A Sea Of Red

Taylor Bates
5' 10" Outside Hitter
Pompano Beach (FL) Calvary Christian Academy
Select: Boomer Volleyball Academy


NCSA Profile

Twitter

Calvary Christian Academy Website wrote:CCA Freshman Competes With Intensity and Integrity

12/19/2018
Nia Hendricks

In celebration of the young athlete's accomplishments and sportsmanship, we asked outside hitter, Taylor Bates, to share her experience playing for the Florida and USAV High Performance teams, as well as her plans for the future.

Competing intensely with integrity is the key to success for Calvary Christian Academy Athletics. Freshman athlete, Taylor Bates exemplified this attitude throughout the 2018–19 Indoor Volleyball season. In the summer of 2018, Bates was one of the few volleyball players out of hundreds chosen to play for the Florida High Performance and USAV National Training Program. These high-level opportunities have only sharpened her focus as a team player. Her humility and dedication to the sport shined forth in an interview with the Sun Sentinel where she shared that “she is hoping that all the national experience and competitive tournament play will continue to benefit her [CCA] Eagles squad.”

Click Here for Full Story

Trivia question. Is Taylor the youngest athlete ever, in any sport, to verbally commit to LU?

I believe it is based on my memory.

I don’t know if it was an official commitment, but Brittany Campbell wanted to go to Liberty from the get go.

When the new NCAA rules take effect, there will not be any more sophomore or younger commits. Congrats to Taylor.

If she's 5'10" as a freshman, and she hasn't finished growing, by the time she is a senior, she could be quite a big hitter and certainly someone you can run a lot of plays for

Sly Fox wrote:I believe it is based on my memory.

My memory is a bit sketchy in that I don't recall the player's name, but I clearly remember that when Mel Hankinson was our basketball coach it was reported that we got a verbal from a 6'7" 7th grader in Canada who was the top rated U15 prospect in the Great White North. As was generally the case with Hanky, nothing ever came of it. Of course he was long gone before the kid graduated HS.

I try to block the Hanky experience from my memory banks. Those were some tough times to be an LU follower.

SumItUp wrote:When the new NCAA rules take effect, there will not be any more sophomore or younger commits. Congrats to Taylor.

What are you talking about? Explain?

Actually, the rules are already in effect. For Division 1 athletes (not including FB, MBB or WBB), coaches cannot have recruiting related contact with players during camps/clinics until September of their junior year. Prospective athletes cannot have official or unofficial recruiting visits until September of their junior year. That changed in 2018.

The NCAA does not recognize verbal commits and neither the school or athlete is bound to honor the commitment. Because they don't recognize them, the new rules do not address verbal commits specifically. Since Taylor verbally committed this year, it shows that verbal commits at younger ages will not disappear, but I believe they will become less likely. Students are still allowed to reach out to coaches, but coaches cannot contact prospective athletes until September 1 of their junior year.

If a coach isn’t trying to find a loophole, they’re not trying hard enough. Or in SEC parlance, “If you’re not cheating, you’re not trying.”

You answered it for me. College coaches may not contact kids directly, but they can contact their HS and club coaches. Through them, they arrange for the prospective student-athlete to call. So the PSA initiates the contact, and through that perfectly legal contact a verbal offer may be made and accepted. Happens all the time.

A campus visit can still occur without direct contact with the coaching staff. Happens all the time.