Glades Central junior William Likely knows he’s the highest-profile recruit in Palm Beach County who hasn’t committed to a college.

His friends Kelvin Taylor (Florida) and Greg Bryant (Oklahoma) recently announced their commitments, saying part of their reason for doing so was to ease the pressure that comes from today’s recruiting process.

To be sure, there’s pressure on Likely. Everyone in Belle Glade wants to know which BCS school he will pick. Recruiting websites call constantly. His mailbox is full, and as soon as NCAA rules permit college coaches to call and visit with increased frequency, they will.

But he isn’t rushing his decision.

“I’ve been putting it off,” Likely said at Thursday’s District 13-2A track meet at Suncoast. “I’m going to wait it out.”

Likely plans to take his five official visits. He recently traveled to Baton Rouge, La. for LSU’s spring game. He said he enjoyed his experience, but the Tigers are on equal footing with the rest of the 20-plus BCS programs who have offered him.

Miami, Florida, Southern Cal, Clemson and South Carolina are among the schools that want the 5-foot-7, 180-pound Likely, who projects as a cornerback in college.

Narrowing down that list? Not yet.

Likely’s current duties are running the 100-meter dash and 400- and 1600-meter relays for Glades Central. When spring football kicks off May 1, he’ll be the main offensive and defensive weapon for a school that renews its state title hopes every year.

He said he’s more focused on that than finding the answer to the question so many have.

“I don’t really think about it,” Likely said. “I look at it like, I still have things to do in high school.”

Defending state champion West Boca Raton will play the rest of its season without the pitcher who clinched last year’s state title.

Senior Parker Danciu chose to end his high school career rather than serve a three-week FHSAA suspension, leaving West Boca without its ace, a Florida signee and potential MLB Draft pick, for the upcoming playoffs.

Danciu, who pitched a five-hit shutout for West Boca in last year’s Class 5A state final, will play the rest of the season at Bucky Dent Baseball Academy in Delray Beach.

“We felt terrible for leaving his teammates and his team,” said Joe Danciu, his father. “But the reality is the high school association effectively ended his season for him. It forced our hand, so to speak.”

Asked for a response to Danciu’s decision, West Boca coach Nick Siano said in a text message: “I have no comment on that at this time.”

Danciu’s decision stems from an April 6 game at American Heritage. In the second inning, West Boca fell behind 4-2 after Danciu surrendered a two-run double.

Danciu, a 6-foot-4, 200-pound left-hander, threw behind the next batter, American Heritage senior Jon Spada. After Spada expressed his displeasure, the home plate umpire gave Spada a warning. Coaches from both teams went out to calm the players.

According to the umpire’s report, Danciu hit Spada in the ribs with his next pitch and was ejected.

American Heritage coach Carm Mazza said a suspension was warranted, but “three weeks is a little too much.”

“[The pitch] wasn’t malicious, but it was in,” Mazza said. “Coupled with the first pitch behind him, it didn’t look good. To me, it was part of baseball. I’m not mad at the kid. I don’t want to see him miss districts.”

Mazza and Danciu’s father noted that Danciu was not warned before throwing the pitch that hit Spada.

An FHSAA spokesperson explained in an email to The Post that the umpire stepping between the two players should have been considered a warning to both.

On Monday, the FHSAA ordered Danciu to serve three weeks of a six-week suspension, meaning Danciu would miss the District 14-7A tournament and return for the start of the regional playoffs at the earliest. An FHSAA spokesperson said West Boca did not appeal the suspension.

On Wednesday, Danciu was used as a designated hitter for Bucky Dent Academy’s 11-6 loss at Miami-Dade Junior College. He may make his first start this weekend.

“We produce ballplayers,” Bucky Dent Academy Director Gil Gilbert said. “He got into an unfortunate situation. He needed to continue everything that he was doing. He needed to continue throwing and conditioning and he needed to face competition. We were a natural fit.”

