Prep athletes in every sport except football recently signed National Letters of Intent to play in college. Homewood-Flossmoor High School celebrated the moment Nov. 13 for six Vikings in the school’s auditorium.
“We are extremely proud of you and we are honored to be part of the experience,” Athletic Director Matthew Lyke told the athletes, their friends and family. “You have always represented Homewood-Flossmoor in a positive way and that is very much appreciated.”
JD Tyler, who will be expected to be one of the leaders on the defending state champion boys basketball team, made his choice public for the first time on signing. The senior point guard chose Wofford College. He was once committed to Kent State but reopened his recruitment in September.
“It was just a great fit. The players made it feel like home. They showed me around. The coaches made me feel like I was home,” Tyler said. “It just felt right.”
He saw the South Carolina campus this fall. The only other school he visited since decommitting from Kent State was Northern Illinois. He’s considering majoring in sports medicine.
Tyler said Terriers coaches made no promises but he wasn’t looking for any.
“I don’t look for guarantees. I look for opportunities,” he said. “They could tell you something but something else could happen. You never know. I don’t really want to put that in the air and jinx myself.”
Tyler’s teammate, wing Arden Eaves, picked Lewis University in Romeoville. He said Flyers coaches were the most consistent school recruiting him.
“A lot of coaches would call and say they were interested and never called again,” he said. “(Lewis) kept checking on me and checking on my parents. They wanted me there. It just felt right.”
Eaves visited Lewis in early November.
“They embraced me with open arms the first time I came (to campus),” he said. “They tell me I’ll get my open shots, attack the basket, to play unlike a robot, to play into the game.”
A pair of softballers also made their pledges official, as well.
Skylar Skinner will head to the coast and play both softball and volleyball at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. She said it was important for her to find a school that would allow her to play both sports.
“I feel super relieved and super accomplished that I finally achieved getting to be DI in both of my sports,” she said. “That was definitely No. 1 on my list.”
Skinner took visits to schools in the South but wanted to head further up the Atlantic coast. She’ll study biology with the eventual goal of becoming an orthodontist.
“I like the weather and I felt more at home in the East because I have family up there,” she said. “I definitely wanted to get out of Illinois and out of the Midwest, mainly because of the cold.”
Slugger Elodie Sullivan will see some snow in college. She signed with the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, picking the Rangers over Concordia Ann Arbor and Manchester.
“As soon as I went there and talked to (coach Kristin Ortman), I just loved the campus. It met everything that I was looking for,” Sullivan said. “As soon as I got back into the car, I was like ‘Yeah, this is where I want to go.’”
She’ll major in physical therapy in the hopes of staying around sports as long as she can.
“I’ve had to go to physical therapy before and I just thought it was awesome. I don’t like blood and gross stuff but I wanted to be able to help people any way that I can,” Sullivan said. “Being a physical therapist, I don’t have to see the blood but I can help them get to where they want to be.”
Wrestler RJ Robinson also plans to major in physical therapy. He’ll matriculate to American University.
“I’ve always been interested in the human body,” Robinson said. “Being a wrestler, it’s about how can you be better? What can you eat? How can you recover faster? I just want to help other kids learn how to rehab. I’m fascinated with that in every sense.”
Robinson enjoyed the recruiting process, taking visits and meeting coaches. He considered Arizona State and Oregon State.
He’ll need to bulk up some. College coaches may want Robinson to wrestle at 184 pounds. He’ll hit the mats at 175 for the Vikings this winter.
“I’m really excited. I’ve been dreaming about this since I was really little,” Robinson said. “I expected it but I’m just really humbled to have the opportunity to do it.”
Noelle Dolan will move to St. Louis to play soccer at Washington University. She said the process of choosing a college was sometimes stressful.
“It’s definitely been a long journey. I’ve been playing soccer since I was like 5. At times the recruiting process was a lot,” she said. “I’m super happy to have found my home for the next four years and to make it official today.”
The Bears finished the regular season ranked No. 1 in Division III and were national runners up a year ago. She’ll study business.
“I think I can definitely have the opportunity to be an impact player starting my freshman year,” Dolan said.