Lafayette Hill resident, Penn Charter student and top ranked college swimming prospect Reece Whitley has verbally committed to the University of California. Sports Illustrated for Kids named Whitley its SportsKid of the Year in 2015 and SwimSwam.com has ranked as its top college prospect for the class of 2018. It said of Whitley:

Whitley is the best NCAA breaststroke prospect since at least Andrew Seliskar. But he’s hardly a one-trick pony – Whitley has the class’s best 200 IM by almost three seconds. There’s really no downside to this guy as a recruit. Huge 6-foot-8-inch frame that should have plenty of room left to pack on muscle. He could even turn out to be a Breeja Larson type, who excels at breaststroke but can use a big frame to be a key free relay player too.

Whitley made the announcement via Twitter. See below:

Very excited to announce my verbal commitment to the University of California, Berkeley! #GoBears pic.twitter.com/A28LKCwaOa

— Reece Whitley (@_reecewhitley) June 17, 2017