Top recruit Peterson decommits from Early Decision

Despite reports that Jeff Peterson — one of the top recruits for the men's basketball team in the last decade — has backed out of his early-decision commitment to Princeton, the University insists he will be joining the Tigers in the fall.

Head coach Joe Scott '87 said that the high school star would join the team and the University as a member of the Class of 2011.

"He has not decommitted to Princeton," Scott said in an interview. "He has not told me that. He has a binding commitment, and he was accepted here Early Decision."

On Jan. 24, the Washington Examiner reported that Peterson had "reopen[ed] recruitment," which allows other universities' basketball programs to seek his enrollment. The newspaper quoted Mike Jones, Peterson's coach at DeMatha High School in Hyattsville, Md., as saying that the six-foot, one-inch point guard was considering options other than Princeton.

Jones declined to comment or provide contact information for Peterson.

"I think he might have felt a little pressure to commit to Princeton, with everybody telling him how great an opportunity it was," Jones told the Examiner. "He may go to Princeton after all. But right now he wants to know what his options are."

Peterson may be thinking about going elsewhere, but his Early Decision agreement means that he has a binding contract with the University, Dean of Admission Janet Rapelye said.

"I can assure you that, in Early Decision, athletes are bound by the same rules as non-athletes." Rapelye added that "extenuating financial circumstances" would be the only exception to the binding nature of the contract.

But Christopher Avery, a professor at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard who studies U.S. college admission policies, said in an e-mail that "[m]ost ED colleges lose a few students each year who are admitted ED but never enroll."

"I wouldn't be surprised to learn that athletic recruiting might account for some of the cases where ED admits do not enroll," he added.

All students applying to the University early must sign a contract agreeing that if accepted, they will matriculate at the University and withdraw all applications to other institutions.

The contract — which also has to be signed by the applicant's high school counselor and parent or guardian — states that "it is a violation of the spirit and the letter of the agreement for an applicant to be an Early Decision or Early Action candidate at two or more institutions at the same time."

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"Colleges offering ED generally circulate a list of admitted students to other colleges and those other colleges remove those students from their admission pools," Avery said. He added that while he had not heard of any specific instances of athletes who reneged on their ED acceptances, the practice wasn't uncommon among the general pool of students.

Like most top recruits, Peterson was probably issued a "likely letter" by the University in October, Rapelye said, indicating that he would have a good chance of being accepted to Princeton in December.

"In early October, we send out letters indicating whether [or not] it is likely that certain athletes will be admitted," she said. "We find that this is a tool that has been very helpful to our coaches."

Peterson's high school coach is well aware that his player's stellar performance on the court could attract attention from other basketball programs. "Ever since Jeff announced, he's heard how much of a steal Princeton got," Jones told the Examiner. "I think he just wants to make sure he's going to the school that best suits him."

Despite Jones' statement that Peterson has reopened his recruitment, Scott said he is certain that the recruit will be donning a Tiger uniform next year.

"We are going to do whatever we need to do to make sure that still happens," Scott said.

A star in the backcourt

Peterson's future at the University may be unclear at the moment, but one thing is certain: he would be a great addition to the Tigers' lineup.

Last season, Peterson helped orchestrate a season to remember for DeMatha, an all-boys Catholic school. With Peterson running the show, the team finished with an impressive 34-1 record, winning the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference title. The Stags also ended the season ranked No. 4 in the country in a USA Today poll and No. 1 in The Washington Post.

This season, the Stags are 17-4 and on a five-game winning streak. Peterson is averaging 14 points per game but is currently sidelined with a shoulder injury.

Earlier this season, DeMatha won the Nike Academy National Invitational, defeating St. Patrick's of New Jersey by a score of 58-49. At the time, St. Patrick's was ranked No. 2 in the country. Peterson contributed 13 points, eight assists and three steals in the victory.

As the Tigers struggle this season — having fallen to 0-4 in Ivy League play for the first time in team history — a prospect like Peterson is not something they can afford to let slip from their grasp.

— Staff writer Doug Eshleman contributed reporting.