Major Midwest '24 Verbals and West Coast Commit Watch

The Class of 2024 is picking up steam this fall with more athletes giving their verbal which is causing more clarity into who is bringing in some big time recruiting classes. Louisville got two really big commits out of the Midwest which is par for the course for the Cardinals. There are still some high profile prospects that are still out there that will be next level, high level impact type commits. Let's take a look at who committed and who could be next to give their verbal.   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://x.com/paytonpetersen_/status/1571852184827871233?s=20&t=WZ-b8q0bANe8fW18uWZEXw </div></figure>   Utterback, Petersen Commit To The Cards   This is huge for Louisville. Programs will go after different types of players and [player_tooltip player_id='110503' first='Ava' last='Utterback'] (Plainfield, IN - Circle City) and [player_tooltip player_id='168149' first='Payton' last='Petersen'] (Dike-New Hartford, IA - Six Pack) are definitely a Louisville type of player. What is so strong about their game is how they are six rotation outside hitters who can serve receive, pass, and score from everywhere on the court. Utterback is a high flyer that explodes off the floor where she has so many options to put the ball away. She can handle a high volume of swings and has no fear when going for the big shot. Petersen brings a lot of strength and physicality to the outside position. She has won two state championships in volleyball and two in basketball. With Utterback being the lightning, Petersen is the thunder as she hits such a heavy ball. I made a tweet earlier how Petersen's game reminds me of current Louisville star Anna DeBeer where Utterback has similarities to current Louisville outside in Claire Chausee. I have seen all of these athletes at the high school level. There are plenty of similarities, but the common denominator is how they can defend and score in a very blue collar like way. With the week Louisville had with their huge win on the road at Kentucky in front of 300,000 fans on ESPN and a win on the road at Stanford, they are swinging a hot bat right now.   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://x.com/AvaUtterback/status/1567474231331405825?s=20&t=WZ-b8q0bANe8fW18uWZEXw </div></figure>   Indiana Athletes Make Big Verbals   [player_tooltip player_id='110498' first='Lola' last='Schumacher'] of Brebeuf Prep out of Indianapolis committed to Wisconsin and [player_tooltip player_id='110485' first='Brenna' last='Ginder'] of Carroll High School out of Fort Wayne committed to Oklahoma.   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://x.com/BrebeufVB/status/1571651889023881217?s=20&t=WZ-b8q0bANe8fW18uWZEXw </div></figure>   Schumacher's commit to Wisconsin will continue the Munciana connections to the Badgers. These roots run deep as Head Coach of Wisconsin, Kelly Sheffield was once a coach at Munciana. Some other Munciana alums who have put on a Wisconsin jersey are Lauryn Gillis, Taylor Morey, and Tionna Williams (to name a few). Schumacher is the top libero in Indiana with Ginder right behind her in the Prep Dig Indiana Class of 2024 rankings. Both are top five overall recruits in their class. Ginder has an athletic style of play where she has quite the range. Her Carroll high school team is currently 20-0 on the season. She plays for Team Pineapple out of Fort Wayne who has been producing some top commits including 2024 pin hitter Morgan Gaerte who is heading to Notre Dame.   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://x.com/BrennaGinder/status/1571684275023388673?s=20&t=WZ-b8q0bANe8fW18uWZEXw </div></figure>   Who could be next in Indiana? You could head to Hamilton Southeastern for both of these athletes. Lauren Harden is one of the top outside hitters in the country and setter Macy Hinshaw is also a highly ranked athlete. Both of these players are in the Prep Dig Class of 2024 National rankings. High school volleyball in Indiana is no joke where the high school scene is highly competitive. Hamilton Southeastern is a top team out of the Indianapolis area with their lone loss coming to McCutcheon out of Lafayette who has a team loaded with D1 talent in Chloe Chicoine (Purdue), Raegan Burns (Kansas), Isabella Humphrey (Auburn), and Allie Shondell (Purdue).   Close Eye On The Coast   <figure class="wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2022/02/DSC03871.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-182309" width="550" height="367"/><figcaption>[player_tooltip player_id='162783' first='Taylor' last='Yu']</figcaption></figure>   I have not seen a lot of recruiting action from California and the rest of the West Coast. Three athletes who are going to have a lot of attention from California are [player_tooltip player_id='162783' first='Taylor' last='Yu'] (Temple City HS - SG Elite) and [player_tooltip player_id='159534' first='Babi' last='Gubbins'] (Mater Dei - Mizuno Long Beach) along with [player_tooltip player_id='201074' first='Elizabeth' last='Andrew']s (Ridgefield WA - Athena).   This is by no means gossip, but maybe a little speculation that Stanford has to be high on the radar for these athletes. Again - speculation. All of these athletes are on the radar to college coaches across the country, but they are going to be a high priority to schools on the West Coast. San Diego is playing with a ton of momentum and is currently ranked fourth in the country with Stanford right behind them. The Toreros would love to keep the SoCal kids home where Gubbins and Yu are both out of the area. Andrew is in a battleground for the PAC 12. Washington would love to keep her “home”. Washington and Oregon have both picked up big 2024 commits in setter in Alexis Haury (Washington - #4 PD National Prospect) and Oregon getting Alex Acevedo (#9 PD National Prospect) and uber athletic middle from Nebraska in Mia Trvdy (#78 PD National Prospect).

The Class of 2024 is picking up steam this fall with more athletes giving their verbal which is causing more clarity into who is bringing in some big time recruiting classes. Louisville got two really big commits out of the Midwest which is par for the course for the Cardinals. There are still some high profile prospects that are still out there that will be next level, high level impact type commits. Let's take a look at who committed and who could be next to give their verbal.