You can't sign a National Letter of Intent (NLI) until your senior year of HS. Before then it isn't really a done deal. Many verbals are honored - my eldest played on a team with a kid who had a verbal with our State Flagship U in 10th grade - she is now in her 2nd year there and playing her sport. And at DIII schools you can't sign an NLI, so DIII recruits are all verbals.

However, even at DIII schools, you can use your sport to help with admissions. Eldest had a coach from a "top" LAC contact her after the application deadline and told her she could still apply - coach would hand carry her application over to admissions. Kid did not want to play an outdoor sport in an area that experiences subzero temperatures, so she did not apply, but sports can help with admissions at many schools.