On the first official signing day of the 2024-2025 season, Nov. 13, the following 15 senior student-athletes from Oak Park and River Forest High School inked letters of intent to continue their careers collegiately:
Baseball: Brady Green and Timmy Leark, Northern Illinois University; Ethan Moore, University of Tennessee; Kendall Wallace, Milwaukee Area Technical College
Women’s Lacrosse: Kelsey O’Brien, University of Akron; Hannah Simon, San Diego State University; Harper Thompson, Wagner College
Rowing: Vivienne Pope, Northeastern University
Softball: Maura Carmody, University of Dayton; Anna Topel, Babson College
Women’s Swimming: Sadie Murphy, University of Louisville
Men’s Track and Field: Lucas Brauc, University of Tennessee
Women’s Volleyball: Audrey Chizzo, Illinois Wesleyan University; Tewa Woodson, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Wrestling: Joe Knackstedt, Cornell University
A national letter of intent (or NLI) is an agreement made between prospective student-athletes and a college or university athletic program. In exchange for a student-athlete’s participation, the institution provides scholarships or financial aid for one full academic year. These agreements are renewable after every year, depending on if both parties agree.
Once an NLI is signed by a student-athlete with an institution, no other college or university can continue to recruit said student-athlete. While NLIs are common among many NCAA institutions, not all of them offer scholarships or financial aid, especially at the lower levels.