I know of lacrosse player who committed to an Ivy in September of her sophomore year. This happened because her athletic ability and academic (strength of schedule, grades, and SAT scores) ability were little to no risk for the coach. In sports like lacrosse and soccer, most recruits are aware of the things necessary to be an early “commit” at an Ivy. The athletes who aren’t usually don’t in up there. Penn and Princeton have very competitive programs in women’s lacrosse. They have to recruit top players and good students without offering money. I think that most who choose this path do it for academic reasons! At least in lacrosse, these players are turning down offers from Duke, UVA, UNC etc to play there and often are playing full sticker price.