What’s with all the commitments?

This weekend had a number of big-time players making big-time commitments to big-time programs.

It started Thursday with Rondae Jefferson’s commitment to Arizona and continued with players like five-start swingman Robert Hubbs picking Tennessee and most recently, Northwest Florida State College point guard Chris Jones committing to Louisville on Monday morning.

In between, Malcolm and Marcus Allen picked Stanford (adding to a long list of twins to play in Palo Alto), Kendrick Nunn sprung for Illinois, RaShawn Powell made a commitment to Memphis, Moses Kingsley tabbed Arkansas as his college of choice and Cat Barber made his selection with North Carolina State.

There have been busy weekends in recruiting for sure. But with this many top-level prospects picking schools at this pace? What could possibly be the reason?

“I think the weird thing is, this year is different from the past couple of years, because we’ve had commitments right after the July evaluation period,” Scout.com Recruiting Analyst Evan Daniels told CBT on NBC. “Kids get on campus and you knew it was just a matter of time for them to start popping. But the last couple of days have been pretty wild, to be honest with you.”

Daniels said he hasn’t seen anything like this, with the amount of Top 100 commitments picking schools at this rate. Saying it’s been “quite a run.”

Verbal commitments are always shaky. Some more than others. Nothing is final until pen hits paper on a National Letter of Intent/Grant-In-Aid agreement, but to see these types of players going off at an alarming rate is something that seems unprecedented.

I imagine this trend will slow down as the seasons, both college and high school, get closer, with more time being focused toward actual games. But an episode like this can sure help build momentum toward mid-October and the official start of college basketball.

David Harten is the editor of The Backboard Chronicles. You can follow him on Twitter at @David_Harten.