Kids can commit and not announce it. Some schools such as Duke ND and some Ivy League schools toward end of freshman year have agreements with kids but do not make an official commitment til end of freshman year grades come in.
Not true at all. They will all commit a kid in the 9th grade. They try to keep it hush hush but they will commit their top prospects. If they are telling you they have to wait then you are not at the top of their list. Coaches all have a variety of thing they tell recruits to keep them on the line but the reality is that if you are at the top of the list they will pull the trigger quickly.
