Hill-Murray 8th Grade Dman Mikey Anderson Commits to UMD

[The Exiled One]

https://twitter.com/miklovin8/status/442007784138477568

[Wblhcky2424]

He played varsity the whole season

[The Exiled One]

He played varsity the whole season

My bad. Fixed.

[puckbreath]

I guess they (UND) didn't learn with Pelnik.

[Bonin2121]

I guess they (UND) didn't learn with Pelnik.

What

[lamplighter98]

I've seen this with football too. I understand you want to go after a kid, but what's the point in doing it this early? If he gets hurt, injured, or digresses as a player, they'll just pull what ever they offered him. Maybe in a year or two he decides he wants to go to Wisconsin, the U, maybe he wants to go to the East Coast.
He can't sign a letter of intent, so this seems kind of pointless.

[Bonin2121]

He can't sign a letter of intent, so this seems kind of pointless.

What does UMD have to lose then?

[The Exiled One]

I guess they (UND) didn't learn with Pelnik.

What

I GUESS THEY (UND) DIDN'T LEARN WITH PELNIK.

[Bonin2121]

I GUESS THEY (UND) DIDN'T LEARN WITH PELNIK.

Sadly that helped. They being college hockey teams. The parentheses make it grammatically incorrect, I'm pretty sure, so my confusion is justified.

[Sats81]

Congrats to him but i still think getting a commitment from a kid before he is even a sophomore is crazy. Sure there are the rare exceptions but it seems like UMD has a tendency to snag kids way early. (Got Lakeville Souths Kyle Osterberg after his freshman yr in HS, Adam Johnson from Hibbing his soph year, Nick Swaney from LS before soph year and Joey Anderson before freshman year and now brother as 8th grader)

[Bonin2121]

Got Lakeville Souths Kyle Osterberg after his freshman yr in HS, Adam Johnson from Hibbing his soph year, Nick Swaney from LS before soph year and Joey Anderson before freshman year and now brother as 8th grader

The only one of those in college yet is having a good season, so they don't have any reason to stop yet.

[The Exiled One]

I've seen this with football too. I understand you want to go after a kid, but what's the point in doing it this early? If he gets hurt, injured, or digresses as a player, they'll just pull what ever they offered him. Maybe in a year or two he decides he wants to go to Wisconsin, the U, maybe he wants to go to the East Coast.
He can't sign a letter of intent, so this seems kind of pointless.

Basketball recruits tend to be the youngest, but that doesn't negate your point.

Hockey commitments actually matter somewhat because hockey coaches have a unwritten rule that they don't recruit verbally committed kids. Basketball and Football coaches will recruit a kid all the way up to and after they sign an LOI.

The "gentleman's agreement" is a double-edged sword, of course. Most assume it benefits the smaller schools who jump on a high-end prospect early and hope they develop. However, bigger schools actually tend to recruit younger than smaller schools, likely because they're trying to get the top prospects before they sign with Major Junior teams.

[lamplighter98]

I've seen this with football too. I understand you want to go after a kid, but what's the point in doing it this early? If he gets hurt, injured, or digresses as a player, they'll just pull what ever they offered him. Maybe in a year or two he decides he wants to go to Wisconsin, the U, maybe he wants to go to the East Coast.
He can't sign a letter of intent, so this seems kind of pointless.

Basketball recruits tend to be the youngest, but that doesn't negate your point.

Hockey commitments actually matter somewhat because hockey coaches have a unwritten rule that they don't recruit verbally committed kids. Basketball and Football coaches will recruit a kid all the way up to and after they sign an LOI.

The "gentleman's agreement" is a double-edged sword, of course. Most assume it benefits the smaller schools who jump on a high-end prospect early and hope they develop. However, bigger schools actually tend to recruit younger than smaller schools, likely because they're trying to get the top prospects before they sign with Major Junior teams.

thanks for the clarification on that. I didn't know that.

