spotlight: 2024 Extra Elite 100 Outfielder Aniya Merritt… “You Earned This!”

Aniya Merritt agreed to blog about her Sept. 1 recruiting experience for Extra Inning Softball.

Merritt, #90 in the 2024 Extra Elite 100, is a speedy 2024 OF for Team NC-Britt with 2.5 home-to-first speed and a 4.4 GPA. She was also featured in The Last Inning from April (click HERE to read it).

Here’s the talented junior had to say about the beginning of the DI live recruiting period this week…

*****

Thursday, September 1, 2022, the day I had mentally prepare for, was approaching and it was the night before (Wednesday, August 31). I had been in school all that day thinking about what was going to happen.

My evening hitting session just amped me up more about the curiosity of what program may contact me. I could only think:

“Did I cover every and all steps in my recruitment process?”

I made it a point of emphasis to reach out to college coaches by e-mails and videos for maybe a year or more to let them know of my desire to play softball and to receive the best education at the college level. After I took a shower and prayed, I fell asleep around 11 p.m.

I think at about 2 a.m. in the morning I jump from my sleep and quickly grab my cellphone. I was smiling ear to ear to see that I had received e-mails and texts from some of the top college coaches in softball.

I woke my dad and showed him my phone and he said:

“You put in the work and you didn’t cheat or cut corners… you earned this!”

The excitement of receiving e-mails, texts and phone calls from some of the top schools in the country was unreal!

I sincerely appreciate the college coaches that have reached out to me; you truly don’t or do know what this means.

Thank you!

— #4 Aniya Merritt