West Boca, which graduated first-round San Diego Padres draft pick Michael Kelly and Philadelphia Phillies 11th-rounder Tyler Greene from last year’s state title team, is 13-8 and 5-1 in District 14-7A. Danciu was 4-4 with a 1.51 ERA and 53 strikeouts in 41.2 innings.

Danciu will continue to attend classes at West Boca — he has prom on Friday — and is on track to graduate in May. He will train at the Academy in preparation for a summer session at Florida, where he would be part of the nation’s top-ranked recruiting class. He could be high-round draft pick in the MLB Draft.

“He has a Florida scholarship and other opportunities so he needs to continue to play in a competitive environment and get instruction,” Joe Danciu said. “That’s the bottom line. It’s a personal decision to move forward with his baseball career.”

Bucky Dent Academy, which is located near Danciu’s Delray Beach home, employs Don Thomsen as its head pitching instructor. Joe Danciu said Thomsen has been his son’s pitching coach for the last 10 years.

“We’re happy with everything that’s gone on there [at West Boca],” Joe Danciu said. “We’re doing what’s right for Parker. He hates to leave his teammates. He’ll fight for them, and he has. He’ll stick up for them. That’s the hardest part, leaving [West Boca catcher] Michael Barash and the kids that he has played with.

“But it’s the high school association that forced our hand. They took him out of competition for three weeks. He cant stay idle for that time. He needs to get stronger for his career at Florida.”

Given the importance of Thursday’s game, Royal Palm Beach coach Brian Joros jokes that missing it will be “like being condemned to purgatory.”

Joros, in his second season coaching the Wildcats, was suspended two games by the FHSAA after an incident involving an umpire in an April 5 game at King’s Academy. According to an FHSAA report, Royal Palm assistant Rich Gomersal argued with and was ejected by an umpire following a play at home plate.

Under National Federation of High School baseball rules, if an assistant coach is ejected for leaving the dugout or coaches’ box and arguing, the head coach is automatically ejected.

The FHSAA suspended Gomersal for two weeks, meaning he could return for the start of district tournaments, which begin April 23. Joros was suspended two games, the second of which is Thursday. Royal Palm was fined $200. Both coaches must complete a NFHS coaching course before returning to action.

They’ll follow from home as the seventh-ranked Wildcats visit Santaluces for the final District 13-7A game for both teams. Royal Palm is 5-0 in the four-team district. Santaluces is 4-1.

With a win, Royal Palm would lock up the No. 1 seed for the district tournament. Given the tiebreaker rules in place, a Santaluces win would force a coin flip for the No. 1 seed.

Santaluces will send senior Hunter Kyzar (5-2, 0.83 ERA in 42.1 innings) to face Royal Palm junior Justin Lauginiger (7-0, 0.66, 61 strikeouts in 42.2 innings), who hadn’t allowed an earned run until Friday’s loss to No. 2 Palm Beach Central. Both pitchers are 1-2 among large schools in ERA.

In the district tournament, the winner of Thursday’s game could face Palm Beach Lakes, which has been outscored 49-168 this season. The loser could draw Forest Hill senior right-hander Mike Murray (5-2, 1.69), who has an area-best 92 strikeouts.

“He can beat anybody on any night,” Joros said.

On Friday, a power-packed District 9-8A will be settled. At 4 p.m., No. 2 Palm Beach Central hosts No. 1 Jupiter. The winner gets the No. 1 seed and a first-round tournament bye. At 7, No. 4 Dwyer hosts No. 6 Palm Beach Gardens with the district’s No. 3 seed on the line.

Also on Friday, No. 5 Benjamin can earn the No. 1 seed in District 12-3A with a win over Jupiter Christian at Roger Dean Stadium.

ESPN plans to televise high school football every week this fall. It appears one of those games will involve Kelvin Taylor and Glades Day.

The Belle Glade private school and Yulee High are finalizing plans for their 2012 game to be carried on ESPN. The day and time are still to be determined, but the game will be during Week 5, in early October. It will played at Yulee High, about 30 miles north of Jacksonville.

