It's the first Wednesday of February and that can only mean one thing...Signing Day! It's pretty incredible that a day where 17 and 18 year olds sign and fax a piece of paper to a college is as gigantic as it has become, but that is the reality of the current world. National Signing Day is one of the biggest days of the year in college football, behind only game days, although with the way the BCS has made scheduling quality opponents a hindrance, Signing Day might actually be bigger than some random Saturdays in September when 95% of BCS conference teams are playing 1-AA teams.
Anyways, today UCLA will be like the rest of the schools in the country. The coaching staff will sit in their offices and wait on faxed Letters of Intent to come in (it's 2011, we can't use some kind of more modern technology than a fax machine for these LOI's?), watch TV and see for which school recruits announce for and pray that when a recruit gives them a call, it's to tell them they'll be donning blue and gold in the fall.
As of now, 11 players have committed to be Bruins. You can check out that list right here. Torian White is also listed as a commit, but it's a soft verbal at best and he'll be announcing where he's going today along with four other players who would all be big gets for Neuheisel's crew. Here they are, with the schools the player is considering, the channel they will be announcing on (if applicable) and the time they will announce, pacific time.
- Tony Steward, 7 am, ESPNU (
Florida St., Clemson,UCLA) - Jalen Grimble, 7 am (
UCLA,Miami) - Kevin McReynolds, 7:30 am (
Kansas St., Mississippi St., Syracuse, UCLA) - Torian White, noon, FoxSportsWest.com (UCLA,
USC, Oregon St.) - Devin Lucien, 3 pm (
Colorado, Miami, UCLA,Arizona St.)
If you want to keep up on all the recruiting nationwide, stay tuned to ESPNU, which will have Signing Day coverage until 4 pm.
As of now, UCLA does not have a Defensive Coordinator despite the bowl season having been over for several weeks and the reasons why are running rampant all over the internet. The only real hope on this day is that the lack of a DC doesn't hurt the Bruins' recruiting class, although that is highly unlikely.
Ever since Rick Neuheisel took over in Westwood, recruiting has been the one go-to for the Bruins. The recruiting classes have been off the charts, both in reeling in talent and getting that talent at the right positions. On top of that regular recruiting success, Signing Day has been CRN's bread and butter, where he's closed as well as any coach in the nation.
For a variety of reasons, such as the lack of a DC, a 4-8 season and a limited number of scholarships among others, this year's recruiting class won't match those of year's past. That said, bringing in a couple of the guys announcing today would go a long ways to helping out the program and with the great classes that the Bruins have brought in the last few years, a couple really strong guys to add to those already committed will make this class more than good enough.
So here we go. It's Signing Day so keep this thread filled with your thoughts, observations and any news that comes in UCLA related or otherwise that you find interesting. It's a big day for all of college football and this is your open thread to share the day with the rest of the community. Let's find out if CRN can conjure up some more Signing Day magic.
Update (BN): Rick Neuheisel is 0 for 2 today so far. Grimble has gone to Miami and Steward to Clemson.
Update x2 (BN): Washington Post (!) is reporting that McReynolds has signed with UCLA. LINK
Note (BN): The afternoon signing day thread is located here.