Originally published 9/13
We don’t yet know who, and we don’t yet know when the public announcement will come, but the University of Kentucky says that they have received a verbal commitment from a high school student in the class of 2023. Specifically, they say that it is a female recruit.
This is the first announcement we’ve seen for a commitment in the class of 2023, and is the trickle that will soon open the floodgates for the rising high school juniors.
Coaches were first allowed to formally contact this class of commits on June 15 of this year. Official visits, which were reinstated this summer after a COVID shutdown, were allowed to begin on August 1.
The class contains one Olympian already – Bella Sims from the Sandpipers of Nevada. She’s best known as a distance freestyler, but people around Las Vegas tease that Sims’ versatility goes well beyond the events that earned her a spot in Tokyo. Still, her 4:32 in the 500 free is a time that will instantly make her an NCAA title contender as a freshman, and she’s the rare 500 freestyler who is a legitimate five-relay contributor as well.
She is the top-ranked recruit in the class, followed by Tess Howley from Long Island, a butterflier, and Kiley Wilhelm, a backstroker from North Carolina.
On the women’s side, this isn’t as deep of a class as we’ve seen in prior years, especially not the class of 2022. The boys’ group looks a little better so far overall, led by #1 recruit Will Modglin from Indiana and including National Age Group Record breaker Keaton Jones of Arizona (#5).
One of the more interesting commitments will be that of the #2 recruit Rex Maurer from Loyola High School in Southern California. His mom, Lea, is on the coaching staff at USC, but his older brother Luke is on the team at Stanford. He’s also a double-legacy of the Stanford swimming program: his dad Erik was an NCAA Champion there in the 50 free, and his mom Lea was an NCAA Champion there in the 100 back and 20 back (as well as an Olympic medalist).
Meanwhile, while most of the top names in the class of 2022 have made up their minds a year before they are due to arrive on campus. There are still a few big grabs left, along with a lot of depth. Here are the top remaining boys and girls who have not announced a commitment in the class of 2022.
See the class of 2022 databases below:
Sorta reminds me of the days when people would open the new phone book to read their name. Aah a ubiquitous moment of glory for the masses.
I’m sure that Stanford does not have to recruit too hard but it is impressive that all their 2022 commits are ranked. Also, all their commits are from the east coast except for one from Colorado. Not a single recruit from the west coast.
Let the Class of 2023 recruiting begin! Big question is the destination of #2 recruit Rex Maurer. Right now I’d pencil him in as a Stanford commit because of the strong family ties (both parents and a sibling) to Stanford.
But you never know. Prime example is California standout Trenton Julian. He had strong USC family ties with dad Jeff and mom Kristine Quance both being USC All Americans and dad at one time was on the USC swim staff. If there was ever a USC legacy it would have been Trenton. His first words were probably “Fight On”. But he chose Cal. I think the reason is that he wanted to be part of a National Championship team… Read more »
I’ve always been a bit curious about this usually the first commitments from each class are to the SEC. Is this merely a coincidence or is there something I’m missing here?
Wasn’t the first to the ACC last year with Tuggle
I think there was a male Auburn swimmer that committed the same day.
To the class of ’23, please WAIT. If you are fast, schools will wait for you, both money and roster spot. If you aren’t quite fast enough, get FASTER. Then the schools will magically find more money and an additional roster spot. No reason to rush this decision.
More for men the women tho