This varies quite a bit by sport. Track and Field athletes generally don’t commit early, especially the top recruits. Most of those decisions are made fall of senior year. At Ivies, most of those athletes apply ED/EA but a few don’t. At D1/P5 programs, the coaches would love to have commitments from the top athletes in the fall but a decent number of athletes wait until winter. And some commit in the summer after senior year (usually not at selective schools though).