[WB6162]

Wow, I've seen a lot of kids fade from 8th to 10th grade to the middle of the pack and many others skyrocket from the bottom to the top.

But like other say, whats the harm in this? He still has to work hard and do his homework or he won't be playing any hockey.

[The Exiled One]

thanks for the clarification on that. I didn't know that.

My pleasure!

Just for the sake of it, here's a list of players who committed before the age of 15 and the exact age they were when they committed:

Oliver Wahlstrom - 13y/6m/28d - Maine
Matthias Petterson - 14y/0m/5d - Denver
Cam Askew - 14y/6m/5d - Boston University (ended up going to QMJHL)
Connor Anthoine - 14y/6m/7d - Vermont (ended up going D3)
Jon Merrill - 14y/8m/7d - Michigan
Noah Hanafin - 14y/9m/0d - Boston College
Mikey Anderson - 14y/9m/12d - Minnesota-Duluth
Keith Petruzzelli - 14y/10m/8d - Quinnipiac
Joey Anderson - 14y/11m/7d - Minnesota-Duluth

[MNHockeyFan]

Wow, I've seen a lot of kids fade from 8th to 10th grade to the middle of the pack...

Or not develop the way their college of choice thought they would, like this one: "I was a little hot shot back then,” he said.

http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/428507/

[BlueLineSpecial]

Unless the school is guaranteeing a scholarship, I don't see the reason for a kid to commit this early. But good for him and his family if they feel this is the right move for his future. Personally, I can't imagine locking into a place that young but to each their own.

[The Exiled One]

Unless the school is guaranteeing a scholarship, I don't see the reason for a kid to commit this early. But good for him and his family if they feel this is the right move for his future. Personally, I can't imagine locking into a place that young but to each their own.

Sometimes colleges put deadlines on their deals, but not always. Sometimes kids want to stop the recruiting process because it's draining. Sometimes the kids (like the Andersons) never considered for a second going to any school other than the one grandpa played for. To your point, however, most kids play their hand to its fullest.

As for the colleges, they are taking a slight gamble. Typically, they try not to back out of scholarship offers because it gives them a bad reputation (Mike Eaves). However, every school has had to back out on an offer at some point. They get paid to win, so they way the costs of recalling an offer versus adding a different, more skilled player to the roster. Sometimes this is better for the kid too, because it doesn't feel good to ride the pine even if your schooling is paid for (see Mike Cichy in the article above).

[BlueLineSpecial]

Unless the school is guaranteeing a scholarship, I don't see the reason for a kid to commit this early. But good for him and his family if they feel this is the right move for his future. Personally, I can't imagine locking into a place that young but to each their own.

Sometimes colleges put deadlines on their deals, but not always. Sometimes kids want to stop the recruiting process because it's draining. Sometimes the kids (like the Andersons) never considered for a second going to any school other than the one grandpa played for. To your point, however, most kids play their hand to its fullest.

As for the colleges, they are taking a slight gamble. Typically, they try not to back out of scholarship offers because it gives them a bad reputation (Mike Eaves). However, every school has had to back out on an offer at some point. They get paid to win, so they way the costs of recalling an offer versus adding a different, more skilled player to the roster. Sometimes this is better for the kid too, because it doesn't feel good to ride the pine even if your schooling is paid for (see Mike Cichy in the article above).

I figured it was a matter of time, especially after Joey committed there. I'm still a bit surprised it was offered this early to Mikey though. I guess I just don't like closing too many doors that young.

[puckbreath]

I guess they (UND) didn't learn with Pelnik.

What

Oops.


Long day, bad eyes...........

[hockeymannorth]

Unless the school is guaranteeing a scholarship, I don't see the reason for a kid to commit this early. But good for him and his family if they feel this is the right move for his future. Personally, I can't imagine locking into a place that young but to each their own.

Sometimes colleges put deadlines on their deals, but not always. Sometimes kids want to stop the recruiting process because it's draining. Sometimes the kids (like the Andersons) never considered for a second going to any school other than the one grandpa played for. To your point, however, most kids play their hand to its fullest.