“It’s about 95 percent done,” Glades Day coach Pete Walker said of the agreement between the teams and the network.

ESPN has not confirmed the game or announced its schedule of high school football games.

This will be the third season in a row a Palm Beach County team has appeared on the Worldwide Leader, following Dwyer (2010, ’11) and Glades Central (’11).

Looking for storylines that hook a national audience, ESPN will promote the game as a battle of future SEC running backs.

Yulee, which reached the Class 4A regional finals last year, features Georgia-bound Derrick Henry. In two years of varsity football, the 6-foot-3, 240-pound Henry has rushed for 5,210 yards and 61 touchdowns and is ranked by Rivals.com as the top multipurpose athlete in the nation for 2013.

Glades Day, a six-time state champion which lost in last year’s Class 2A state semifinal, has Taylor, who as a junior broke the state record for all-time rushing yardage formerly held by Emmitt Smith. He also holds the record for career touchdowns and rushing yards in a single game. He has committed to Florida.

Expect ESPN to spotlight Kelvin’s father, Fred Taylor, a Glades Central and Florida alum. Taylor is beloved in the Jacksonville area for his years with Jacksonville Jaguars.

According to Walker, Glades Day players are already buzzing about their chance to be on national TV.

“I think it’s great for our school and our football program,” Walker said. “It’s going to be great exposure. Not everybody has an opportunity to play on national television like that when you’re in high school. I know our kids are very excited about it.”

We’re less than two weeks away from the district tournaments, and this is the final week for district games to be played. That means all seedings will be settled this week. Here’s a look at five items of note from this week’s stats report, which is published in the Post on Tuesday:

Click here to view the latest stats report, through games of April 7, 2012.

1. Broncos charging. Palm Beach Central senior first baseman Brady Roberson, a Florida signee, is one of several Broncos who contributed to a wild win over No. 7 Royal Palm Beach last Friday. Not only did No. 2 Palm Beach Central hang the first earned runs of the season on Royal Palm Beach ace Justin Lauginiger (7-0, 0.66 in 42.2 innings), the Broncos also defended their perfect (10-0) record at home.

Central will have to win out to keep that record spotless. This week, the Broncos host No. 6 Palm Beach Gardens and No. 1 Jupiter, games which will decide tournament seeds in District 9-8A. Next week, Central plays Glades Central (for the Palm Beach County Western Conference title) before a season-ending game against No. 8 American Heritage. (More on the district races below.)

2. Buc up. Benjamin is a lock to make it to the Class 3A regionals, and the Bucs will be a tough out once they get there because of three strong arms. Sophomore lefty Bennett Sousa, junior Matt Harris and senior Jon Pavlov have the Bucs looking for their first district title since 1994.

Sousa (3-1, 0.63, 40 strikeouts in 33.1 innings) is ranked among the top 15 sophomores nationally and will choose between Florida and Virginia. He’s the go-to guy, while Pavlov (2-1, 0.27 in 26 innings) and Harris (3-0, 2.44 in 28.2 innings entering the week) can start or mop up. Harris, who took the loss Monday against Trinity Christian, is the team’s leading hitter at .456. Pavlov (.395) is second.

3. A-Rod is clutch. Well, Trinity Christian’s version, anyway. Senior Alexander Rodriguez, a 6-foot-5 lefty, struck out 14 Benjamin hitters Monday in the Warriors’ complete-game upset of the No. 5 Bucs. Rodriguez, who has signed with Ball State, lowered his ERA to 2.74, improved his record to 2-2 and has 41 strikeouts in 30.2 innings.

He is the No. 1 starter on a staff with senior Vincent Anthonia (5-1, 1.72 in 36 innings) and Byron Ferguson, a Bethune-Cookman signee. They throw to FIU-bound catcher Phildrick Llewellyn (.411, 3 HR). The Warriors (12-7) are on the second of a three-year FHSAA postseason ban stemming from a May 2009 altercation in a regional final game against Miami-Brito.

