Running CFB National Signing Day Thread

It's national signing day, folks.

Me thinks USC is going to be good this year. Russell Shepard (#1 recruit) has already verbally committed to USC while the #2 recruit, Manti Te'o (OLB), is still up in the air, but could land in USC, too.

Stuff goes down at 10 a.m.

 

That's like saying you think Michael Jordan is a good basketball player. COME ON! ;D

 

Haha - I mean like ranked #1 or #2 in the BCS good.

 

LSU signed a Russell Shepard, QB, Houston, TX, who was supposedly the No. 1 prospect nationally (at least on lists I saw in the fall) -- and is already in school at LSU. There's another Russell Shepard who is also the No. 1 recruit?

What is the 10 a.m. reference? I thought they could sign at something like 7:30 or 8 a.m.

I thought I might be signing today. Now I'm not so sure. Of course, this is just the first day of the signing period, even though people still use the somewhat outdated term National Signing Day. So I still have time.

I'll keep you posted.

 

ESPN had some special coverage show going on around 10 a.m. on ESPNU. Usually when most of the big news goes down. Chances are likely that kids will be signing all througout the day, though.

 

I made the decision long ago to take notice only when one of these recruits actually does something positive on the field.

I've seen too many busts, too many who never even made it to school (or flunked out shortly afterward) and too many get kicked off the team for various infractins to ever give this day one iota of my attention in February (other than the attention my job demands I give it).

 

All the faxes were in by 10:30 for the team I cover, which means my afternoon will go a lot easier.

 

No. 1 QB in Mississippi should have faxed his stuff to MSU by now:
Tyler Russell.

Seems lots of QB talent with the name "Russell" these days.
MSU will let SoCal and LSU fight over the Shepard fella.

 

Apparently there is a Russell Shepard and a Russell Shepherd. All I know is the former is at LSU already, having signed at the break. Saw him listed as No. 1 on the "athlete" lists and first or second on some run-pass QB lists.

And that's roughly the extent of my college football recruiting knowledge this year.

 

This is all nuts, of course.
24/7 on where a bunch of 18-year olds are going to pretend to be students for a couple of years.

 

I covered one national signing day. Of the 20 recruits signed, 11 actually graduated from the university in question. One of them never made it to campus that year (got drafted for baseball) and another one decided a month in college wasn't for him. One of those 20 declared early for the draft and has had a cup of coffee in the NFL, when he hasn't been fighting legal issues.

Most overrated sports day of the year, with NFL and NBA drafts tied for a close second.

 

Two things:

1. The five-star, can't-miss kids often do end up being five-star, can't-miss players. Things get muddled after the top 20 or 30 or so, but usually the elite players in high school, particularly in this day and age when there are so many checks and balances to keep the recruiting services honest, are the elite players in college. Of course there are going to be exceptions. Of course there are.

2. This is especially true with speed kids. Percy Harvin was a huge recruit. Reggie Bush was a huge recruit. Going back a ways - Desmond Howard. Rocket Ismail. Charles Woodson. Huge recruits.