The rich got richer on National Signing Day. No, not Alabama, which finished first overall in the rankings — that has come to be expected.
The Big Ten East which, the argument can be made, was the best division in the country a year ago, placing three teams in the top 10 of the final Associated Press poll, continued to flex its muscles on Wednesday., producing four of the top 16 classes in Rivals.com’s rankings. The only other division to do so was the SEC West.
The top two — bitter rivals Ohio State (2) and Michigan (4) — were expected, led by their respective recruiting aces, Urban Meyer and Jim Harbaugh. The surprises were the other two, Penn State (12) and Maryland (16). The Terrapins, under second-year head coach D.J. Durkin, made a monster leap, from 39th all the way into the top 20, securing nine four-star recruits, while the Nittany Lions built on their surprising run to the Big Ten title a year ago.
Every year there are a few strange signing-day stories, and this year is no exception, both coming from Florida.
Start with four-star defensive end Jarez Parks of Sebastian, Fla., who put off his decision at an emotional press conference amidst tears because Alabama reportedly ran out of room to take him after signing five-star defensive end LaBryan Ray, only to commit to the Crimson Tide later in the day. He is expected to greyshirt, meaning he won’t be part of the program until 2018.
And while all of this was going on, Bleacher Report released a video of Parks committing to Alabama from the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
In the “What were you thinking?” department, defensive end Donovan Winter, a three-star recruit from Orlando, Fla., was supposed to sign with Michigan State.
The only problem is he was behind bars, reportedly arrested on Monday for burglary and larceny of a firearm. He’s being held on $2,000 bond and awaiting a GPS device that will be placed on him upon his release.
When contacted by the Orlando Sentinel, his high school coach, Matt Hedrick, simply said Winter was not signing.
“Long story,” he said.
It remains uncertain if the Spartans will honor the commitment.
The creativity award goes to four-star safety Chaz Ah from Provo, Utah. The defensive back produced a video with Bleacher Report boarding a helicopter with four hats inside.
In the video, he tells the pilot, “take me to my new home.” It lands at BYU’s LaVell Edwards Stadium, where he jumps out in a BYU jersey and celebrates with the school mascot. Now that certainly beats picking a hat off a table.
Runner-up: 6-foot-5 wide receiver Nico Collins announcing his decision with a well-produced video of him training that ends with the Alabama native wearing a white visor with a blue block M and saying, “Go Blue.” Sounds like Harbaugh’s kind of guy.
The Tom Herman era at Texas isn’t exactly off and running. His first recruiting class lacks a single five-star recruit, doesn’t include any of the top 15 recruits in the state, and was rated 28th by Rivals.
On Wednesday, Herman lost out on a pair of top recruits: defensive end K’Lavon Chiasson chose LSU over the Longhorns and four-star cornerback Chevin Calloway signed with Arkansas rather than Texas. Herman’s predecessor, Charlie Strong, had put together three consecutive top 20 classes.
While it is difficult for a new coach to put together a strong class in such a short period of time, it didn’t stop Willie Taggart from assembling the No. 21 class at Oregon, and he wasn’t working in the same state, having come from South Florida.
The one saving grace: The Rest of the Big 12, except for Oklahoma, had a down year, too. Texas’s class was second in the conference after the sixth-ranked Sooners.
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