4. Big Styp. King’s Academy senior catcher Kevin Stypulkowski hits ropes when his team needs them most. Stypulkowski leads small schools and is second in the area in RBI (23) and is batting .426, eighth among small schools. Last Tuesday, his three-run triple in the fifth inning helped the Lions take down Benjamin and take over first place in District 12-3A. Stypulkowski is signed to Florida and looks every bit a college hitter.

5. Back to the Summit? In order to defend last year’s state title, Summit Christian will need to avoid the errors that led to a four-game losing streak (and dropped them from the Post’s top 10). The Saints are 4-1 over their last five, with the only loss a walk-off, 8-7 defeat at No. 6 Palm Beach Gardens.

That’s in large part due to junior Anthony Delaney (4-1, 1.63, 57 strikeouts in 38.2 innings) and senior lefty Sam Murphy (3-4, 1.91, 48 strikeouts in 41 innings). Murphy, a Nebraska-Omaha commit, on Monday was working on a fourth-inning shutout at No. 4 Dwyer when the game was called due to a power outage at the school. In two weeks, either Murphy or Delaney will need to beat Pope John Paul II (9-10, 0-4) to earn Summit a playoff berth in a three-team District 13-3A. The other will face top-seeded American Heritage (15-6, 4-0) in the district final.

Bonus: Because what stats matter more than a team’s record, number of district titles won, number of playoff appearances, etc. … here are the updated playoff breakdowns and potential district seedings.

Updated after games of Tuesday, April 10

District 9-8A
Jupiter (5-2)
Palm Beach Central (5-2)
Palm Beach Gardens (3-4)
Dwyer (3-4)
Wellington (2-6)

Breakdown: The district will be settled Friday.

At 4, Palm Beach Central hosts Jupiter. The winner gets the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye.

At 7, Dwyer hosts Palm Beach Gardens. The winner gets the No. 3 seed and will play the Jupiter/Central loser in the first round.

The only thing that’s settled: Wellington, which has no district games left, is locked into the No. 5 seed and will face the Gardens/Dwyer loser in the first round.

District 10-8A
Park Vista (8-0)
Spanish River (5-3)
Boca Raton (4-4)
Seminole Ridge (3-5)
John I. Leonard (0-8)

Breakdown: Park Vista gets a first-round bye and will play the winner of the 4-vs.-5 game. In the first round, Spanish River will play Boca Raton. Seminole Ridge will play John I. Leonard.

District 14-7A
West Boca Raton (5-1)
Atlantic (5-1)
Olympic Heights (2-4)
Lake Worth (0-6)

Breakdown: There are no district games remaining. West Boca and Atlantic are 1-1 against each other, but West Boca will be the No. 1 seed because it has three road district wins to Atlantic’s two.

District 13-7A
Royal Palm Beach (5-0)
Santaluces (4-1)
Forest Hill (1-4)
Palm Beach Lakes (0-5)

Breakdown: How’s this for a scenario — because of tiebreaker rules, Santaluces needs to beat Royal Palm at home on Thursday to force a coin flip for the No. 1 seed.

Santaluces lost to Royal Palm 1-0 earlier in the year, but a Santaluces win Thursday would give both a 5-1 district record. Since both teams have the same amount of district wins on the road and at home, the next tiebreaker is a coin flip.

On Thursday, Santaluces will send senior Hunter Kyzar (5-2, 0.83 in 42.1 innings) to face Lauginiger (7-0, 0.66, 61 strikeouts in 42.2 innings). Both pitchers are 1-2 among large schools in ERA.

The game is extra important because the loser will play Forest Hill in the district, while the winner faces struggling Palm Beach Lakes. Forest Hill, while 13-7 overall and 1-4 in the district, has senior Mike Murray (5-2, 1.69), who had an area-best 81 strikeouts entering the week and fanned 11 in Monday’s win over Boynton Beach.

Forest Hill can wrap up the No. 3 seed Friday by beating Lakes, which has been outscored 49-168 this season.