As for the colleges, they are taking a slight gamble. Typically, they try not to back out of scholarship offers because it gives them a bad reputation (Mike Eaves). However, every school has had to back out on an offer at some point. They get paid to win, so they way the costs of recalling an offer versus adding a different, more skilled player to the roster. Sometimes this is better for the kid too, because it doesn't feel good to ride the pine even if your schooling is paid for (see Mike Cichy in the article above).

I figured it was a matter of time, especially after Joey committed there. I'm still a bit surprised it was offered this early to Mikey though. I guess I just don't like closing too many doors that young.

No surprise he is going to UMD.His dad is from Duluth and his good friend is the coach, either way good for Mickey just wish it was the U of M so we could watch him play.

[MrBoDangles]

Are they bribing these little guys with milk and cookies..?

[Gopher Blog]

However, bigger schools actually tend to recruit younger than smaller schools, likely because they're trying to get the top prospects before they sign with Major Junior teams.

It really depends on who the bigger school is. Michigan probably has to do it because OHL teams are pretty aggressive in their recruiting grounds. Other big schools don't have to worry about that as much because of where they tend to recruit.

I do think the gentleman's agreement is more about smaller schools trying to protect themselves. Big name schools are rarely going to lose a kid to a decommit to a small school. The agreement is also something I think is going to disappear in due time. I think hockey will eventually become more like college football (where verbals will mean very little) and coaches will have to recruit a kid until that LOI is signed.

The bigger question is whether getting those early commits really prevent risky possibilities from Major Jr. anyway. We've certainly seen plenty of examples of kids bolting for the CHL even with a D1 verbal so I think it is somewhat misguided. I'm not a big believer that the really early commitment does much for (most) schools in the long haul. Especially once the gentleman's agreement goes the way of the dodo bird.

[The Exiled One]

I do think the gentleman's agreement is more about smaller schools trying to protect themselves. Big name schools are rarely going to lose a kid to a decommit to a small school. The agreement is also something I think is going to disappear in due time. I think hockey will eventually become more like college football (where verbals will mean very little) and coaches will have to recruit a kid until that LOI is signed.

Maybe the gentleman's agreement goes away, but I don't think early verbal commitments will. They certainly haven't for basketball. I think it still makes sense for college coaches to get a kid to "promise" to go to his school if for nothing more than the psychological effect and planning for future classes. And, kids like Wahlstrom and the Andersons will still commit as soon as they get an offer from their favorite schools.

Of course, rarely does loyalty for your favorite school win out over pragmatism. If a major junior club is going to offer you significant $$ and a guaranteed scholarship package, it'd be difficult for any kid to say "no." Wahlstrom, Hanafin, and the Andersons are likely to have to face that decision at some point.

It really depends on who the bigger school is.

Also, the Gopher's average recruit is younger than the average recruit of every other Minnesota school.

[puckbreath]

Sometimes colleges put deadlines on their deals, but not always. Sometimes kids want to stop the recruiting process because it's draining. Sometimes the kids (like the Andersons) never considered for a second going to any school other than the one grandpa played for. To your point, however, most kids play their hand to its fullest.

As for the colleges, they are taking a slight gamble. Typically, they try not to back out of scholarship offers because it gives them a bad reputation (Mike Eaves). However, every school has had to back out on an offer at some point. They get paid to win, so they way the costs of recalling an offer versus adding a different, more skilled player to the roster. Sometimes this is better for the kid too, because it doesn't feel good to ride the pine even if your schooling is paid for (see Mike Cichy in the article above).

I figured it was a matter of time, especially after Joey committed there. I'm still a bit surprised it was offered this early to Mikey though. I guess I just don't like closing too many doors that young.[/quote]No surprise he is going to UMD.His dad is from Duluth and his good friend is the coach, either way good for Mickey just wish it was the U of M so we could watch him play.

Suddenly, it all becomes clear.....