By Nathan Rode
National Supervisor

I’m not sure about the rest of you, but I can’t believe it’s September already. Based on the seasonal calendar, fall technically starts in three weeks, but Labor Day unofficially declares the end of summer as school is back in full swing and schedules are packed with as many events. The Prep Baseball Report Labor Day Challenge was held this weekend in Chicago so be sure to catch up on all the action with recaps from Saturday and Sunday.

There are still plenty of events to pay attention to this fall and we’ll be sure to bring you the coverage you expect. For now, enjoy your Labor Day holiday and read this week’s PBR Mailbag before you head to that cookout.

Describe the effects on a player’s draft status—say a guy has fifth- to seventh-round ability out of high school, but is committed to a school like Duke or Stanford. Will that be a turn-off for pro teams to draft him at the slot he deserves just because of that?
There are many variables to account for when evaluating a player for the draft and when it comes time to for a team to decide whom to take and when, a player's perceived signability is one of the biggest ones. Their college commitment is obviously a factor in what their number—a dollar value that they say they will sign for—is and those committed to schools with high academic standards tend to be tougher signs because of the value of the education they will get by going to school.