District 15-A
Jensen Beach (5-0)
Suncoast (3-2)
Boynton Beach (1-4)
Fort Pierce Westwood (1-4)

Breakdown: Each team has one district game this week. Jensen Beach is the No. 1 seed and hosts Fort Pierce Westwood on Friday. Suncoast hosts Boynton Beach on Thursday.

Boynton needs a win and a Westwood loss to be the No. 3 seed. If it loses, Westwood will be the No. 3 seed. If both teams lose, Westwood will be the No. 3 seed.

District 12-4A
Lincoln Park (5-0)
St. Andrew’s (3-2)
Cardinal Newman (2-3)
Glades Central (0-5)

Breakdown: Each team has one district game this week. Wednesday, Cardinal Newman hosts St. Andrew’s. If Newman wins, it will be the No. 2 seed. If St. Andrew’s wins, it will lock up the No. 2 seed.

On Friday, Lincoln Park hosts Glades Central, which it will play in the first round of the district tournament.

District 13-3A
American Heritage (4-0)
Summit Christian (2-2)
Pope John Paul II (0-4)

Breakdown: District seeds are set. Summit will play Pope. Heritage earns the bye and a spot in the district final.

District 12-3A
King’s Academy (5-1)
Benjamin (4-1)
Jupiter Christian (1-4)
Glades Day (1-5)

Breakdown: King’s and Glades Day each has completed district play. Benjamin plays Jupiter Christian at Roger Dean Stadium on Friday.

If Benjamin wins, it will be the No. 1 seed and Jupiter Christian will be No. 4. If Jupiter Christian wins, it will be the No. 3 seed and Benjamin will be No. 2.

District 12-2A
Boca Raton Christian (2-0)
Lake Worth Christian (1-1)
Wellington Christian (0-2)

Breakdown: Boca Christian earns a first-round bye and a spot in the district title game. Lake Worth Christian plays Wellington Christian in a district semifinal.

Independents
Trinity Christian (11-7)
Berean Christian (8-5)

Breakdown: No playoffs for either school. Trinity Christian, which boasts wins over Atlantic and then-No. 1 Summit Christian, finishes the season April 21 with a game against Olympic Heights at Roger Dean Stadium.

Berean Christian, building under former Dwyer assistant coach Marty Gonzalez, is playing a part-JV schedule. The Bulldogs count a March 15 win over Glades Day as a season highlight. They finish up April 20 at Boca Raton Christian.

Earlier in the baseball season, we reported that Jupiter may forfeit several games due to an ineligible player.

On Monday, FHSAA Associate Executive Director M. Denarvise Thornton said Jupiter is in the clear.

“This matter was resolved,” Thornton said in an email. “There were not penalties assessed or violations regarding this matter.”

Jupiter coach Andy Mook was pleased with the news. He said he wasn’t aware of the decision until a reporter informed him.

“I just figured hey, they’ll let me know me know,” Mook said. “I knew we couldn’t keep dealing with that issue and have it hang over our heads. If that was something we were worried about, it would mess up the whole concept.”

Mook said the formerly ineligible player was cleared by his school’s administration to play and has played most of the season for the Warriors. To be eligible, the player had to establish residency in Jupiter’s attendance boundary and wait a period of six days.

The Florida Athletic Coaches Association announced its girls basketball all-state and all-academic teams. The following area players made it:

FACA ALL-STATE

Class 3A
Deanna Bradley, American Heritage, Fr.
Riley Burke, Benjamin, Soph.
Hunter Sullivan, John Carroll, Soph.
Class 4A
Brandy Montgomery, Lincoln Park, Jr.
Class 5A
Ashley Robinson, Jensen Beach, Jr.
Class 7A
Taryn Richard, Martin County, Sr.
Ami Edwards, Okeechobee, Jr.
Carley McCoin, Okeechobee, Fr.

FACA ALL-ACADEMIC

Class 3A
Deanna Bradley, American Heritage, Fr.
Class 4A
Kelly Hensley, Lincoln Park, Jr.
Class 7A
Taryn Richard, Martin County, Sr.
Ami Edwards, Okeechobee, Jr.
Carley McCoin, Okeechobee, Fr.

