The first moment Jordan Haskins knew where she wanted to attend college was about five years ago.

Then a seventh-grader, Haskins took a trip to New York City for a modeling competition. The now 6-foot-1, Marriotts Ridge volleyball star even told her mom she wanted to move from their Howard County home to the Big Apple.

Her mother deftly sidestepped that issue and remained in the Baltimore area, but Haskins made her NYC dreams come true late last month by verbally committing to St. John’s University in Queens, N.Y. Haskins will sign a letter of intent with Joanne Persico-Smith’s Red Storm program (currently the No. 21 team in the country) during the early signing period this month.

“It felt amazing because in all my volleyball career I never would’ve thought [I’d end up at St. John’s],” Haskins said of her commitment. “I think I knew I could go DI, but I didn’t know I’d be able to go to a really, really good, top 25 program. I would’ve thought maybe top 100, but never top 25. It made me look at myself differently.”

Haskins’ commitment to St. John’s ended an exhausting, stressful process that forced her to flip the normal recruiting procedure and do some wooing of her own.

Initially, Haskins got recruited like most high level volleyball players – through her club team. Hofstra, DePaul, Georgia State, Wright State and Western Kentucky were among the schools to send literature, according to Haskins.

But one by one, each school bowed out of the Haskins sweepstakes – mostly due to scholarship constraints and eventually using up their offers.

So when the summer was coming to a close and Haskins was ready to begin her senior season at Marriotts Ridge, she was without options. That’s when she took recruiting into her own hands.

“I e-mailed,” Haskins said. “I went online, got the coaches’ e-mail [addresses] and sent [the coaches] e-mails.”

Haskins targeted five programs in her e-mail recruiting campaign: St. John’s, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Marquette and Colgate.

Each program responded to her inquiry and expressed interest. But again, one by one, each program went a different direction. Except for St. John’s, which just so happened to be the program she liked best.

“[Coach Persico-Smith] had read my e-mail,” Haskins said. “She asked me if I had a DVD skills video and gave me an address to send it. I sent it as soon as I could. She said she liked what she saw, but wanted to see more.”

Persico-Smith made the trip from Queens, N.Y. to Howard County for Marriotts Ridge’s October date with Centennial. The Red Storm coach liked what she saw, but wanted more.

“Basically we had a new lineup and we hadn’t practiced it or anything,” Haskins said. “We were all just confused. ... I would get a few blocks of course, but then they would hit the ball over me. She wanted to see how I could jump. She wanted to see more hitting and more middle stuff.”

Later that week, Haskins made another DVD skills tape that showcased her jumping and hitting ability. That was all Persico-Smith needed to see. The St. John’s coach invited Haskins on an official visit to the Queens campus.

Before embarking on the visit, Haskins told herself that she’d commit if offered. She was already sold on living in New York. She had done her homework online, and felt the SJU academics were top-notch. And perhaps most importantly, Haskins knew that Persico-Smith -- who guided the Red Storm from a club program 14 years ago to a now top 25 team – was the right coach for her.

Haskins got to spend a lot of one-on-one time with Persico-Smith during her visit, and especially before the Red Storm’s Oct. 26 win against DePaul.

In her office before the game, Persico-Smith found the perfect moment to officially offer Haskins. While waiting for her slow-loading computer to pull up page to buy Broadway tickets for the two the next night (the coach chose Hairspray for her Baltimore visitor), Persico-Smith gave Haskins that long-awaited offer.

“At first she said, ‘we want to offer you a full scholarship, but you can sleep on it,’” Haskins said. “But I said, ‘I’m ready to say yes.’”

So how good does ending the recruiting process and committing to St. John’s feel?

“Oh my God, you have no idea,” Haskins said. “It was such a process and I was getting so tired of it and so frustrated some days. It feels like an elephant lifted off my shoulders. Now I get to go into the club season stress-free because I already know where I’m going.

“I don’t have to worry about this school coming to see me and hoping I don’t mess up. I plan on doing well, but I don’t have as much pressure. So it feels really good.”