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Sign and dine: Wildcats honor latest National Signing Day class
BY Matt Welch, mwelch@starlocalnews.com
Elation, celebration and achievement permeated the walls of Plano Senior for National Signing Day.
Always a heavy turnout for the Wildcats, Wednesday morning was no different as a throng of student-athletes inked letters of intent in a variety of sports.
Among those was the Plano football team, highlighted by Joseph Noteboom's commitment to TCU being made official. A verbal commit since last summer, Noteboom attended an area-wide prospects camp at the school in June and it didn't take long for the 6-foot-6, 260-pound offensive tackle to turn heads.
Texas Tech also offered Noteboom, with Northwestern, Purdue and Iowa State in the mix before location and the budding prestige of playing for the Horned Frogs won out.
Noteboom, who looks to major in business, verbally committed over the summer while Andre Morman's decision to play for Ouachita Baptist came about one week prior to Wednesday when he visited the campus.
"I like how willing the coaches were to help me through this process," said Morman, who hopes to major in applied sciences. "They'll help me next year with keeping my grades up as well. That's what really brought me closer to them."
While those two will ply their trades at the university level, three standouts from Plano's baseball team opted to go the junior college route.
"The difference between Division I and JUCO is you can get picked up and recruited after your freshman or sophomore year," said Michael Crawford, Plano senior. "If I went Division I, I'm not sure how much I'd play, so at least this way I have a better shot at getting playing time."
That weighed heavily on Crawford's decision to sign with Paris Junior College. Looking to major in business or communications, Crawford's move to college will be somewhat familiar with teammate Brad Hoeler also committing to Paris.
"It'll definitely make [the transition] easier," Hoeler said. "I'm going to have somebody there that I know and it's always good when you're first going to college to know someone you're familiar with."
With Plano baseball head coach Rick Robertson initially contacting Paris about a few of his players, Hoeler was among the names who visited.
Recommendations from his peers only furthered interest in the school.
"A couple of guys who went to Plano a few years ago also played there," Hoeler said. "I talked with them and they really liked it, which helped in making the decision."
Hoeler, leaning toward majoring in business, committed in November after a successful fall ball campaign that Ryan Thomas was similarly able to showcase en route to committing to Navarro Junior College.
"I like the coaches there," Thomas said. "They're nice and relaxed there and it felt like a good place to go."
Thomas added that Navarro sees him as an infielder and pitcher.
Senayt Rinkevich is striving for similar success in cross country. Rinkevich, who will be attending Central Arkansas, was looking at a number of smaller schools, including the University of Texas-Arlington and Stephen F. Austin, before the comfort level with UCA took over.
"Whenever I talked with the coaches, they really made me feel a part of the team," Rinkevich said. "The whole experience felt great, plus the coach and team were amazing."
Fulfilling Rinkevich's academic obligations was big as well, with UCA giving her the chance to pursue a major in physical therapy and a minor in French.
Academics were at the forefront of Kaitlyn Campbell's recruiting trail as well, with the lacrosse standout at last landing with Southwestern.
"It's really the academics that got me there and lacrosse was just a bonus for me," Campbell said. "They have a great biology program there."
Hoping to one day attend Southwestern Medical School, Campbell's lacrosse career spans back to fifth grade. And through attending a myriad of recruiting tournaments, she has earned the chance to find success on the field and in the classroom.
For continued news and coverage on the local sports scene, follow @MWelchSCN on Twitter.
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