Local members of the Florida Athletic Coaches Association will meet Monday to nominate three players for the Florida high school baseball all-star games in Sebring.

The selection meeting is at 6 p.m. Monday, April 16 at Forest Hill High. All FACA baseball coaches in Palm Beach County are asked to attend.

The FACA All-Star Games will be played May 25-27 in Sebring. Coaches are asked to check with the players they are nominating to ensure their availability for that weekend.

Contact Spanish River coach Bill Harvey at william.harvey@palmbeachschools.org with further questions.

Junior Jessie Stephanos was one of four area wrestlers to compete at the National High School Coaches Association tournament last weekend in Virginia Beach, Va.

Stephanos placed third in the 195-pound division, earning him All-American status.

Olympic Heights senior Mike Kosoy placed sixth in the 285-pound division.

Jupiter Christian junior Mike Kestner went 1-2 in the 160-pound division. Senior David Kestner went 0-2 in the 138-pound division.

All were members of The Post‘s All-Area first team.

The area’s baseball stats leaders are published in the Post on Tuesdays. There’s always something interesting that pops off the page. Here are five items of note from this week’s stats report, with an eye on the upcoming district tournaments:

Click here to view this week’s baseball stats report.

1. Jacks from J.J. Palm Beach Gardens senior James Jean (right) hasn’t been in the headlines much this season, but it’s time he gets a little pub. The Florida Gulf Coast commit has been on a power trip lately, hitting five homers in the last two weeks to jump atop the area leaderboard. He’s also hitting .396 with an area-best 25 RBI. A catcher/DH, Jean was the tournament MVP of the Florida League Invitational, held two weeks ago in Sanford. Gardens won the tournament.

2. Arms race. As it was last season, the pitching numbers are looking mighty tiny this season. Nineteen pitchers with at least 25 innings of work have ERAs of 2.00 or lower, led by Royal Palm Beach junior Justin Lauginiger, who has yet to allow a run, earned or otherwise (7-0, 0.00, 59 strikeouts in 41 innings). Benjamin’s Bennett Sousa (0.63), Santaluces’ Hunter Kyzar (0.89), Dwyer’s Bradley Emery (1.01) and West Boca Raton’s Parker Danciu (1.04) round out the top five. Last year, 19 pitchers ended the regular season with ERAs of 2.00 or lower.

3. Scot power. Last year, St. Andrew’s junior Danny Young led the area in batting (.565) and homers (10). This season, his average has cooled to a mere .400, but Young is atop the small schools leaders in homers (4), and he’s become a much more important force on the mound. Young, a Florida commit, has taken over as the Scots’ ace with the graduation of UMass-bound brothers Tim and Dan Stoops. He leads small schools pitchers in strikeouts (75) and is 3-4 with a 2.42 ERA.

4. Cool behind the dish. West Boca Raton’s Michael Barash is eighth among large school batters with a .457 average. That leads West Boca, which has taken over the top spot in District 14-7A with last week’s win over Atlantic. The defending Class 5A state champs re-enter the Post’s rankings this week, at No. 9 (see below). Barash, a junior and an LSU commit, has drawn praise from opposing coaches for the way he seems to settle down his teammates. He’s much appreciated by the Bulls’ pitching staff, which includes Danciu (4-3, 1.04, 51 strikeouts in 40.1 innings) and reliever-turned-starter Matt Warren (4-4, 2.54, 43 strikeouts in 30.1 innings).

5. Comeback road. Last year’s Park Vista team, which made it to the Class 6A state final, could have been even stronger had Brandon Rhodes been there for the whole season. The FAU-bound lefty missed most of last year with an arm injury but has had a monster senior year. He’s thrown a perfect game (against Spanish River) and beat some of the best teams around (ask Gardens, Dwyer and Pembroke Pines-Flanagan). He’s just 5-foot-8, but works in the mid-80s and throws his curve and changeup for strikes.