FINAL 2021-22 NCAA Division I Commitment Numbers

The final NCAA Division I commitment numbers are in and the 15U-16U-18U AAA (commonly referred to as "Midgets") has taken the title, edging out the North American Hockey League which led the country the past two years.

The post-Covid shuffle definitely showed up in 2021-22 as the number of commitments jumped back up to 553 after a total of 405 last year.  In 2019-20 there were 546.  While these numbers don't translate into players actually matriculating to Division I rosters, they do count legitimate verbal commitments made by the schools and players and listed on the College Hockey Inc. website.  

The changes that take place to some players making these commitments show up in the NCAA Division I Freshman Roster breakdown that the Junior Hockey Hub performs every year.

The 2020-21 season saw the glut of fifth-year Covid players returning to teams, many via the transfer portal, which meant far fewer actual roster spots available for matriculating Junior players.  That led to the 25 percent decrease in commitments last year and it appears the player glut is shaking itself out sooner than the two or three years many predicted in 2021.

Below are the final results for the level at which each of the 553 players were competing when they made their Division I commitment.  

As always, the JHH's disclaimer needs to be printed for all the USHL cheerleaders:  

• Many USHL players enter that league with commitments already made.  The JHH data does not indicate the USHL is NOT the best Junior hockey league in the United States or North America. On the contrary.  It continually produces a high number of commitments and many already-committed players matriculate to the USHL.  
• The U.S. National Team Development Program is not a franchise-owning program in the USHL, therefore is not counted as part of that league. If the USNTDP operated by the same standards as other USHL teams they would be counted in that league. Until then the USNTDP is its own entity.

This data is memorialized at the time of commitment whereas other tracking sources, like College Hockey Inc., update their data each time a player moves to a new team/league.

In the past three years the North American Hockey league still holds a 300-272 lead over the USHL, while the 15U-16U-18U AAA level comes in at 228, BCHL at 192 and U.S. High/School Prep (combined) are at 147.

Updated NCAA Division I Commitment Numbers For 2021-22

As the 2021-22 recruiting season winds down, below is an update of the NCAA Division I commitment numbers to date.  It's not a surprise that the "midget" AAA level leads the way as the majority of players who age into the verbal commitment process (per NCAA rules) are playing at that level.

The North American Hockey League (NAHL) has maintained a close second-place effort again this season while the United States Hockey League (UHSL), which has fewer teams than the NAHL so a higher per-team commitment rate, is a solid third.  It should also be pointed out that many of the 15/16/18U players who make commitments matriculate to the USHL so enter the league already counted in these stats.

The Brooks Bandits of the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) have 11 commitments made this season, to lead all teams at all levels, while the Dubuque Saints and Madison Capitols of the United States Hockey League (USHL) each have 10.

There are various 15/16/18U AAA teams that have three and four commitments but the Shattuck-St. Mary's 16U team leads the way with five total.  Within the Midget level the 16U level has 56 of the 100 commitments with the 15s and 18s splitting the rest of the players.