Success breeds success on National Signing Day

By Darrell Laurant  |   Thursday, February 02, 2006  |  Comments( 0 )

College Football
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For the most part, college football's upper crust got richer on Monday. Don't they always?

The Texas Longhorns and USC Trojans, who finished 1-2 after the 2005 season, were ranked 2-3 on the CNN-SI list of top recruiting classes. The Florida Gators took the top spot, while Georgia, Notre Dame, Penn State, LSU, Oklahoma, Auburn and Michigan filled out the Top 10 -- all programs you may have heard of.

You don't have to be a rocket scientist -- or even a recruiting guru -- to figure out the reasons why.

Except for a few aberrations (kids who want to stay close to home for personal reasons, or see themselves riding to the rescue of a downtrodden program), the best high school athletes want to play on the best teams.

Not even the argument that they may not see much playing time at, say, USC, sways them. After dominating their high school competition, most blue chippers feel invincible. Since they've never seen a player better than themselves at their position, they naively assume none exists.

There is also the primal urge to be seen, and on a national stage. When a player like cornerback Raeshon McNeil commits to Notre Dame from tiny Davie County, NC, it swells the pride of the entire community. High school stars want their hometown friends and relatives to see them on ABC and ESPN, even if it's only a glimpse. And a surprising number would rather be a bit player at Texas than a star at Texas State.

So let's cut to the chase. Florida, in a way, had the best of all worlds -- a high-profile program in a fun location that has slipped a bit over the past few seasons. That combination brought the Gators arguably the nation's top wide receiver (quick-as-a-minute Percy Harvin from Landstown High School in Virginia Beach), perhaps the eventual replacement for Chris Leak at quarterback (Tim Tebow from St. Augustine) and five-star performers at offensive tackle (6-6, 335-pound behemoth Carl Johnson of Durham, NC), linebacker (Brandon Spikes from Shelby, NC) and defensive back (Jacksonville's Jamarr Hornsby).

Southern Cal, reloading as usual, thrust a greedy hand into the cookie jar of top running backs, coming away with three of the top 25 -- Coppell, TX, product Emmanuel Moody (a victory over the Longhorns), C.J. Gable of Sylmar, CA, and homegrown Stafon Johnson. The Trojans also got a commitment from fleet wide receiver Videl Hazelton of Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham -- and if he doesn't turn out to be as good as advertised, perhaps fellow five-star pass catcher David Ausberry of Lemoore, Ca, will. Another coup was DB Taylor Mays out of Seattle (sorry about that, Huskies).

The prize of Texas' class was linebacker Sergio Kindle from Dallas, who has already enrolled in school and may start next fall. The highest-profile offensive player was QB Jevan Snead from Stephenville, TX, also coveted by Florida. The Longhorns also stocked up on linebackers, signing three of the nation's best.

Georgia's class emphasized the Bulldogs' status as a national power under Mark Richt. Class of the class included Texas QB Matthew Stafford, New Jersey RB Knowshon Moreno, TE Na Derris Ward out of Oakland, CA, DB Prince Miller from Spartanburg, SC, and LB Darius Dewberry, a teammate of Vidal Hazelton at Hargrave Military in Virginia. For good measure, the Bulldogs also harvested the usual home state crop, most notably Harelson County DE Brandon Wood, a 6-1, 255 Dwight Freeney/Elvis Dumervil type.

In his first extended shopping trip, Notre Dame's Charlie Weis spent a lot of time at the beef counter, putting five-star recruits Sam Young (OL, 6-7, 297, from Fort Lauderdale), Konrad Reuland (TE, 6-4, 245, Mission Viejo, CA) and Dan Wenger (6-4, 295, also from Fort Lauderdale) in his cart. Indiana RB James Aldridge and Pennsylvania QB Zack Frazer were also well-regarded Irish signees.

Young, Kindle, Hazelton and Harvin were all among the Top 10 players as listed by SI/ESPN. Five of the other six elected to stay close to home, with No. 1 Chris Wells (RB, Akron, OH), signing with Ohio State; No. 2 Andre Smith (OL, Birmingham, AL) choosing Alabama, No. 4 Gerald McCoy (DT, Oklahoma City) committing to Oklahoma, No. 9 Micah Johnson (LB, Fort Campbell, KY) going to Kentucky and No. 10, QB Mitch Mustain of Springdale, ARK, signing with the home state Razorbacks after a recruiting chase that made national news.

The biggest losers among the higher-profile schools might have been Virginia and Virginia Tech. Six Virginia players were included on the top 100 list (including three from Hargrave), but none signed with the Cavaliers and Hokies. Miami, Tennessee, Nebraska and Maryland also slipped considerably.
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